Late night binging issue

AnnieLeeSkinee

Hello all

I have always had this problem where I get insanely hungry late at night (usually around 9pm-1am). I try to go to bed at like 10pm so I don't binge but does anyone have any tips on how to avoid binging?

noirelb

Eat dinner around 6 or 7pm?? Not sure if you have kids! I eat at 5pm (i have a 14 month son). Then i work out from 7:30pm to 9pm. Then shower and snack then bed by 10pm. Not much time to binge if you work out. If you cannot work out and eat dinner late than simply eat lower calories food with more fiber through the day so you get a snack at night.

MegaMooseEsq

I've got this issue too, although for me it's tied to drinking. I've been working on understanding the conditions that lead to binging and counter them. I build "big days" into my goals, log every single thing as accurately as possible, change what I have in the house so when I do overeat, at least it's healthier food than it could be. Make sure you're eating enough during the day - maybe plan a small snack for the evenings whether you feel hungry then or not, to try and head off those later munchies. Hot tea at night can be great for getting to sleep and feeling full. In the end, we just have to keep trying and not give up. I went over my goals three days in a row and feel crummy today, but I'm not going to let that get to me! Or at least, I'm going to try and fake it and stick to my dang goals as best I can today, and hopefully tomorrow, and so on and so on.

AnnieLeeSkinee

Thanks you guys! Good ideas. Usually my routine is wake up at about 8am, eat breakfast at 9am, work out, eat lunch at about 1pm, snack at 3pm, eat dinner at 6pm. I'll try eating a cheesestick at like 8pm and some almonds. Maybe that should work. It's so weird, I'm not SUPER hungry until late at night.

katcramer95

I do the same thing. I notice that when I eat a bigger breakfast and lunch that I don't binge as bad.

noirelb

Does this routine mean that you are a stay at home wife or mom or that you don't work during the day?

lks802

Try reading the book Binge No More. I've found it really helpful in tackling binge eating. It's a short, easy read.

bbell1985

I purposely eat dinner at 7:30 with a planned dessert at 9:30. I like eating when I am home at night. I know I'm going to want to do it, so I just pre-log it.

sofchak

I started backloading my meals for the day - adding my evening snack and dinner first, then filling in an afternoon snack, then lunch and whatever calories are left go to breakfast. I've been able to cut 200-250 calories out of breakfast to move into dinner/evening snacks and that helped me a lot with avoiding binging - just knowing that I had a planned evening snack to look forward to was a super helpful mind trick for me.

I also found that eating more foods with fiber (I get about 30-35g of fiber a day now) also helped curb the late night feeling to binge.

Finally, with others in the house it can always be a difficult change, but I started realizing that I simply couldn't keep certain foods in the house or I would binge on it. If you can determine what might be triggering your late night snacking, perhaps remove it from the house temporarily until you can learn to live with the food. If you can't remove the food completely, try to portion control in advance so at least you have to go back to the kitchen for more which might help.

Best of luck!

MegaMooseEsq

noirelb wrote: »

Does this routine mean that you are a stay at home wife or mom or that you don't work during the day?

This is an odd question. I often stay up to 1 am and still get to work by 9 because I live 15 minutes from my office, can get ready in 45 minutes easy and am fine on 7 hours of sleep.

ETA: I missed the OP's second post mentioning working out after a 9 am breakfast. It still seems like a weird question, though.

noirelb

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

noirelb wrote: »

Does this routine mean that you are a stay at home wife or mom or that you don't work during the day?

This is an odd question. I often stay up to 1 am and still get to work by 9 because I live 15 minutes from my office, can get ready in 45 minutes easy and am fine on 7 hours of sleep.

ETA: I missed the OP's second post mentioning working out after a 9 am breakfast. It still seems like a weird question, though.

Yea i guess i should have explained why i was asking her! On days that I don't work...(such as on my maternity leave or work from home days) i feel like i think about food A LOT more. So i was wondering if she stayed home for kids or by herself. For kids...not much you can do but if its by herself, you can find many things to do away from home. I also work out after my boy goas to bed so i have so little time to eaven think of snacking at night that it's not even a problem.

MegaMooseEsq

noirelb wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

noirelb wrote: »

Does this routine mean that you are a stay at home wife or mom or that you don't work during the day?

This is an odd question. I often stay up to 1 am and still get to work by 9 because I live 15 minutes from my office, can get ready in 45 minutes easy and am fine on 7 hours of sleep.

ETA: I missed the OP's second post mentioning working out after a 9 am breakfast. It still seems like a weird question, though.

Yea i guess i should have explained why i was asking her! On days that I don't work...(such as on my maternity leave or work from home days) i feel like i think about food A LOT more. So i was wondering if she stayed home for kids or by herself. For kids...not much you can do but if its by herself, you can find many things to do away from home. I also work out after my boy goas to bed so i have so little time to eaven think of snacking at night that it's not even a problem.

Ah ha, context!

BradleysMommy22

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

I've got this issue too, although for me it's tied to drinking. I've been working on understanding the conditions that lead to binging and counter them. I build "big days" into my goals, log every single thing as accurately as possible, change what I have in the house so when I do overeat, at least it's healthier food than it could be. Make sure you're eating enough during the day - maybe plan a small snack for the evenings whether you feel hungry then or not, to try and head off those later munchies. Hot tea at night can be great for getting to sleep and feeling full. In the end, we just have to keep trying and not give up. I went over my goals three days in a row and feel crummy today, but I'm not going to let that get to me! Or at least, I'm going to try and fake it and stick to my dang goals as best I can today, and hopefully tomorrow, and so on and so on.

