Cravings at night time

beerice91

I have an easy time eating healthy daytime. But 2 hours after my evening workout & protein shake(dinner) I get so hungry. Any snacks that can help considering it's night time already and I'll be going to sleep?!
Thanks

snickerscharlie

Re-organise your day and leave some calories for night time snacks. There's no issue (from a weight management perspective) eating before bedtime. It's all about how much you eat, not when you eat it.

Also, instead of a shake for dinner, try eating real food instead? For me, liquids aren't satiating. I need food.

princess0lexi

yogurt is light and easy

kshama2001

beerice91 wrote: »

I have an easy time eating healthy daytime. But 2 hours after my evening workout & protein shake(dinner) I get so hungry. Any snacks that can help considering it's night time already and I'll be going to sleep?!
Thanks

What weekly weight loss goal did you set and how many pounds do you need to lose total? Many of us set overly aggressive weight loss goals at first. It's quite likely you're hungry because you're not eating enough.

Dinner is my biggest meal of the day and I also budget calories for a bed time snack.

sullus

I used to eat dinner at around 6 .. nighttime hungry horrors were a big issue for me. Now, I eat dinner at around 8, and its less of an issue. If you are eating well already, a simple timing adjustment could make the difference.

I agree with snickerscharlie above too. I dont think I could ever call a protein shake a meal. Maybe you could construct a meal with similar nutritional properties as the shake and that would do the trick.

Your diary is not open, so it's hard to give you any kind of a definitive answer here, just some "maybes".

Even if it was open I dont know anyone could give you a definitive answer. There's a lot of trial and error to hit that sweet spot between good nutrition, , lower calories, being really hungry, and all the other factors that come into play.

nosebag1212

a protein shake is not "dinner", it's not even a meal

snickerscharlie

Like me, evening seems to be your hungry time. Whether that's because you're not really eating a dinner or because that's just when you're hungriest is up to you to figure out. Could be a combination of both, too.

What has worked for me is IF - Intermittent Fasting. A fancy name for a simple concept. I do what's known as 16:8 , which means I eat all of my daily calories in an eight hour window, and don't eat for the balance of sixteen hours out of twenty-four. I know that might sound difficult, but if you realize you're asleep for almost half of those sixteen, it's not bad at all.

I've never been a breakfast person. I'm just rarely hungry in the morning. So I skip breakfast entirely, except for my cup of coffee first thing (because coffee!) and then I eat my first meal - lunch - around 1:00 or 2:00. Eliminating breakfast means I have enough calories for a good lunch and dinner, as well as for a few snacks in the evening when I *am* genuinely hungry.

I've been intuitively eating this way for many years - long before Intermittent Fasting had a name or became a "thing." May be something worth trying. After all, what have you got to lose?

namelesshere

Not what you are eating but I find 2 cups iceburg lettuce, 1 roma tomato, 2 slices low fat turkey lunch meat, 1/3 cucumber, 1 fugi apple diced, and a bit of dressing very satisfying. You could mix it up with other vegies if you like but you will find it to be a lot of food for very little calories. Maybe save enough calories for this treat and savor it. I usually grab my current book and munch and eat taking about an hour to devour.

musicfan68

Eat a real meal instead of a protein shake.

kincharles

As others have said, a protein shake is not a meal, It is a supplement. Your body is saying that it wants some real food - so either budget your protein shake earlier (depending on your workout schedule) or re-adjust your caloric intake so that a small meal + protein shake will still be within your allowance. Also you might be either eating far too little overall in the day (being too agressive with your calorie cutting) or you are underestimating how much you are burning off in a day.

Evamutt

I eat most of my calories at dinner, around 6-7 & have a snack at 8pm, otherwise I'd be hungry too