HELP: Need advice on foods that fill you up for longer, and how to curb eating late at night!

dawn_motley

Hi All,

So I'm still pretty new to MFP and getting used to training my body to accept less calories each day. I find that I'm still feeling very hungry late at night... even if I eat a nutritious tea like fresh turkey and veg casserole, 2 hours later my brain is telling me I'm hungry again and so I want to head to the kitchen - it's really frustrating as I have a lot of weight to lose! ><

So I would really appreciate any tips from people who often have evening/late night munchies like I do - are there any low calorie snacks, appetite depressant supplements/teas I can try? Or even just foods that will fill me up for longer throughout the day and so will help to curb my snack cravings?

I try to drink herbal teas or stick to light hot chocolate powders late as night, but still sometimes find I'm eating bread sticks and noodles after that! ><

Thanks,
Dawn.

brenn24179

I eat a lot of soup and beans this time of yr in the cold weather. I chew gum at night or sometimes if real hungry have yogurt, cottage cheese. Coffee and tea help. Peanut butter fills me up.

clarion_r

Leave some calories over so you can have a snack after dinner. I usually have a protein shake with fruit/oats after dinner which fills me up until bed.

There's no real need to avoid eating after dinner other than preference, as long as your calories will cover it.

arditarose

Piece of meat

ILiftHeavyAcrylics

I usually leave myself some calories for an evening snack. For satiety most people recommend fat and protein. Fiber helps as well.

MKEgal

Protein & fat help with hunger. So does drinking water.
Can you eat dinner a bit later?
For healthful snacks...: lowfat cheese, nonfat yogurt, hard boiled egg, veggies dipped in hummus (or nonfat ranch dressing), a piece of lowfat meat (maybe rolled up with that cheese?), even put a T of peanut butter on a couple celery sticks

ThePhoenixIsRising

MKEgal wrote: »

Protein & fat help with hunger. So does drinking water.
Can you eat dinner a bit later?
For healthful snacks...: lowfat cheese, nonfat yogurt, hard boiled egg, veggies dipped in hummus (or nonfat ranch dressing), a piece of lowfat meat (maybe rolled up with that cheese?), even put a T of peanut butter on a couple celery sticks

Fat helps with hunger, but you suggest low and nonfat items?

RodaRose

Try eating more for your tea.
Soup is a great idea and might work better than the herbal tea/ light hot chocolate.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2128765/

Normally what fills you up: protein, fats and oil, food with fiber.
Some people here have an apple with peanut butter for a snack (contains fiber, fat, protein). A piece of cheese or some nuts also will work with the apple or other piece of fruit.
Tonight for a snack, I had two cooked eggs cooked in one tablespoon of butter.

Gmemacho

Eat healthy food when you hungry but in small portion...

celtic_thistle

You're eating too many carbs throughout the day. High-fat foods and high-fiber foods keep you fuller for longer. Low-fat and nonfat options are not good for you and are often filled with extra sugar. They make no difference calorie-wise; choosing a full-fat option will keep you full.

SnuggleSmacks

You might try to figure out if you're actually hungry, as in needing more calories, or if you're feeling as if you're hungry for some other reason.

Many people think they're hungry when they're actually thirsty, which is why drinking a glass of water often helps.

Many people think they're hungry when they're really bored. Find something to do which activates your brain, like reading a good book.

Many people think they're hungry out of habit. If you're used to a late-night snack, then your brain is simply expecting it, and interprets signals from your stomach accordingly.

Regardless, you have a few options: As others mentioned, you could save some calories for a snack. Or you could pay attention to the macros and quantity of your dinner...eating later, including more protein, fiber and fat, and saving more calories for dinner so it can be bigger might also work. Also, you can try downing that glass of water and taking a walk, or going somewhere away from food. Take a bubble bath and then go to bed early. If you're not tired, take a walk around the block. If it's cold, rainy, unsafe, whatever...go to the nearest 24 hour store and walk around (just don't buy any food unless it's a single serving of some good snack like yogurt).

