Any tips on how to beat hunger at night?

irelandpringles

I don't know why but at night i become ravenous for some reason and it's so hard to try and not snack! I try eating light fruit/veg and drinking lots of water but the hunger pangs are still there! Anyone any tips on how to keep them under control ? My eating during the day is fine but those night pangs always get me!

dominicgamutan

For me I usually snack on the nights, either portion your meals so you can sneak that snack in or get some low calorie high fiber/content type of foods like oatmeals, yogurt etc for your regular meals.

Mr_Knight

I go to sleep.

irelandpringles

Mr_Knight wrote: »

I go to sleep.

I wish that was the solution but I'm usually so hunger I can't get to sleep! haha

irelandpringles

dominicgamutan wrote: »

For me I usually snack on the nights, either portion your meals so you can sneak that snack in or get some low calorie high fiber/content type of foods like oatmeals, yogurt etc for your regular meals.

Yeah trying my best to try portion everything out you just hear that eating at night packs on the pounds so that's why I'm so conscious of what i eat late at night! Thanks for the reply

Phoenix_Down

deirdrewilson wrote: »

dominicgamutan wrote: »

For me I usually snack on the nights, either portion your meals so you can sneak that snack in or get some low calorie high fiber/content type of foods like oatmeals, yogurt etc for your regular meals.

Yeah trying my best to try portion everything out you just hear that eating at night packs on the pounds so that's why I'm so conscious of what i eat late at night! Thanks for the reply

Totally false. I lost 53 lbs eating up to 1000 calories right before bed. Meal timing is personal preference. Eat when it makes YOU feel best and in a way you can adhere to your diet with

SaraSteeves1993

Casein shake, they fill you up and fuel your body through the night. There is good research out there about taking it at night. I don't personally take it unless I'm starving at night a few hours before I go to sleep

arditarose

Sparking_Spectre wrote: »

deirdrewilson wrote: »

dominicgamutan wrote: »

For me I usually snack on the nights, either portion your meals so you can sneak that snack in or get some low calorie high fiber/content type of foods like oatmeals, yogurt etc for your regular meals.

Yeah trying my best to try portion everything out you just hear that eating at night packs on the pounds so that's why I'm so conscious of what i eat late at night! Thanks for the reply

Totally false. I lost 53 lbs eating up to 1000 calories right before bed. Meal timing is personal preference. Eat when it makes YOU feel best and in a way you can adhere to your diet with

Word. I eat before bed every night.

To help with night time hunger I have a smaller dinner, usually 600 calories at the absolute highest, and then a dessert...or a second dinner. Gotta love a second dinner.

DeWoSa

I eat yogurt, cereal (or granola) and fruit right before I go to bed. There's no way I'd go more than eight hours without eating.

CorlissaEats

Save calories for evening snacking is the easiest way to cope. Or do something focused that involves your hands- like reading, knitting, or a puzzle. Go to bed early. Have a big drink.

Honestly, I frequently save calories, especially if there are chips or treats in the house. Timing of evening meals only matters if you have already consumed your calories for the day or if you have digestion issues. My dinners focus on volume to keep me full, half a plate of steamed veggies cost very few calories and keep you full too.

suzy1220

This doesn't really solve your problem but I brush my teeth after dinner so I don't snack. That's my 'hungry' time too but I think that's a mental thing, not necessarily a physical one. I think I'm so used to eating at night that it's a habit more than anything. If I have calories left I will snack on some Skinny Pop if I feel desperate. Good luck!

47Jacqueline

Make sure I have eaten breakfast. Eat enough at dinner. Brush my teeth. Drink a glass of water. Go to sleep.

maxit

Having something hot works for me - frequently it's 8-10 oz of almond milk nuked with some cinnamon -

dominicgamutan

It's actually better to eat when you're hungry as for me it's less likely that i will binge. You just need to watch the calories mind you haha.

dominicgamutan

If you really can't portion it out appropriately you can do exercises early in the day to give you some allowance for snacking at night remember though that the calories burned are just approximates so maybe eat only 50%-70% of what you burn.

jofjltncb6

deirdrewilson wrote: »

I don't know why but at night i become ravenous for some reason and it's so hard to try and not snack! I try eating light fruit/veg and drinking lots of water but the hunger pangs are still there! Anyone any tips on how to keep them under control ? My eating during the day is fine but those night pangs always get me!

