Getting up at night and eating.

Options
landiekate
landiekate Posts: 32 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm really bad when it comes to doing this. Like, REALLY bad. It's like I sleep-eat. Most of the time, it's something small like a snack-pack of pretzels (those lil 70-cal ones) or a few saltines.. but I do it AUTOMATICALLY. I don't wake up because I'm hungy. And, I don't wake up and realize I'm hungry. It's just something I do. I wake up about 3-4 times a night to go to the bathroom, and everytime, I grab a little something. I've noticed that most of the time, it's a complex carb. Because I do this, my logging isn't ever 100% accurate. I don't know if this could wind up wrecking my hard work I put in during the day or not, and I'm kind of concerned.

Share your troubles of sleep-eating with me, please?

Replies

  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
    Options
    1. Break that habit by sheer willpower.
    2. You wake up 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom? Is this normal? I rarely wake up during the night...Your body might not be getting adequate rest and therefore is trying to compensate by eating more.
    3. You would be surprised how much just grabbing a handful of this or that can effect your logging and results. Make sure you are getting balanced nutrition and enough water during the day.

    Those are just my thoughts from my own personal experience. Best of luck!
  • Branstin
    Branstin Posts: 2,320 Member
    Options
    Unless you just did not log all of your food, looking over your diary for the last month seems you have eaten little on many of those days. Some days, you don't have anything logged. Does this means you did not eat those days? I agree with looking at your food consumption during the day to make sure you are eating enough.
  • gizmo_2014
    gizmo_2014 Posts: 37
    Options
    Try lowering how much you are drinking later in the day so you aren't waking up as much.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Options
    My goodness, I did this for the first time in about three years last week. We had a cake in the house from my neighbor's little girl's birthday party. Woke up juuuust enough to amble into the kitchen butt-*kitten* nekkid, cut a LARGE slice, and down about 3/4 of it before I finished waking up and realized what I'd done. I can't keep sweets in the house for this very reason. Since it's something small and calorically insignificant, I'd leave an extra hundred calories on your day just in case you do get up and snack.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Options
    gizmo_2014 wrote: »
    Try lowering how much you are drinking later in the day so you aren't waking up as much.

    This^

    Try to figure out a way to wake up less often. Hatha yoga makes a great bedtime routine for me.

    Keep the fridge stocked with chopped veggies, make sure one or two of your snacks are veggies.

  • newjojie
    newjojie Posts: 291 Member
    Options
    I have the same problem and have had for years. I don't really know how to break it. I did some research online and it's called NES. I've even talked to my Dr about it and haven't been able to stop. It sounds like you are not really eating that much when you wake up so that is good. I tend to eat more calories than that. I wish I had an answer as to how to stop it. It doesn't seem like I can break it with sheer will power because I have tried and do really well during the day, but it is like sleep eating and short of locking the fridge and pantry I'm not sure what to do either.
  • Mediocrates55
    Mediocrates55 Posts: 326 Member
    Options
    BFDeal wrote: »
    pincushion14 wrote: »
    My goodness, I did this for the first time in about three years last week. We had a cake in the house from my neighbor's little girl's birthday party. Woke up juuuust enough to amble into the kitchen butt-*kitten* nekkid, cut a LARGE slice, and down about 3/4 of it before I finished waking up and realized what I'd done. I can't keep sweets in the house for this very reason. Since it's something small and calorically insignificant, I'd leave an extra hundred calories on your day just in case you do get up and snack.
    How YOU doin'?????

    Clothed and cakeless, unfortunately! LOL :D
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Options
    This is a shot in the dark but IIRC this is a side effect of Ambien. Are you taking it?
  • LeonCX
    LeonCX Posts: 862 Member
    Options
    What I did might sound crazy, but I put a bicycle chain around my refrigerator and locked it, and put the key out in the car trunk. It was enough to keep me from putting on clothes and going outside in the middle of the night to retrieve the key. It worked. Night eating is simply a habit, and can be broken like any bad habit.
  • NiftyPineapple914
    NiftyPineapple914 Posts: 16 Member
    Options
    id keep a small amount of a vanilla sugarfree protein shake or hard boiled egg whites to hand. at least theyre super filling, low cal and wont spike your sugar.
  • ephiemarie
    ephiemarie Posts: 264 Member
    Options
    I do the same thing. It started during one of my pregnancies since I had the munchies and had to pee so much at night. I still do it almost nightly, usually around 4:30 a.m. when I wake up to use the bathroom (or when the dog wakes me up because she needs to go). I don't wake up because I'm hungry, and if I were to stop and really think about it, I'm generally NOT actually hungry at that time. I think it's partially a bad habit, and--as weird as this sounds--a way to combat the yucky morning breath taste in my mouth before crawling back into bed for another hour or two.

    Typically I'll grab a graham cracker or a 90-calorie granola bar. I don't log those calories, which I justify by not logging more strenuous activities of daily (cleaning, hauling in a bunch of groceries, etc.).
  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
    Options
    Maybe get tested for diabetes? Using the restroom 3-4 times per night isn't normal.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
    Options
    LeonCX wrote: »
    What I did might sound crazy, but I put a bicycle chain around my refrigerator and locked it, and put the key out in the car trunk. It was enough to keep me from putting on clothes and going outside in the middle of the night to retrieve the key. It worked. Night eating is simply a habit, and can be broken like any bad habit.

    Awesome!
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    Options
    You can quit doing it if you like, or you can just plan for it and eat accordingly the rest of the day.
  • shai74
    shai74 Posts: 512 Member
    Options
    Don't keep crap in your house. Cut up a heap of vege sticks or something to keep in a container, and eat those. If you're serious fill out your diary every day, losing weight doesn't work on estimates.

    I don't think peeing 3 or 4 times a night is that bad, I go probably 3 times. But I drink a fair bit of coffee during the day. And I've had two kids.

Categories