Why You Should Eat Before Bed (+ 10 Healthy Bedtime Snack Ideas)

healthy bedtime snack ideas

A lot of people think that the best way to lose weight or get leaner is to stop eating altogether after dinner.

But think about what that really means…you probably eat dinner around 7:00 p.m., and maybe go to bed around 10:30 or 11:00. If you don’t eat breakfast until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. the next day, that can be a long time without eating for an active person.

Trying not to eat after dinner probably means you:

  • Get “snacky” and go for something sweet (ice cream) or salty (chips, popcorn, etc.), which isn’t always bad, but can often lead to binge eating of unhealthy foods if you’re actually hungry.
  • Get so hungry you’re grumpy and feel bitter about not getting to eat more so no one else wants to be around you.
  • Wake up completely depleted and starving with no energy to exercise or start your day (or worse, wake up in the middle of the night feeling famished and nauseous—speaking from experience!).

Personally, I’ve experienced every one of these things, and they’re not fun. While everyone’s bodies are different, if you’re currently waking up in the middle of the night feeling famished or feeling extra depleted the next day, you may want to start incorporating a healthy bedtime snack.

Choosing the Right Nighttime Snack

Eating at night doesn’t automatically mean your diet has failed for the day or that your body is going to store every one of those calories as fat.

Remember, food is fuel! As long as you focus on eating high nutrient foods and are fairly active during the daytime, it’s absolutely fine to eat at night. And unless you’re really off on your portion sizes, your body will actually be stronger and fitter because of it. Better yet, you’ll be more likely to feel strong during your next day’s workout.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a late night snack:

  • If you’re trying to lose weight, avoid eating too many carbs at the end of the night. Since you won’t be burning off any carbs while you’re sleeping, your body is more likely to store these as fat.
  • If you’re working out first thing in the morning, some carbs at night will help give you energy for your workout. That’s where the idea of carb loading before an endurance race of some sort comes in—carbs give you fuel, but since you’re waking up early you have to give them to your body the night before to fill up your glycogen stores rather than the morning of.
  • Eating healthy fats at night is a great way to feel satisfied and not wake up in the middle of the night starving. This is good news for nut butter and avocado lovers!
  • Protein of any sort is always a good bedtime snack choice. This is especially true if you’re trying to gain muscle or at least retain it while losing body fat, and is the reason why bodybuilders will often have a Casein shake or cottage cheese before bedtime.

Below are some easy snack ideas that you can eat pre-bedtime without feeling like you’re overindulging. I’ve included the macro levels so you can get an of what these would look like in my diet, but obviously you can adjust the portion sizes to fit your own goals.

Here are 10 healthy bedtime snacks you can enjoy guilt-free:

Peanut Butter Protein Balls

These are one of my all time favorite late night snacks, because they’re so satisfying and taste like a delicious dessert despite being made out of all healthy ingredients (yes, even the chocolate—a little dark chocolate is good for you!).

Make these ahead of time for an easy go-to snack, or make them and freeze them to speed up the process. Get the recipe for these here.

Macros (per 2 protein balls):

Calories: 215
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 9g
Fat: 15g

Greek Yogurt, Berries + Crumbled Walnuts

Top this with some cinnamon and it’s almost like eating ice cream! Or, at least a really yummy parfait. Obviously you can substitute walnuts for any other nut you enjoy. Chia seeds or flax seeds would be a good addition as well.

Macros (based on 1/2 cup low fat Greek yogurt + 1/2 cup berries + 2 walnuts:

Calories: 180
Protein: 13g
Carbs: 16g
Fat: 8g

Protein Ice Cream

The brainchild of Adam Bornstein, this stuff really is pretty good if you have the patience to wait for it (you have to put it in the freezer for at least a half an hour). I like to make mine with chocolate protein powder, peanut butter and oat milk. Mmm.

Macros (based on 1 serving protein powder and 1 Tbsp peanut butter):

Calories: 230
Protein: 29g
Carbs: 6g
Fat: 10g

Cottage Cheese + Berries + Almonds

Cottage cheese is a great choice before bed (if you like the stuff), because it’s packed with casein and whey protein to keep you full and repair and build your muscles all night long. Top with berries, almonds, or whatever you like and you have a filling, healthy pre-bedtime snack.

Macros (based on 1 cup cottage cheese + 1/2 cup berries + about 10 almonds):

Calories: 290
Protein: 29g
Carbs: 21g
Fat: 11g

Protein Fluff

If you’ve never checked out Anna Sward’s site Protein Pow, do yourself a favor and take a look. She’s got tons and tons of delicious recipes all focused on high protein, mostly low carb goodness. Protein fluff is one of her specialties, and it’s a perfect healthy bedtime snack—I like mine with frozen berries and vanilla whey protein powder.

Macros:

Calories: 200
Protein: 26g
Carbs: 20g
Fat: 2g

Late Night Omelette

I’ll admit that I’m usually one to crave sweets at night, which is why I tend to go for more sweet options more often than not. But if you like savory, eggs are a great option at night, since they have both protein and fat to keep you full. You can fix it up however you like, adding extra egg whites for protein if you want.

