Does food start speaking to you after 7pm? Those cookies beg for your companionship. The ice cream lovingly awaits your warm embrace. Do you feel deprived, lonely, bored or anxious if you don't eat treats while you watch TV, read or surf the internet after the kids go to bed? Do you vow to stop eating after dinner, only to do the opposite and over-indulge? How do we stop this cycle without feeling deprived?

Consider for a moment that maybe it's not food you are feeling deprived of. Maybe its love. Maybe we eat because we feel we are missing something we need in life. Maybe its adventure, passion, sweetness, spice. Next time you have a craving, tune into it and visualize yourself pushing the food away and see what comes up. What is it you REALLY want? Food is only a great counterfeit for what we truly desire in our hearts.

Night eating has the potential to shave years off of your life and create a perfect environment for dis-ease to thrive. According to Paul Chek in his book, How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy, your body is busy doing physical and psychological repair work between the hours of 10pm and 6am, if you are sleeping. If you happen to have food in your stomach during this time, it creates stress for the body because it is a distraction from the healing process.

Stress causes the stress hormone, cortisol, to be elevated. Cortisol is our fight or flight hormone. To the innate wisdom of our body, a rise in cortisol means we are being chased by a lion. This signals the body to hold onto ALL of its reserves because it has no idea when safety will be reached and food will become available again. So, as our body works to help us survive the chase, it shuts down the digestion process and sends the blood to the lower (instinctive) brain and the extremities. READ: your body holds onto ALL of your fat and your food sits in your stomach to ferment which creates inflammation, the root of most dis-ease. On top of this, fermenting food can be a breeding ground for parasites and fungus. This also creates a hormonal imbalance as it causes chaos with the messengers of our body (our hormones). Since we normally feast on processed carbs at night, you might like to know that processed carbohydrates and sugars are the number one dysregulator of hormones in the body. If you have hormonal issues, this is very important to know.

When I experienced hormonal chaos, it took a short six weeks off of sugar and processed food to totally turn it around! What's more is that as cortisol is raised, it prevents the increase of the human growth hormone, the major repair and anti-aging hormone in the body. The increase in this hormone is necessary for the repair process to happen as we sleep. Sugar consumption also decreases production of human growth hormone. So, night eating can literally shave years off your life and prevent the ability to really live while you are alive, free of dis-ease.

Did you know all of this was happening just from eating those cookies while you watch TV? I hope this information helps next time you get a nagging craving to eat at night. Remember, new habits take about 21 or so days, to instill.

If you have strong cravings, you might like to check out my article, Supplement Secrets for Weight Loss & Cravings.

You may also benefit from my video teaching you a powerful EFT (tapping) exercise to eliminate night cravings.

And lastly, since we tend to not be hungry at night, you may find success by trying out the Hunger Satisfaction Guided Visualization exercise MP3 below. Just find a comfy spot and get ready for a mini vacation while your subconscious mind gets rewired about overeating.

Maria Rippo is a Transformational Weight Loss & Wellness practitioner with an online as well as a local practice in Bothell, WA. This article Copyright 2013 by Maria Rippo, all right reserved. To replicate or use any portion of this article, please do so in its entirety including this text or contact the author at [email protected].

Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Did you know that high cortisol levels, (i.e, stressful life) can actually cause gluten sensitivity? High cortisol levels (our stress hormone) causes the gut to be more permeable, meaning, things leak out of it prematurely into the blood stream. This is because when cortisol is high, IgA (immunoglobulin A) decreases.

 Whaaaat? Well, IgA, is an antibody that protects the gut lining. Between this and greater intestinal permeability (stuff leaking out of the gut prematurely) more antibodies are created against gluten, which is prematurely leaking into the blood stream creating an immune response and ultimately, a sensitivity. So, if you are under high stress, removing gluten might be a kind thing to do for your intestinal tract and your body/immune system!

Also, if you already know gluten doesn't jive with you, you might want to look at your stress levels! To lower them without quitting your job and leaving your family:) you might consider:  
 
1. Stopping eating 3 hours before bedtime, lowering nighttime cortisol levels and increasing the time your body spends doing repair work while you sleep. If your body is digesting, it is not repairing or resting. Going to bed with a mostly empty tummy is an easy way to really decrease your stress levels and wake up more energized!

2. Start doing some deep breathing exercises daily. To do this, find a quiet space, even if its in the bathroom! and sit down. Inhale through your nose slowly, hold it as long as its comfortable and then exhale through your mouth or nose slowly. I like to inhale for a count of 8, hold for a count of 8 and exhale for a count of 8. Do this about ten times.

3. Listen to 'My Favorite Place Relaxation Exercise' daily when you feel most stressed out. http://www.mariarippo.com/free-downloads.html

4. Also, if you are living a stressful life, consider working in, rather than working out. Exercise is also a form of stress, so working in, like doing yoga while deep breathing (not hot yoga) is relaxing instead of adding more stress. 

5. Consider turning off the TV and computer and get your 8 - 9 hours of sleep. Your body does its physical repair work between the hours of 10 pm and 2am and its psychological repair work between the hours of 2 am and 6am. If you miss out on this sleep time, your body will miss out on this all important repair and regeneration time.

6. Daily imagine lifting everything in your life UP to God. I do this visually, (watching it all go up into the hands of God) lifting up my business, my family, my clients, all of it so I can rest in it, rather than be totally stressed. It works miracles for me!

7. Practice surrendering to what is, rather than fighting it. When we surrender, it doesn't mean giving in and doing nothing, it means accepting what is so we can clearly see what needs to change and take action rather than spending all of our energy on wishing away and fighting what is. 
 
The Serenity Prayer:

God grant me the serenity 
to accept the things I cannot change; 
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.