need help not eating at night

sicknature2120

Ok so i need help not eating at night i diet good through out the day but when night falls it seems like my brain tells me i need food and i'm hungry help me please i need motivation add me

Azuriaz

Things that have worked for me:

Go to bed early
A nighttime stroll around the neighborhood or dancing to something loud and obnoxious (neighbors and family members permitting)
Hot Peppermint Tea (doesn't have caffeine in it)
Going for a drive (watch out for drive thrus)
Going to the bookstore or somewhere else that closes late
Eating a proper meal later in the day
A good book or video game (TV tends to make me want to munch)
A craft or hobby that keeps you and your hands busy. Hard to eat without your hands free

vegangela_

Would having your main meal late in the evening help?
Or eating less during the day so you can have a few extra calories of an evening so you can snack?

onthemesa

There is no reason not to eat at night. I like eating at night, even right before bed. Save calories through the day, perhaps 100 from every meal, and you can have something later on. Also if you are out of calories, I have found tea to be a life saver.

cityruss

Time your food intake so the above doesn't happen.

I consume a large proportion of my calories in the evening/night because thats what works for me.

PinkPixiexox

cityruss wrote: »

Time your food intake so the above doesn't happen.

I consume a large proportion of my calories in the evening/night because thats what works for me.

This! :]

Set some calories aside for a small night-time meal or snack, this'll hopefully reduce your night time hunger.

As well as that, get some early nights in so you don't sit up and mindlessly think about what you can eat or find something you enjoy doing that you can do at night time. For me, it's reading! I like to switch off and read a few chapters of my book before I go to bed. Distract yourself - food isn't the only thing available! Good luck

jls1mum

I eat in the evenings through boredom
One of the things that work for me is to sit there with a bottle of water and if i finish it i refil it

sashayoung72

I eat light all day and then have my biggest meal at night along with a snack later. you have the whole 24 hours, all that nonsense about don't eat after 5, blah blah is junk. So if you want to eat dinner at 8 so you don't overeat at night it's ok!

suziecue20

I don't have dinner til 8ish and it's always a filling one so I don't want to graze before bed.

auddii

Agree with others that you can time your calorie intake to when you are most hungry. You can try setting aside a few hundred for a Lat night sback, or you could try having a larger dinner. Personally, I eat relatively few calories during the day and more than half of my calories I eat after lunch. I also skip breakfast because I'm not usually hungry earlier in the day.

The other thing is to make sure your deficit isn't too aggressive; yes you could lose faster, but it might be difficult for you to sustain it. I can't see your profile because I'm on my phone, but I would think two pounds per week would be a reasonable goal for you.

WBB55

Another vote for saving calories for the evening. You might also find you need smaller breakfasts once you regularly have a sensible night time snack

Tahlia68

It doesn't matter what time you eat as long as you stick to CI<CO. I eat late at night and it hasn't affected my weight loss. Good luck eat and enjoy.

Liftng4Lis

Prelog your days and make sure you're getting enough fats and protein for satiety.

umayster

sicknature2120 wrote: »

Ok so i need help not eating at night i diet good through out the day but when night falls it seems like my brain tells me i need food and i'm hungry help me please i need motivation add me

Eating at night is fine, so I'm guessing you are going over calories with your choices or are feeling out of control?

If so, can you just go to bed earlier? My decision making on food gets really bad when tired, REALLY bad, so aiming for earlier bed time solves it!

jmills204

Lots of great advice so far, but I'll add that milk based foods have been very useful to me. I have struggled with night feedings for years, and would often wake up hungry at 3 AM and raid the fridge. Mostly healthy foods, but still calories are calories and I really struggled. What I do now is budget my meal planning out so I have a few hundred calories I can use late, and I'll have a cup of cottage cheese or maybe a Low/no fat Greek Yogurt (mixed with a little Protein powder sometimes...depends on where I am w macros) on my way to bed. Literally minutes before I lay down. If I'm bulking, I'll even have a couple tbls of natural peanut butter and a cup of whole milk.

But, I'm not sure where your specific struggle is. Are you hungry and already at your target calories at night? Do you struggle with waking up hungry? Are you concerned with the old "don't eat x after 6 PM" or whatever?

dljones67

suziecue20 wrote: »

I don't have dinner til 8ish and it's always a filling one so I don't want to graze before bed.

