2 July 2010
Food Advice for Night Owls
littleoneblog asked: What advice do you have for someone who has to constantly pull all-nighters (prob 2 times a week) for work? Ignoring the lecture about how important sleep is (believe me, I KNOW, and I love sleep, but I also love my paycheck) and how I’ll never loose weight until my stress levels go down and my sleep hours go up, do you have suggestions on getting through this?
Specifically, s/he wants to know what kinds of foods to eat at 3am for energy that won’t sabotage her weight loss efforts, and also what to do the next day to stay satisfied.
I have one word for this problem: FAT. If you’re up all night studying or working, fat is going to fuel your brain but not lead to a big crash later (try eating a few cookies at 3am and see how quickly your head starts to drop!).
Something like an avocado (yes, you can eat the whole thing if you’re hungry!) would be perfect. It’s got enough calories and fat to sustain many hours’ worth of studying or working. If your hungry for something more substantial, try fat mixed with some protein and veggies (e.g., an avocado mixed with tomato and onion over a piece of chicken or beef; Greek yogurt mixed with nut butter and berries; etc.).
Mini “meals” like that will tide you over much better than any quick-fix snack food ever could!
