While we think time restricted eating is a promising strategy to, for example, control weight, improve appetite and cardio-metabolic health, it's just one of many diet and lifestyle choices that can help you achieve your health goals.
✨ Think of Eating Window as a new 'tool' in the toolbox that focuses on 'how' you eat not 'what' you eat and see whether it works for you! ✨
In some cases, you may not be able to avoid having longer eating windows due to work, cultural practices, hunger levels etc and that is fine. In these cases, be strategic - you can still make choices that are better for you.
Here are some tips on how to make great choices around the timing of your meals.
Listen to your body - if you find yourself feeling hungry late at night make sure you eat enough, filling foods earlier during the day.
Cut back on late night snacks and high-calorie drinks.
If snacking late, be particularly mindful of picking healthier choices. Some ideas include:
Yoghurt with seeds
Seeded, wholegrain crackers with peanut butter.
Whole fruits like apples.
Fill in the gaps with teas and herbal teas which don't break your fast.
Stay active and go for an evening stroll after dinner.
The interesting thing is that the relationship between food and your body clock is a two-way street. Your circadian rhythm influences how your body handles food at different times of the day, but changing how you eat also helps train your body clock (although to a lesser extent than light ☀️). Therefore, you can try to adjust meal times as well as your circadian rhythm to try and achieve your health goals.
Here are some tips on how to regulate your circadian rhythm to help. Why not try
Sticking to a regular eating schedule.
Going to bed early.
Focusing on getting enough high quality sleep.
Avoiding screen time just before going to bed.
Following a routine, even something simple like brushing your teeth can trigger your brain to prepare for bed and stop thinking about eating.
Try having relaxing herbal teas before going to bed.
Do some meditation exercises before bedtime.
Be mindful of alcohol intake.
If you are following very restrictive time-restricted eating, like One-Meal-A-Day (OMAD), while this may be right for you, we have not been able to find conclusive evidence that shows that this has any added health benefits to Eating Windows between 8 and 10 hours. Moreover, Eating Windows below 6 hours may not enable some people to meet their nutritional requirement for optimal health as well as not being pleasurable or sustainable.
As always, make sure you listen to your body and to adopt sustainable eating behaviors.