Sabotaging myself at night

Joelley1007

ill keep this short and to the point. All day I do well with tracking my food and drink at least 64 oz of water minimum , but aim for more. I am up late and usually don't lay down until 12 or 1 am. It seems like I get so hungry at night to the point nothing satisfies me. I can eat something fall asleep and then wake up a short bit later hungry again and eat. since I drink a lot of water I'm constantly waking up to walk to the bathroom and want to grab a snack as well. Any suggestions of how to cut down on late night / middle of the night snacking ? It frustrates me that all day I eat well and watch everything thst enters my mouth just to go over my calories at night .

k2mexox

When do you stop drinking? Maybe stop drinking water just after dinner? And eat a high protein or fiber snack 1/2 hour before bed?

Chrisparadise579

Hey great job on the water consumption that is the hardest part for some people! So a have 2 main tips for you. 1 is honestly if you arent doing anything important at night then just go to sleep, most of the time when I get hungry late at night I just go to sleep to avoid any temptation. 2 Is it could be sommething wrong with your diet, either too few calories or too many simple carbs, not enough protein, to help with that I need alittle bit more info though. either way keep working hard at it, your mind is stronger then your body remember that. great job so far

Elsie_Brownraisin

Can you organise your calories so that you have a lot more in the evening? I often use over half of them after 7pm.

And drinking less water in the evenings as someone has suggested above, so you that you have unbroken sleep?

My_Butt

I do really good during the day, and as soon as I stop for movie night, I just want to 'bored' eat. So I save 30 calories every night for a hot cup of tea to sip during the movie. It tricks my mouth and stomach.

slw19

can you open your diary so we can see your pattern? maybe you need to break a bad habit or you are just not eating enough during the day. easier to make suggestions if you open your diary.

tycho_mx

I'm part of the same boat. My main issue is overeating at night after training. Ugh. That is the one thing holding me back at this point.

I should just go to bed

Docbanana2002

It won't hurt your weight loss to eat at night, just budget your calories differently so that more are available during that time. Maybe eat your meals at different times too, so they are spread throughout your waking hours better. No reason to have dinner at 5pm just because someone who sleeps at 9pm does that. Set dinner at 9pm if you are a night owl.

Or just go to bed earlier, sleep deprivation can make you a bit more hungry.

scookbey

I eat at night too but I have learned that it's all mental. I would grab anything just to satisfy me before I get into bed and then I will regret the decision the next day (whatever I eat after 12am, I log it for that day so it takes away from what I can eat later on that same day). I've realized that I just need to break the habit and mental cycle and not eat if I am not hungry. If I AM HUNGRY, I would grab some fruit in the fridge or a fruit bar and then finally go to sleep. Although I am logging for the next day at 12am, the caloric intake is still low. I was told that tofu, wheat bread and low-carb/sugar fruit were guilt-free.

ana3067

Elsie_Brownraisin wrote: »

Can you organise your calories so that you have a lot more in the evening? I often use over half of them after 7pm.

And drinking less water in the evenings as someone has suggested above, so you that you have unbroken sleep?

Agree with this. I'll eat around half of my day's calories in the evening, usually after 5pm. So that's a 5ish hour window usually of eating 1000 calories, or even fewer hours. Works better for me, I stopped setting a calorie goal per meal and just eat however much I feel like eating in the morning and at lunch, and naturally developed this pattern.

Joelley1007

Thanks for all the replies! I fairly new to MFP been logging close to 2 weeks. If I eat after 12 am should I log For the next day? Another issue I need to work on is logging my late night snacking, so I know how much I actually consumed instead of estimating the next day. By the time I'm done dinner I typically have consumed 1000-1200 calories. I'm allowed 1800. I Also work out 5 days a week for 30-45 mins. I wear a HRM , but subtract 50-75 calories for good measure. I don't know if I'm allowed to eat them back I read somewhere you can eat 200 Cals back. Please no judging but I drink 2 shakes for breakfast and lunch and eat 400-600 calories at dinner, plus snacks. The reason I am drinking the shakes is because I am Learning to eat healthy and slowly changing my eating habits. I am a food addict/emotional eater , I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted, majority was junk food. I never followed the 3 meals 3 snacks. So since I am new to this , the shakes make is not as intimidating and easy to follow. I can't drink shakes for the rest of my life , it's just a stepping stone to learn healthy eating and portion control .

vivmom2014

Nothing wrong with shakes. I have a pumpkin protein shake for lunch almost every single day. Not giving that up anytime soon! I save on calories so that I can have more at night. The suggestion of "just go to bed" is a good one; I don't need to stay up so late and start dreaming up (pardon the pun) things to eat.

gothchiq

Is there any way possible you can retrain yourself to go to bed at 10 PM? I find that if I stay up past ten, I tend to get hungry again and overindulge as well. Might want to slow down on the water after dinner.

rayrayfitz

Random and probably nothing, it may be worth getting your sugar levels checked if you're peeing in the night and drinking lots. I'm sure it's fine, but you never know, hunger and thist/peeing lots at night can be a sign of diabetes. X

Joelley1007

I am planning to get some Labs done because I've had this peeing issue for a while. Doesn't matter when I stop drinking I'm up at least 3-4 times sometimes more. Thanks!

