Know Why you shouldn't go to bed hungry.....Leave a comment

There is the age long idea that eating late at night – after 7pm – is ‘bad’ and contributes to weight gain. The belief is that “you’re not burning those calories while you sleep, so anything you eat late at night gets directly stored as fat.”

But here’s a shocker from fat.medweb.mit.edu/wellness: “This is not necessarily true. Your body burns calories 24/7. (It’s true that you burn fewer calories when you’re sleeping than when you’re awake, but adequate sleep also helps your body’s biochemistry to maintain optimal weight and not gain weight.) It’s the total amount of calories you eat (vs. burn) in a given day that matters most, not the time of day you eat those calories.


“In other words, if you eat a dozen doughnuts (in addition to your usual daily food intake), it doesn’t matter if you eat them at 7am, 3pm or 10pm. Any extra calories above what you need, consumed at any time of the day, may be stored as body fat.”

Has that done anything to your knowledge base? Well why don’t you join this voyage of selecting healthy recipes that may be eaten any time? Now you know there is no bad time to eat, only bad eating habits and that the majority of our food is actually digested during sleep.

You already know foods that tend to make you gather fat, so here are some options for you -Bacon Avocado and Tomato, Late Night Brownies, Waffle Pizzas, Midnight Sandwich, Spicy Popcorn, Late Night Pasta, Hot Dogs, Pizza, Kitchen Sink Cookies, Cheeseburger, No-Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Grahams, Cream Cheese Garlic Bread, Fried Chicken and Bacon Gravy Sliders, Peanut Butter Chocolate & Oreo Banana Pops, Sausage Cheese Balls, Late Night Snack Bars.

Recipe for late night pasta

(Adapted from Martha Stewart)

•Spaghetti

•Slices of bacon

•Teaspoon black pepper

•Chopped onion

•Small clove garlic, minced

•Freshly grated parmesan cheese

•Tablespoons unsalted butter

•Large eggs

•Tablespoon of chopped flat-leaf parsley

Method

•Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water.

•Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

•While the pasta cooks, add the bacon to a large skillet set over medium heat.

•Cook, stirring occasionally, until bacon is crisp.

•Add the onion and pepper to the pan.

•Continue cooking until the onion softens.

•Meanwhile, melt one tablespoon of butter in a small skillet set over medium-low heat.

•Crack the eggs into the pan and cook just until the whites are set (yolks still runny).

•Remove the pan from the heat and keep warm.

•Add the garlic to the pan along with the bacon and onion.

•Cook, stirring constantly, just until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

•Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta cooking water.

•Scrape the bottom of the pan to release any browned bits.

•Reduce the heat to low.

•Add drained pasta to the pan.

•Add remaining tablespoons of butter.

•Once the butter has melted, turn off the heat under the pan.

•Gradually add the cheese, tossing the pasta with tongs to incorporate.

•After you’ve added all of the cheese, you can adjust the consistency of the dish with the remaining reserved pasta cooking water.

•Divide the pasta in two bowls.

•Top each serving with a portion of fried eggs.

•Garnish with the chopped parsley.

•Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Choose a night meal that suits you
Never go to bed hungry in a bid to stay trim