“Late night snacking” has always been considered the worst thing to do – especially if you want to lose weight and get in shape. BUT…

…now, however, recent research published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise reveals how a late night snack may be just the thing to help meet fitness goals- even if they include weight loss.

…BUT… and again BUT, to reap the benefits of late night snacking, you must follow a few simple rules.

Read on to find out more and leave your comment…

Four key elements have surfaced in recent research that have contributed to debunking- at least in part- the notion that late-night snacking is bad for you.

[adrotate group=”5″]That’s not to say that all nighttime fridge raids are good for you. On the contrary- filling up on ice cream and pizza before bed will keep you awake, uncomfortable, and overweight.

But these four tips will actually help, especially if you like your late night tummy-fillers:

1- Eat something with lean protein- while you wouldn’t want a whole steak right before bed, a modest snack of about 4-6 ounces of lean protein, like an egg or shake, helps to increase a person’s resting metabolic rate first thing in the morning. This ramped up metabolism burns more calories overall, and since protein takes much longer to digest than sugary foods, your body doesn’t slip into a starvation mode and hoard calories.

2- Eat whole grains like enriched cereals- the study showed that people who eat a small bowl of a whole grain, low-sugar cereal before bed lost weight at a pace of 4 to 1 over people who didn’t eat anything before bed.

3- Eat foods that satiate quickly- eating foods that have a higher satiety rate not only helps prevent hunger pains in the morning, but will also make you less hungry during the day and prevent you from overeating throughout the day. Snacks with high satiety rate include things such as avocado with whole grain crackers or low-sugar, high-protein meals.

4- Eat something with casein- people who eat something with casein, such as that bowl of cereal with milk, increase their protein synthesis, which builds muscle. The more muscle you build, the faster your body will burn calories.

Probably one of the best reasons to have a small meal before bedtime is that it eliminates hunger pains that could be waking you during the night, interrupting sleep patterns. Getting quality sleep at night keeps you from needing comfort calories during the day, making it easier to choose healthier foods over junk.

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