Is this fall flying or what?! Here we are at Halloween already, and here begins the slippery slope between now and New Year’s. If you want to see just how not-innocent those little bites are, check out this report (also includes tips to recover if you’ve already found yourself surrounded by plastic wrappers). Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be discussing ways we can work to stay on track and continue making progress (or, at the very least, hold steady and not lose any progress made this year).

An article was published in the New York Times earlier this year that presented new research that finds that when we eat is so important, almost more so than what we eat. It’s pretty common knowledge that late night snacking isn’t the best for you, but this new research demonstrates just how far-reaching the effects can be when we aren’t aligning our eating with our natural circadian rhythms (hint: way beyond your waistline). I also find that people, myself included, aren’t exactly reaching for spinach and chicken breast at 9:30 at night … this is when we are tired; this is when we are reaching for the “treats” for all our hard work during the day. This is not when we have peak willpower to stop with just one mini candy bar out of the Trick or Treat bowl.

I advise my clients to aim to stop eating by 7:00pm and/or four hours before you go to sleep. There are certain exceptions when this cutoff isn’t feasible (nightshift workers, breastfeeding mothers, etc.), and for those clients I recommend that after the cutoff time, stick to unprocessed fats and proteins like raw almonds.

There are little tricks that can help with this goal, especially if this is a new lifestyle shift for you. Brushing your teeth, setting an alarm, or making a cup of herbal tea to sip on can help us stay out of the kitchen at night. Do you have any other tips to help stay away from nighttime snacking? Comment below!