Macros (based on 2 whole eggs, 2 egg whites and a smidgen of grassfed butter):

Calories: 215
Protein: 24g
Carbs: 2g
Fat: 12g

Protein Shake

A protein shake is a good, easy snack option for any time of the day, and late at night is no exception. You can even dress this up as a faux milkshake if you want, adding cocoa powder and nut butter to make it taste extra delicious.

My favorite late night milkshake includes one serving chocolate whey protein powder, a small frozen banana, 1 Tbsp almond or peanut butter, 1 Tbsp cocoa powder and unsweetened coconut milk to make it extra creamy.

As mentioned before, you may want to consider casein instead of whey powder if muscle building is your main goal.

Macros:

Calories: 290
Protein: 30g
Carbs: 22g
Fat: 11g

Protein Cheesecake

I adore this treat since it tastes almost like the real thing and is just as satisfying. Plus, the protein will actually help keep you full through the night. You can follow this protein cheesecake recipe or make your own variation for a healthy bedtime snack. If you want to make it leaner, cutting the crust out altogether is a good way to cut down the calories while still getting a delicious cheesecake.

Macros (per slice):

Calories: 200
Protein: 15g
Carbs: 15g
Fat: 9g

Apple + Nut Butter

I love this as a late night snack especially with a good, chilled, crunchy apple. Crunchy peanut butter is my favorite, but obviously this can be substituted with almond butter or any other nut butter.

Macros (for one medium apple and 1 Tbsp peanut butter):

Calories: 195
Protein: 4g
Carbs: 28g
Fat: 8g

Toasted Quest bar

I like to take the chocolate chip cookie Quest bar, toast it in the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-5 minutes, then break it into three chunks. I flatten them with a fork and viola, they’re just like chocolate chip cookies! Ok, well, almost.

Macros:

Calories: 180
Protein: 20g
Carbs: 22g
Fat: 7g

Home Popped or Healthier Store-Bought Popcorn

This one is high carb, but popcorn is one of the most satisfying, high volume, fairly healthy snacks you can eat. Make it at home or buy a bag of pre-bagged low calorie popcorn (Boom Chicka Pop or Skinny Pop are my favorites).

If you make your own, try mixing it up with a little melted coconut oil, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast and a little cayenne pepper. Yum!

Macros (per 3 cups popped + 2 tsp coconut oil):

Calories: 190
Protein: 6g
Carbs: 21g
Fat: 10g

Also, adding a few squares of high quality dark chocolate as a side to any of the above is always a good idea!

What’s your favorite healthy bedtime snack? 




















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15 thoughts on “Why You Should Eat Before Bed (+ 10 Healthy Bedtime Snack Ideas)”

  1. I have to say, from personal experience, i disagree with the notions that not eating at night will make one sluggish upon rising, or wake up in the middle of the night feeling hungry. i wake up sluggish when i DO eat before bedtime, and when i DON’T, i feel more refreshed and way better. i am no scientist, but i boil it down to the possibility that my body is focused on resting instead of digesting. those snack recipes look great, but really, feeling “snacky” is a state of mind and not a true indication that your body needs food.

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  2. …AND…consuming 85% cocoa content dark chocolate right before bed? isn’t that a guarantee that you’ll be up all night?? 🙂 am i the only one who gets totally wired once the chocolate goes above 60% cocoa?

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  3. great suggestions! all sounds yummy but i think everyone is different in their bodies. it’s just not the amount of physical activity we get that affects our bodies or appetites or moods. our bodies are also directly affected by our thought life and what we believe about ourselves and also our environments around us. like, if i’m feeling stressed over a prolonged period of time or even just around stressed out people, my blood sugar plummets, so you bet i’m hungry right before bed..and upon rising!

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  4. Oh my god these are some really nice tips that usually gets unnoticed and ignored by a huge majority of people in the world.Keep up the good work and keep writing about healthy food to eat before going to bed.

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  5. Keep up the good work and keep writing about healthy food to eat before going to bed.All you advice will help me to maintain my health by eating healthy food like Peanut butter protein balls.

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  6. As a certified detoxification specialist, and knowing what I know about the body and intermittent/extended dry fasting, I would disagree that a late snack is optimal. In fact it will deplete energy even more as latent stored energy is directed to digesting that late night snack, which would have been used for repairing and detoxing the body. HGH (human growth hormone) is not released until around 12h fasted so optimally you should stop eating and drinking a few hours before bed. Also your sleep may be broken with bathroom visits during the night instead of resting, again inhibiting repair and affecting the “gains”. As most of us know it’s during rest that the muscles repair…..

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  7. As a life long insomniac, I absolutely agree with the value of eating before bed. I just wish I had figured it out a long time ago. Not only does a snack before bed help me go to sleep, but it also KEEPS me asleep because I would find myself waking up hungry in the middle of the night when I tried not eating after 8pm. I also had no problem losing weight when I would eat my nightly carb loaded popcorn with coconut oil & sprinkling of chocolate whey powder. Because I ate less calories than I burned over all.

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