Holla4mom

I drink a smoothie for breakfast but have to have an early lunch because I am really hungry by then. If you are not eating any solid food for lunch or breakfast than you may feel like you are starving by the time it gets dark.

I have (had?) the same problem with eating over my calories after 10:00. Now, I budget 900 calories of my 1600 for dinner and nighttime snack. I save atleast 300 for the night time snack and find something filling that fits in. I leave that out and then DH locks the pantry and fridge for me. I've been doing that for a few weeks and after 3 years of night time overeating, I'm not doing it now. I just have too much pride (so far) to unlock the fridge and pantry and when I get ravenous, 300 calories of oatmeal/banana/ apples, or 2 slices of my homemade key lime pie or "strawberry cheesecake" are very filling to me. It's getting tougher as it gets closer to TOM, but having a physical barrier/ deterrent might help you too. (Disclaimer: If you have a history of ED issues than this might not be good. I've had a pretty good relationship overall with food most of my life so this doesn't 'trigger' anything for me.)

melitosis

Joelley1007 wrote: »

By the time I'm done dinner I typically have consumed 1000-1200 calories. I'm allowed 1800...I am a food addict/emotional eater , I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted, majority was junk food.

600-800 calories for after dinner snacking actually gives you quite a bit of wiggle room. I recommend stocking your cupboards with snacks like popcorn, rice cakes, fibre 1 lemon bars and brownies (90 calorie portions)...and other low calorie but delicious snacks! Find these and you could easily budget another 5-6 snacks throughout the night before you hit 1800. :-)

Lefty1290

I also struggle with this. I love chocolate and sugar and after dinner is when I want to snack and have sweets. My mom works in the evenings at a donut shop and comes home at 11 PM-1 AM with donuts and other unhealthy foods like boneless wings; hello, temptation and possible binging. What I do is I stay away from her while she's eating. I also ask myself if I really want to eat. Sometimes, my stomach growls at night and I ignore it and go to sleep.

jk1889

I'm this way, I can eat and eat at diner and still go back for more. What helps me most of the time is, my "snack" will be something I don't love. But it is a quick option. Must have volume, most recently it's a bag of steam-able Broccoli 15oz for 125 cal. It doesn't always work. But is is an option. And it's better then diving in to that bacon in the fridge.

Liftng4Lis

Start logging to include that late night snack, or stop drinking water two hours before bed.

Joelley1007

Another thing I need to work on is logging my snacks after dinner and or late night. All day I log before I even put a bite in my mouth , but at night I just eat without logging. It's something I need to work on. I'll have to go to the grocery store and stock up on low calorie snacks, thanks for the yummy suggestions. My boyfriend loves candy and Always has it right next to the bed . Maybe I'll tell him just to take to bed a handful or so of candy and leave the rest downstairs. I've gotten way better , but sometimes I'll still eat a few pieces because it's there. Sweets are my weakness.

jnv7594

Joelley1007 wrote: »

ill keep this short and to the point. All day I do well with tracking my food and drink at least 64 oz of water minimum , but aim for more. I am up late and usually don't lay down until 12 or 1 am. It seems like I get so hungry at night to the point nothing satisfies me. I can eat something fall asleep and then wake up a short bit later hungry again and eat. since I drink a lot of water I'm constantly waking up to walk to the bathroom and want to grab a snack as well. Any suggestions of how to cut down on late night / middle of the night snacking ? It frustrates me that all day I eat well and watch everything thst enters my mouth just to go over my calories at night .

I agree with those that say organize your calories so you can eat more at night. This is how I do it, and I have been doing it this way for 6 months and have lost 70 pounds. The time of day you eat doesn't really matter. What I do is eat a late breakfast because I'm really not hungry in the a.m. I usually don't even eat breakfast until around 11 or noon, so I guess it could even be considered lunch, lol. I eat a small meal then, a small afternoon snack. I eat lunch when most are getting ready to eat dinner, and then I don't eat dinner until between 9 and 10 p.m. This has completely solved my problem of evening binges. I would say I eat more than half of my daily calories between 4 and 10 p.m. on most days. I realize everyone has their own schedules, but maybe try something similar and see if it helps you. I had to play around with my eating schedule a bit before I found what worked for me, but saving most of my calories for night time has been a life saver for me. I always did that anyway before I started losing weight. I would hardly eat all day, and then I would stuff myself at night. Well, it's still how I prefer to eat aside from the stuffing myself part. Now I do it but stay within a certain amount of calories.

Shanairah1991

Like someone else said, in the evenings after dinner if I am laying in bed watching TV I often get bored hungry. I will go make myself a huge cup of tea. It's something to occupy your hands and it can have any taste you desire, tricking you into thinking you're eating something. If you want it a bit sweeter, instead of sugar, add some honey! It tastes delicious. Plus, besides the honey, it's really only water so you'll be getting more of that in, which I personally struggle with.