I also have this problem. What do you mean by building in big days? I need help, lol.

bbell1985

BradleysMommy22 wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

I've got this issue too, although for me it's tied to drinking. I've been working on understanding the conditions that lead to binging and counter them. I build "big days" into my goals, log every single thing as accurately as possible, change what I have in the house so when I do overeat, at least it's healthier food than it could be. Make sure you're eating enough during the day - maybe plan a small snack for the evenings whether you feel hungry then or not, to try and head off those later munchies. Hot tea at night can be great for getting to sleep and feeling full. In the end, we just have to keep trying and not give up. I went over my goals three days in a row and feel crummy today, but I'm not going to let that get to me! Or at least, I'm going to try and fake it and stick to my dang goals as best I can today, and hopefully tomorrow, and so on and so on.

I also have this problem. What do you mean by building in big days? I need help, lol.

I have a "big day" every week, even in weight loss mode. The important thing about a deficit is that you are IN one, for weeks at a time. But your deficit doesn't have to be the save every day. I will shave off 100 or so calories 5-6 days out of the week, and have 500-600 more calories to eat on a Saturday.

HarlemNY17

A nice protein drink before your eating window is up

MegaMooseEsq

bbell1985 wrote: »

BradleysMommy22 wrote: »

MegaMooseEsq wrote: »

I've got this issue too, although for me it's tied to drinking. I've been working on understanding the conditions that lead to binging and counter them. I build "big days" into my goals, log every single thing as accurately as possible, change what I have in the house so when I do overeat, at least it's healthier food than it could be. Make sure you're eating enough during the day - maybe plan a small snack for the evenings whether you feel hungry then or not, to try and head off those later munchies. Hot tea at night can be great for getting to sleep and feeling full. In the end, we just have to keep trying and not give up. I went over my goals three days in a row and feel crummy today, but I'm not going to let that get to me! Or at least, I'm going to try and fake it and stick to my dang goals as best I can today, and hopefully tomorrow, and so on and so on.

I also have this problem. What do you mean by building in big days? I need help, lol.

I have a "big day" every week, even in weight loss mode. The important thing about a deficit is that you are IN one, for weeks at a time. But your deficit doesn't have to be the save every day. I will shave off 100 or so calories 5-6 days out of the week, and have 500-600 more calories to eat on a Saturday.

Exactly. I basically worked out my largest comfortable deficit and stick to that five days a week, them I can go out and eat over maintenance two days a week and still average out to a deficit for the week. I'm still struggling to keep those two days from turning into three, and to drink and eat less on those nights for broader health reasons, but I have successfully maintained a deficit and continued to lose weight for several months now. Obviously I would lose faster if I did not go out, but that's not a comfortable change for me for the time being.

sczoo26

Why don't you eat your evening meal around 8pm then you wouldn't be hungry? That's the time i normally eat

Grimmerick

I am a evening/night eater, battled it for years until I found out I didn't have to and this works for me. I fast 16:8 in other words I save all my calories for the afternoon/evening/night. I fast until about 12-1pm everday and eat from 12pm-8pm or 1pm to 9pm. I still don't go over my calories but it allows me to eat the most when I am the most hungry. You can lose weight many ways, the bottom line is eating at a calorie deficit. I stopped forcing myself to have breakfast or an early lunch. This works for me and I feel great, you just have to find the eating times that work for you and most importantly stay at your calorie budget.

Graelwyn75

I just eat my evening meal fairly late in the evening and take an individual packet of breakfast biscuits to bed with me. Once I am in my bedroom I don't tend to come out again.

scarlett_k

Have a drink of water (or whatever non alcoholic hydration you wish) a few hours before you go to sleep to make sure it's not thirst getting you feeling like you're hungry. Obviously you dont want to be chugging water straight before bed unless you enjoy getting up in the night!

I usually try to leave my dessert or evening snack til about 9 or 10 if I can, and then have a sugar free mint (or 3 ) or brush my teeth after that as minty food is really not very appealing!

okohjacinda

IF. Set your time to eat later in the day...say 1 or 2pm and then you don't have to stop eating until 9 or 10pm.

Or just eat your heaviest or more calorie dense meal at night or in the evening.

It takes time and at first I needed to snack on something before bed but now its easy for me to go to bed without anything as long as I drink a glass of water. Sometimes (most times for me) that hunger that you feel at night is just thirst.

OhMsDiva

Graelwyn75 wrote: »

I just eat my evening meal fairly late in the evening and take an individual packet of breakfast biscuits to bed with me. Once I am in my bedroom I don't tend to come out again.

That is kinda what I do. I eat little mini meals at work then when I get home I have the bulk of my calories left. I am usually not really hungry when I get home. I eat dinner between 7-8 pm and I have my snacks after that and before bed. I have been doing it for so long that I pretty much know what I can eat for the night, but I also pre-log my evening snacks when I get home for dinner so I know pretty much what I will eat and how many calories I have left. I believe it is a habit for me from years of eating a lot. At least this way get to eat a few snacks and I am good for the night.