Legit hunger because you're eating under your calorie target or because your calorie target is too low? Solution is to eat.

Eating because you're bored or some other non-actual-hunger-related thing? Do something to take your mind off of it. Exercise is a possibility (although I can't workout before bed). Alternatively, sleep is a great nighttime activity and has all kind of benefits beyond just keeping you from eating.

icrushit

I moved my last meal to 7/ 8pm, and found that helped a lot. Now when I eat at night the odd time, it tends mainly to be for non-hunger reasons.

I've heard casein protein is good for keeping you full overnight, be it from food, eggs/ cottage cheese/ etc, or a shake. Personally I find fat fills me most, so with that final evening meal being high enough in fat and protein, and lower in carbs, I find it equally effective.

One last thing - just make sure you're not eating at night because you're eating too little in general, and then by nighttime the hunger just reaches insane levels.

SilverRose89

deirdrewilson wrote: »

you just hear that eating at night packs on the pounds so that's why I'm so conscious of what i eat late at night! Thanks for the reply

It doesn't matter when you eat, it's the deficit that matters.

SLLRunner

deirdrewilson wrote: »

I don't know why but at night i become ravenous for some reason and it's so hard to try and not snack! I try eating light fruit/veg and drinking lots of water but the hunger pangs are still there! Anyone any tips on how to keep them under control ? My eating during the day is fine but those night pangs always get me!

When I'm hungry at night, I eat. I pre-log a day in advance and make sure I add my nightly snack. Last night it was cottage cheese with blackberries. Filling and delicious!

Make sure you are eating enough during the day, especially at dinner. I generally am really hungry in the mornings so I make sure the bulk of my food is breakfast through lunch, then afternoon on is pretty light. This has nothing to do with weight loss, though, it's one hundred percent preference.

SLLRunner

SaraSteeves1993 wrote: »

Casein shake, they fill you up and fuel your body through the night. There is good research out there about taking it at night. I don't personally take it unless I'm starving at night a few hours before I go to sleep

Your body does not need to be fueled through the night, it fuels all on it's own. Whatever that research is, it's probably all myth. However, in case I'm wrong, can you please post your research links?

SLLRunner

deirdrewilson wrote: »

dominicgamutan wrote: »

For me I usually snack on the nights, either portion your meals so you can sneak that snack in or get some low calorie high fiber/content type of foods like oatmeals, yogurt etc for your regular meals.

Yeah trying my best to try portion everything out you just hear that eating at night packs on the pounds so that's why I'm so conscious of what i eat late at night! Thanks for the reply

100% false.

It doesn't matter when you eat. It's the calorie deficit that causes weight loss.

RoxieDawn

I try to create room in my normal meals to allow that snack. But I have to know in advance what I may want to eat to balance it out and stay in a deficit. It is hard.

I do try to cut off the time I eat the last thing of the day. I know it may be a myth but I did a lot of 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. eating and cutting this out has helped me a lot.

I think this may be more mental but I like knowing I start eating the first thing on a completely empty stomach! I guess I call it - breaking fast in the morning.

Yogurt is awesome but not satisfying for the late night snack. Hot chocolate is about 130 calories and in the winter I like this.

Planning the snack is necessary especially if you are like me and have to have it later on after dinner is over.

malk2651

SLLRunner wrote: »

SaraSteeves1993 wrote: »

Casein shake, they fill you up and fuel your body through the night. There is good research out there about taking it at night. I don't personally take it unless I'm starving at night a few hours before I go to sleep

Your body does not need to be fueled through the night, it fuels all on it's own. Whatever that research is, it's probably all myth. However, in case I'm wrong, can you please post your research links?