Same here 7p-8p, as I tend to fix family's dinner then mine. I also IF for 14-16 hours just because I'm not hungry until 11-12. Coffee is enough with decreased SF creamer. Down to 1 Tbs now, just can't do black yet. If I haven't reached my daily calorie goal then I'll have 2 SF pudding pops (80 cals), serving of unsalted almonds (160 cals) or a protein/fiber bar (190 cals). Love my premier protein chocolate mint bar 15g protein & 7g fiber. Tastes like a candy bar to me, a real treat. Yum! You can check my diary if it helps, I've tried to increase protein & fat, decrease but not eliminate my liquor . Working on other macros. You can can do it

sicknature2120

Thanks for the advice everyone i really appreciate it

must_deflate

It helps me to have something to drink at hand. Usually that's iced tea (unsweetened) or some kind of herbal tea.

JillStepanik

A lot of it could be habit, other part boredom... Maybe hunger. Try chewing gum, brushing your teeth.

Habits are hard to break, train your body to either have the willpower or save just enough calories for a light snack.

fail to plan, plan to fail

cebreisch

Like others have said, it could be habit, boredom, actual hunger, could be a lot of things. I've noticed lately that if I don't have enough protein or fiber during the day I get hungry at night.

I've also found that on nights that I've already spent my calories, that as long as I make "reasonably healthy choices", it really won't hurt me much overall on my weight loss that week. I try to stick with protein - might have a serving of pretzels. I will drink a bottle of water to make sure It isn't dehydration.

It's not really a willpower thing - it's a discipline thing. Just like when you learned to drive - you practiced. Practice having heathier snacks, and it'll become second nature. Or practice not having snacks. Either way is fine - it's all about learning better ways to handle this path.

vapeanut28

If you are used to or just feel the need to munch while watching tv, eat something that is a little labor intensive. Carrots seem to take forever for me to chew up so a few carrot sticks can last me a long time and are lo cal. Air popped popcorn eaten 1 piece at a time is another good one. Neither is about filled you up but satisfying that need for something crunchy

If I know its going to be one of "those" days, I'll go ahead and log a snack for later and just work with what I have left for my meals. A couple of times I've done that and forgotten about it. What a wonderful surprise to look at my diary and realize I still have a snack coming to me.

MamaMollyT

Have a cup of tea. If you eat chose raw veggies. Also go to bed early. It helps with night time cravings caused by grehlin.

kshama2001

I budget to have 200-300 calories before bed. Otherwise I wake up hungry at 3 ~ 4 AM.

daniwilford

I pre-log my bedtime snack, so I make sure I have calories left for it. I eat larger amount of calories at night. I have about 1/2 of my daily protein for my evening meal with lots of fiber, 50 or more grams of green salad, and another 100 grams of healthy vegetables . This helps me to stay full so I am less tempted.

cnbbnc

cityruss wrote: »

Time your food intake so the above doesn't happen.

I consume a large proportion of my calories in the evening/night because thats what works for me.

^^
Yup. I generally do this too. I'm always good with food during the day but I've always been a nighttime eater.... That's what I'm home, which has the most potential for trouble!

I tend to eat lighter during the day, eat an average dinner, and then still have about 300 calories left after that to have a dessert. If evening is when you want to do your eating, then simply tailor your plan that way.

kommodevaran

If you eat too little early in the day, you'll need more later in the day. "Dieting good" is nonsense. Motivation fades.

1. Make sure you aren't cutting calories too much, intentionally or unintentionally. Aim for a realistic loss per week. Weigh everything you eat, double check database entries, and log it. Don't have "cheat days".

2. Make sure you are getting adequate nutrition for your calories. Hit your protein goal. Eat fruit and vegetables. Eat as much food you can prepared form real ingredients. Have a varied diet of foods from every food group every day.

3. Make sure you aren't depriving yourself mentally. Do not cut out anything you like or force yourself to eat things you don't like. Most food can be part of a healthy diet.

4. Plan your meals in advance. Find out if you prefer to eat lots of small meals or one or two big meals per day.

5. If you still feel hungry after these steps, you need to learn to separate cravings from hunger, and to distract yourself to ignore cravings. "The Hunger Scale" has helped me a lot. Eating is a lot about habits, and habits can be changed.

6. Even though weight loss is a simple process, the implementation can be difficult. But you can make it more or less difficult. If something is unclear - ask. Seek information. Ask the forum, ask your doctor.

JBcat123

at night I eat carrots. for 8 oz its only 35 calories. if I really need to munch I get carrots and I feel full after words.