NIGHT EATER!!!!

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Masyn88
Masyn88 Posts: 1,650 Member
in Getting Started
I know how to lose weight. I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad..... but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner. Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!

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  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
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    Masyn88 wrote: »
    I know how to lose weight.
    I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad.....
    Nope. Nope.
    but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner.
    Are you eating enough? Enough calories, and balanced and varied, and added breastfeeding calories, if you breastfeed?
    Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!
    Is it cravings, or are you hungry?
  • Hanna10679
    Hanna10679 Posts: 35 Member
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    I used to be really bad at night with eating. I have insomnia most of the time and every time I would wake up I would feel like I needed to eat something. Particularly sugar foods. I set a time for myself that I wouldn't eat after. Even though I felt like I needed to eat I would tell myself that I could eat at 6am the earliest. Usually if I made it through the night without eating junk it would motivate me to not eat junk at 6am.

    Best of luck. It's a hard habit to break.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
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    In moderate portions, sugar is not bad. Also, eating at night is okay. Perhaps you are restricting yourself so much during the day that you get hungry at night or crave what you've been avoiding, or experience a mix of both. Lower calorie substitutions for sweets like Enlightened or Halo Top ice cream may help, and you can always eat a smaller portion of regular sweets.
  • lois1231
    lois1231 Posts: 331 Member
    edited February 2018
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    I agree it is a tough habit to break. I am notorious for eating in night and in bed. As soon as i am in bed and relaxed I get this voice in my head telling me to go get food. I have had this habit for years and am slowly trying to break it. Night eating is where most of my calories would come from. If I want something I will allow myself an ounce of cheese or a couple of dark truffles as long as they fit within my calories counts. I also have been scattering my meals throughout the day more, eating more protein, drinking more water. I find for me that chewing on a pice of sugarless gum also helps. I am doing pretty good with this. I only have given in to eating in bed 3 times which is amazing for me. If I do give in, I don’t beat myself up over it. I just try to do better the next day. It is not bad to eat at night as long as you stay within your calories
  • mabearof6
    mabearof6 Posts: 684 Member
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    I don't have any newborns anymore, but I do have a kiddo with health issues that requires me to get up 3 times a night. I tend to snack at night.....I just leave calories for night time snacking. It didn't hinder my weight loss.
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,493 Member
    edited February 2018
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    As long as you budget your calories for night eating there’s nothing wrong with it. Ive eaten 70-95% (depending on if I’m hungry during day) of my calories from 9-2am for years with no issues losing and now maintaining for years.
  • ladyhusker39
    ladyhusker39 Posts: 1,406 Member
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    Masyn88 wrote: »
    I know how to lose weight. I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad..... but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner. Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!

    I hope you're not eating a calorie deficit while nursing. The standard wisdom is the eat at your maintenance calories and let breastfeeding create a deficit. If you're not fueling yourself, you will very likely start to see problems with your milk production.
  • aik633
    aik633 Posts: 17 Member
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    There's nothing inherently wrong with eating at night, but if you don't want to eat at night just stop. It's not about a way to get rid of Cravings, it's a you need a way to break that habit. Just don't eat at night tonight. Go back to bed happy with yourself control.
  • aik633
    aik633 Posts: 17 Member
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    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    Masyn88 wrote: »
    I know how to lose weight. I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad..... but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner. Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!

    I hope you're not eating a calorie deficit while nursing. The standard wisdom is the eat at your maintenance calories and let breastfeeding create a deficit. If you're not fueling yourself, you will very likely start to see problems with your milk production.

    Milk production is all about supply and demand not about eating a bunch. The number one factor in determining Supply is baby on nipple. Plenty of women lose weight while breastfeeding it's one of the benefits. Do you think they're losing weight by not eating at a caloric deficit?
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
    edited February 2018
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    I gave up not eating at night, because I can't sleep if I'm hungry. Usually I budget a fiber one bar over night, and a bite or two of that settles everything for me. Generally I go through 2/3rds a bar a night.
  • Momepro
    Momepro Posts: 1,509 Member
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    aik633 wrote: »
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    Masyn88 wrote: »
    I know how to lose weight. I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad..... but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner. Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!

    I hope you're not eating a calorie deficit while nursing. The standard wisdom is the eat at your maintenance calories and let breastfeeding create a deficit. If you're not fueling yourself, you will very likely start to see problems with your milk production.

    Milk production is all about supply and demand not about eating a bunch. The number one factor in determining Supply is baby on nipple. Plenty of women lose weight while breastfeeding it's one of the benefits. Do you think they're losing weight by not eating at a caloric deficit?