I believe they were thinking of "fueling the body" in regards to muscle repair.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22330017

BodyByButter

I don't try to avoid it. I just accept that I like having something to eat closer to bedtime and work it into my day. If you look at my food diary, you'll see that there is something under "snacks" every day that was most likely eaten before bed. I don't snack much throughout the day and I always have calories left over. Last night it was a 100 calorie English muffin, slice of fat free cheese, Egg Beater, milk.

_Waffle_

deirdrewilson wrote: »

Any tips on how to beat hunger at night?

You're trying to avoid over-eating. You're not fighting hunger. People in 3rd world countries are fighting hunger.

Go to sleep, find a book to read. Stop using food as an emotional crutch and find something else to do to pass the time.

lemurcat12

I eat dinner at 9 pm, usually. Never get hungry before bed after that.

I realize this wouldn't work for many people (I simply can't eat earlier most days and sometimes eat even later), but would suggest that if you know you will be hungry after dinner to save calories for a planned snack in the evening, kind of like how I will plan a snack in the late afternoon if I work out mid-day, since I know I will otherwise want to eat something before dinner.

Also, be conscious that it might just be psychological and probably is somewhat (if you are eating a reasonable amount of calories you shouldn't be that hungry at any time). When we are used to eating at a particular time your mind can tell you are hungry then--this happened to me at various times when I first started and stopped as soon as I was used to my new eating schedule. Similarly, lots of time being bored or other emotional things can result in your mind signaling hunger. For many of us it's really easy to get the various signals confused and you have to teach yourself or train yourself out of it.

What I did for my not-really-hungry-but-want-to-eat hunger feelings was either to find something else to do that would get my mind off of it or find something to nibble on that wouldn't involve many calories (like carrots). If it is after a substantial period without eating, though, I'd seriously consider just building in a snack.

NurseCU

_Waffle_ wrote: »

deirdrewilson wrote: »

Any tips on how to beat hunger at night?

You're trying to avoid over-eating. You're not fighting hunger. People in 3rd world countries are fighting hunger.

Go to sleep, find a book to read. Stop using food as an emotional crutch and find something else to do to pass the time.

I need to hear things like this. Tough love.

nickatine

sipping on a light beer slowly.

SingRunTing

I save half of my calories for the evening. I eat half my calories for breakfast and lunch. Then I eat a big dinner and save ~200 calories for a snack around 8:45-9pm. Bed by 10pm.

People don't gain weight because they eat late at night. They gain weight because they mindlessly eat late at night after already consuming their day's worth of calories throughout the day (aka overeating).

I want to second the first world comment above. Chances are you've never experienced real hunger. Our version of hunger is not an emergency. If you're eating the amount of calories you're supposed to, you will not actually starve.

It's ok to be a little hungry once in a while. If you are good and truly hungry, like headaches, nauseous, etc. type hungry, you should eat something, but usually we say we're hungry when we're really not. Most of the time its simply because your body is just used to a lot more food and needs some time to adjust to less food. I've gone to bed feeling "hungry" (stomach rumbling a little) and I wake up not hungry anymore. I actually like to get stomach rumbling hungry now before my meals. It makes them taste so much better and I enjoy eating them more.

eta:
Focus on more satiating foods like protein, fat, and fiber. That will prevent hunger from striking as quickly. But when you first start a diet, almost everyone has a period of time where they are a little hungry.

Try drinking some water and distracting yourself. If you're not actually hungry, you might forget about it.

If you will be eating in an hour, try to wait until the meal to eat. If your next meal is 3 hours away, try waiting a half an hour, drinking some water, then plan and prepare a snack.

I promise, with the right macro settings (your protein/fat/carb ratio) and a little time, you should be able to restrict calories without feeling hungry all the time. If after a week, you're still ravenous, its time to look at the composition of your diet (and doing a sanity check to see if your calorie goal is too low).