EVERYONE is guilty of sneaking off to the fridge to curb a hunger pang right before bed.
And more often than not you find yourself reaching for something quick to stop your tummy from grumbling, like a chocolate bar or a biscuit.
But if you're trying to lose weight, what you choose as your late night snack can make a huge difference when it comes to shedding the pounds.
In particular, Helen Bond, Registered Dietitian, has urged slimmers to be conscious of what they put into their bodies, especially before bed.
However, she says a late night snack can even be a great way of getting some extra nutrients in your diet.
She told The Sun Online: "Snacking can be part of a balanced diet, and can be a great opportunity to sneak some extra nutrients into our diet.
Snacking can be part of a balanced diet, and can be a great opportunity to sneak some extra nutrients into our diet
"But it’s important to choose our snack food wisely – even healthy looking snacks, like reduced fat biscuits, cereal bars, yogurt, cereals etc might seem like virtuous choices, but not all are created equally.
"Some are high in cholesterol-raising saturated fat and added or ‘free’ sugars – the type that we should be cutting down on for the sake of our teeth and waistlines."
The best late night snacks
Here Helen talks us through the best midnight snacks that are also diet-friendly.
She says: "When evening munchies hits, try some of these healthy snacks and eat your snacks slowly instead of mindlessly wolfing them down front of the TV, as you will be ore in turn with your satiety 'fullness' cues.
• Vegetable sticks with tzatziki made from low-fat yogurt, cucumber, garlic and lemon juice
• Bowl of fresh fruit salad
• Pot of plain low-fat yogurt with fresh berries
• A few oatcakes topped with cottage cheese and tomato
• Slice of wholegrain toast with no added sugar or salt nut butter
• Small handful of unsalted nuts or seeds
• Few rye crispbreads topped with mashed avocado
• A few handfuls of air-popped popcorn dusted with cinnamon
• Few slices of wholegrain baguette topped with homemade salsa made from diced tomatoes and red onion, garlic and coriander
• Celery sticks filled with a few tablespoons of hummus
• Bowl of salad topped with 1 boiled egg"
Snacks to avoid
If you're trying to blitz body fat, snacking on treats like crisps, chocolate and ice cream before bed is an absolute no-no.
In particular, foods like chocolate usually contain caffeine which may make it more difficult for you to sleep too.
Helen says: "It’s best to avoid snack foods that are highly processed or refined.
"As well as being high in saturated fat, sugar and/or salt, they’re often low in nutrients and loaded with calories, and very moorish which makes it harder for us to control our weight.
"Examples of foods we should limit include takeaways, crisps, savoury snacks, sugary and chocolate confectionery, cakes, biscuits, pastries, ice cream, and sugary soft drinks."
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