AdlaiJN

Breaking the habit of eating a snack late at night/right before bedtime is hard for me too. Take it one day at a time and feel good about the nights when you skip snacking, as I did last night. Other suggestions here are good. I find that protein sticks with me longer. Good luck, stick with it!

dawn_motley

Thanks for all of your replies ladies, I will certainly keep reading these and try changing my habits! xx

Torontonius

Stay away from crap like hot chocolate powders and other "frankenfoods". Replace the hot chocolate w/ green tea.

First thing you need to do is recalibrate your hormones with your diet. You probably eat too many carbs and have fluctuations in blood sugar that make you hungry at night. Slow-release carbs like oatmeal and sweet potatoes, and green leafy vegetables should make up 90% of the carbs you eat in a day and you should be front-loading your carbs into your earlier meals.

If you can, try to eat 4-5 or even 6 small meals a day vs. 3 meals, keeps your blood sugar constant.

I also highly recommend you get 40/40/20 of your calories from carbs/protein/fats. You can adjust your MFP ratios to help you along.

Best foods to stay "full":

- broccoli (steamed is more palatable than raw, w/ a little no-salt seasoning and tabasco if you don't mind spicy)
- raw pumpkin seeds. High in calories but high in nutrients too, and if they fit with your macros you're fine.
- spoonful of natural peanut butter
- non-fat greek yogurt. I get mine at Costco, mix it with some frozen blueberries and a scoop of protein powder

as someone else mentioned, make sure you drink a lot of water. dehydration often masquerades as hunger.

good luck. it's not hard to stop just requires commitment and discipline.

Patttience

Firstly i suggest that you may be cutting your calories too severely and this is partly why you are hungry.
Secondly go to bed early. Its normal to get a bit peckish in the evenings when you are on a diet because this is when you are not busy enough to get about your hunger. But if you go to bed early say before 10pm but maybe even around 9pm, you should be able to avoid this hunger altogether.
Your meal is fine but if you need more to eat, have some fruit. You should feel satisfied at the end of your meal. Keep your after dinner snacks low calorie.

Definiteley do not eat the bread stuff. Why not, because if you are eating throughout the day, its usually during the night when your calorie deficit comes into force and when you actually burn more fat as part of your metabolic process. If you keep feeding yourself, you won't have a chance to burn off any fat because you won't have a calorie deficit.

XxCaz89xX

arditarose wrote: »

Piece of meat

Agreed.... anything protein ie. ham slices, hard boiled egg .etc.

Kalikel

Are you hungry or do you just want to eat? Huge difference there. If you just want to eat and it's a matter of habit, break the habit. Stop eating at night and eventually it will be normal to not eat at night.

If you're actually hungry at night, there are lots of options!

Work more healthy food into your diet. You get to eat a LOT more food when you're eating is healthy!

Skip the early meal and add another meal later.

Eat more filling food, like fiber. Meat is good, too.

Cut your evening meal in half and then have the other half two hours later, when you're hungry again. Maybe five or six small meals a day would work better for you than 2-3 big ones.

You have to find what works for you. Good luck!

dbmata

Curb eating late at night:
1. Don't eat.
2. Brush your teeth and go to bed.

It's ok to feel hunger.

Fill you up foods:
Protein.
Fat.

When I don't feel like a meal, but I'm a might bit peckish in the morning, I'll have a spoon of peanut butter, or bulletproof coffee. Good amount of fats will keep me good to go until afternoon.

At the end of the day though, it's as simple as just discipline. Also, cut out the hot chocolate.

dawn_motley

some more good points, thanks all!

Torontonius

what are your macros? if you are always hungry you may have insulin sensitivity issues, if that's the case you might want to reduce your carb intake and increase your fat and protein intake. MFP defaults 50/30/20 carbs/prot/fat. I would suggest 30/40/30. You'll be more satiated and have fewer swings in blood sugar.

Get most of your carbs from vegetables. Broccoli is great, it's filling and packed with nutrition.

Francl27

The ONLY thing that works for me on days when I'm really hungry.... 100g of raw baby carrots. Yes I'm turning into one of those people who eat rabbit food to lose weight but by the time I'm done with those, I'm full for a couple hours.

Protein and fat on those days do NOTHING for me.