### Mijah Declares War on Late-Night Snacks! We Can All Relate to Belly Fat Woes Hello, everyone! Today, I've brought you news that I'm sure many of you can relate to. It's about comedian and broadcaster Mijah. Recently, Mijah honestly shared on her social media about the belly fat she gained from frequent late-night snacking and declared her intention to go on a diet. Along with the caption, "I'm starting my 'best self' diet from tomorrow," she candidly expressed her struggles with enjoying late-night snacks 4 to 5 times a week. While she found happiness in delicious foods like mala tang, tteokbokki, and gopchang, she recently felt shocked when she saw her own face on her channel. This story of Mijah is likely not unique to her. Around us, or perhaps even you yourself, aren't you unknowingly falling prey to the temptation of late-night snacks when night falls? We might relieve stress by eating delicious food, or sometimes just satisfy our hunger, but we've all likely experienced regret later due to weight gain and belly fat. How can we overcome situations like Mijah's, where you can't help but say, "I can't seem to get motivated. All I can think about is food I want to eat"? ### Late-Night Snacks: Why Do They Make Us Gain Weight and Threaten Our Health? Given that Mijah enjoyed late-night snacks 4 to 5 times a week, it's perhaps natural that her weight increased. Especially the spicy, stimulating, or high-fat, high-sodium foods like mala tang, tteokbokki, and gopchang that Mijah mentioned have various negative effects on our bodies. They don't just increase body fat; they also cause **swelling** and put a significant strain on our **digestive system**. But here's an even more surprising fact: even when consuming the same amount of calories, food eaten at night is more easily stored as fat compared to food eaten during the day. Why is that? At night, our activity levels decrease, leading to lower energy expenditure. Furthermore, since we often eat late and then lie down or go to sleep immediately, digestion isn't optimal, creating an environment where excess energy is easily accumulated as fat. Moreover, consuming food late at night causes blood sugar levels to fluctuate rapidly, leading to repeated insulin secretion. This process can create a vicious cycle where our bodies crave **sugary foods** or **spicy foods** even more strongly the next day. Especially if you're in middle age, your **basal metabolic rate** decreases compared to when you were younger, so you might experience weight gain much more easily even with the same amount of late-night snacks. It seems like the time has truly come to get serious and find our 'best selves' again. ### Late-Night Snacks: If You Can't Avoid Them, How to Handle Them Wisely Of course, the best approach is to avoid late-night snacks altogether. However, if you're genuinely hungry at night and can't sleep, you need to find a healthy way to cope. At this point, it's crucial to choose foods that cause minimal **blood sugar fluctuations** and are **less calorically dense**. For example, **hard-boiled eggs**, **tofu**, **unsweetened Greek yogurt**, **unsweetened soy milk**, **cherry tomatoes**, **cucumbers**, **broccoli**, and a **small portion of nuts** are relatively light snacks you can enjoy. If you're craving something warm and soupy, a clear vegetable broth or egg drop soup would be appropriate. However, the more fundamental solution lies in **adjusting your lifestyle patterns**. One of the biggest reasons for feeling hungry at night is eating too little or skipping dinner. Therefore, ensuring you consume enough **protein** and **dietary fiber** for your dinner, which promotes satiety, can greatly help prevent late-night snacking. Eating protein-rich foods like chicken breast, fish, tofu, and eggs along with various vegetables will keep you feeling full for longer, reducing the likelihood of reaching for snacks at night. Additionally, staying up late naturally exposes you to more temptations for late-night snacks. Maintaining **regular sleep hours** is very important for improving late-night snacking habits. And we can't seem to put down our smartphones. Habitually browsing delivery apps or keeping notifications on can itself stimulate appetite. Turning off delivery app notifications at night, or even setting aside time to avoid looking at them, can be an effective strategy. Like Mijah, why don't we reclaim our 'best selves' through healthy habits?