    I'm not sure what you mean here. They are at a calorie deficit if they are losing weight. Which is why they shouldn't be cutting back even further. It's not healthy, and could end up with inferior milk, from lowered nutrition to mom, and/or Mom getting sick from not eating enough.
  • aik633
    aik633 Posts: 17 Member
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    Momepro wrote: »
    aik633 wrote: »
    ladyhusker39 wrote: »
    Masyn88 wrote: »
    I know how to lose weight. I know sugar us bad. I know eating at night is bad..... but why am I SO HUNGRY at NIGHT? I get up to feed the newborn twice nightly and always find myself in the cupboards EVEN IF I've eaten a proper dinner. Has anybody found a way to work through this kind of craving? THANKS!

    I hope you're not eating a calorie deficit while nursing. The standard wisdom is the eat at your maintenance calories and let breastfeeding create a deficit. If you're not fueling yourself, you will very likely start to see problems with your milk production.

    Milk production is all about supply and demand not about eating a bunch. The number one factor in determining Supply is baby on nipple. Plenty of women lose weight while breastfeeding it's one of the benefits. Do you think they're losing weight by not eating at a caloric deficit?

    I'm not sure what you mean here. They are at a calorie deficit if they are losing weight. Which is why they shouldn't be cutting back even further. It's not healthy, and could end up with inferior milk, from lowered nutrition to mom, and/or Mom getting sick from not eating enough.

    I guess i will let my wife know that our kids had inferior milk? Four years of breastfeeding for nothing because she doubled down on weight loss.
  • bee_bee8
    bee_bee8 Posts: 96 Member
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    Noreenmarie1234 wrote: »
    As long as you budget your calories for night eating there’s nothing wrong with it. Ive eaten 70-95% (depending on if I’m hungry during day) of my calories from 9-2am for years with no issues losing and now maintaining for years.

    ^^ This. You could try to stop snacking at night, but it would be just as effective to reallocate your calorie consumption. I am a night eater and always have been - I eat my first meal of the day around 1-2 pm, small dinner around 7-8 pm and spend the rest of the evening snacking. I'm careful to stay within my calorie limit and have had no issues losing.
  • tammybarnett1
    tammybarnett1 Posts: 6 Member
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    I completely understand, as does every nutritionist I've ever seen. It is a super common problem. All the experts know that, what they don't know is why we are driven to eat more at night or how to fix it. The "you need to eat more during the day" answer seems to be only a small part of the cause. It's a big area of current research. See this latest article from the New York Times: "Binge Eating at Night..." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/well/eat/binge-eating-at-night-your-hormones-may-be-to-blame.html
  • PrincessTinyheart
    PrincessTinyheart Posts: 679 Member
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    Totally unrelated but when I saw the title of this thread I heard The Bee Gees song " Night Fever" in my head...

    She's a night eater, night eater / She knows how to chew it...
  • fitdragon484
    fitdragon484 Posts: 46 Member
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    I had the same struggle.A friend suggested to start IF and keep my calories for the evening. It helps a little bit.I don't eat until 4pm,and than until 11pm I eat all my calories. But have to sayy hormones played big role there.I realized I can't control the evening overeating from the day my ovulation starts until few days aftery period start
    So basically for 18 days lol
  • ServusChristi
    ServusChristi Posts: 98 Member
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    Flavor Bombs. That's what I call stuff like California Hot Mix, Pickled Okra, Pickled Onions, etc. Even jumbo garlic -stuffed green olives, though now you can get into calories if you have more than one. Anyhow, these tend to knock out my appetite when I have the munchies.
  • mortuseon_
    mortuseon_ Posts: 257 Member
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    ServusChristi wrote: »
    Flavor Bombs. That's what I call stuff like California Hot Mix, Pickled Okra, Pickled Onions, etc. Even jumbo garlic -stuffed green olives, though now you can get into calories if you have more than one. Anyhow, these tend to knock out my appetite when I have the munchies.

    Yes!! More ideas for this: kimchi, cornichons, salted seaweed, even capers...all of these are salty, briny, often crunchy, but don't have too many calories. I guess it depends what you are craving, but these sorts of foods are really handy for times like that.
  • Masyn88
    Masyn88 Posts: 1,650 Member
    edited February 2018
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    Thanks for the input everybody! I agree with 90 % of yas.

    To clarify I am NOT breastfeeding.

    Hearing your ideas has helped me ask myself some good questions.

    I know I eat enough during the day. I know at night it's more cravings than hunger and that YES sugar is the worst option at that time of night.

    I realized it's likely due to a drastic change in diet recently as my spouse is very ill. I don't know how I couldn't put the two together! I guess I'm still adjusting and craving the foods I was eating so recently.

    I am going to use 100% will power to over come this as, with all things, nothing good comes without hard work.

    Thanks everybody!

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