Managing evening hunger and sleep

Raegold

How does everyone manage their hunger at night? I usually save calories for a bedtime snack, but I'm still starving when I go to bed, and it makes it hard to fall asleep. Any tips?

tinkerbellang83

Try tweaking your macros if you're not feeling satisfied by what you're eating.

kshama2001

Sure, being hungry at bedtime is a recipe for disaster for me. If I do manage to go to sleep, I'll wake up hungry in the middle of the night, and won't be able to get back to sleep unless I eat something. Too much interrupted sleep can really throw me off for the next day.

Now that I realize I like to eat more at night, I eat less during the day to save my calories for night.

I need to make sure what I eat after bedtime is satiating to me however. I used to save calories for ice cream, until I figured out it just made me hungrier.

Also, my base calories just aren't enough. I need to have hundreds of exercise calories as well in order to feel satisfied.

quiksylver296

I push breakfast back as far as absolutely possible, usually about 9:30. I keep it lower calorie. Same with lunch. I usually have around 1000 calories left for dinner and dessert, which insures I am full at bed time. I also go to bed early (because my alarm clock goes off at 3:45 to get to the gym).

wxlaw

I go to gym at night, usually I don't feel like eating after exercising so I won't really starve before going to bed.

thechiopodist

Eat more later. Dinner is always my biggest meal.

leggup

Dinner is my largest meal in terms of calories, but also volume. I often have late night workouts. If I'm hungry after, herbal tea and pounding water and the hunger waves usually subside.

kommodevaran

It shouldn't be a problem. If you eat enough food (enough calories to maintain a healthy weight, or losing no more than 1% of your bodyweight weekly, and having excess fat) and good quality food (balanced and varied), any sensation of hunger is in your head, and can be ignored. If you are so hungry that you can't sleep, you have to look at those things - are you eating enough, calories and nutrients?

You can also play around with meal timing, but that is less important. There are no hard and fast rules, so you'll get one kind of advice from the "don't eat after 6PM!" crew and the opposite, just as emphatically, from "don't miss your bedtime snack!" contenders.

_mr_b

Try looking at the composition of what you’re eating and try and increase protein and fibre - these will make you feel fuller for longer.

RunStart34

I think it depends on the foods your eating. You might be eating high calorie foods that aren't filling. Or just food that isn't filling in general. Green tea usually helps with controlling your appetite as well.

lauraslinn947

I have half a banana before bed. I can’t sleep if I’m hungry!

cwolfman13

I eat dinner around 8:30PM

hope516

if you know you are eating enough it might be that you are not actually hungry but thirsty.

feliciaboots

Personally I try to go for protein when I late evening/midnight snack. It often 'feels' heavy enough to allow me to go back to bed. To that end I usually try to cook extra protein during dinner and store it in the fridge.

midlomel1971

When I'm super-hungry at night, I usually have a tiny bowl of cereal (like Cheerios or Kashi GoLean)....usually in a coffee mug...with some skim milk. That usually does the trick.

Raegold

Thanks everyone! I'm going to try saving more calories for the evening and see if that works. My bedtime snack the past couple of nights is Ezekiel bread with 1 TB of peanut butter, 1/3 of a banana, drizzle of honey plus 2 cooked egg whites. It seems like it would be enough but I guess I need more! I'll try a smaller breakfast and save those calories

SoDamnHungry

Dinner is also my biggest meal. And a bedtime snack is a must so I'd set aside more calories if yours is making you hungry. Are you lacking in fat, carbs, fiber, or protein? One or more of those could be your problem. Or just the snack being to small.

mlrtri

We eat dinner early because we have young kids. I initially tried changing my evening habits. Instead of having a snack and watching TV after the kids are in bed I exercise or read a book and sip green tea. I feel it's a better use of my time, anyway. But some nights I was still really hungry and when I thought about it I realized I was going 12-13 hours between dinner -> breakfast. I have recently been doing a small, preplanned snack in the early evening. I don't always eat it but if I am hungry then I know what I can eat and it isn't just a crazy fridge/pantry raid I have added that in for my kids, too. I used to "close the kitchen" after dinner was finished and the kitchen cleaned up. But now I offer them a protein snack. Sometimes they take it other times they don't. I don't know if it's the right thing to do but it keeps us from mindlessly snacking.

Raegold

mlrtri wrote: »

We eat dinner early because we have young kids. I initially tried changing my evening habits. Instead of having a snack and watching TV after the kids are in bed I exercise or read a book and sip green tea. I feel it's a better use of my time, anyway. But some nights I was still really hungry and when I thought about it I realized I was going 12-13 hours between dinner -> breakfast. I have recently been doing a small, preplanned snack in the early evening. I don't always eat it but if I am hungry then I know what I can eat and it isn't just a crazy fridge/pantry raid I have added that in for my kids, too. I used to "close the kitchen" after dinner was finished and the kitchen cleaned up. But now I offer them a protein snack. Sometimes they take it other times they don't. I don't know if it's the right thing to do but it keeps us from mindlessly snacking.

Yeah, my dinner is super early because of kids! We usually eat at like 5:30. Maybe I should even have a smaller dinner and a bigger evening snack.

mlrtri

We eat dinner around 5:30 as well. That is a long stretch before bed and even longer until breakfast. I just leave some calories available for a snack and it seems to help. I want to lose this extra weight and keep it off. So I know I have to be able to live with these changes long term. Fighting hunger every night was difficult. Preplanning a snack and allowing for the calories is totally doable long term. So that's my plan.

Sp1tfire

You could try volume eating lower cal foods during the day to allow for nighttime eating. I save around 1000 cals for dinner + evening snacks.