Night time eating habit

Viktorija34

Hello,

I need some advice as I feel I am failing terribly at this. One of my previous jobs working hours used to be 3pm to 11pm so I used to end up having dinner at midnight. My routine has changed since and I now work standard hours but my habit of eating at midnight is still there.

Throughout the day, I am logging food and all is going well but come 10pm or 11pm and I feel hungry even though I've eaten dinner.

I need to re-train myself from night time eating. I would appreciate any advice on what to snack on at this time of night that does not have a lot of calories? Or do I just go hungry and try not to eat at night time? What do I do? How do I conquer feeling hungry late at night?

maureenkhilde

If you still have calories to eat, then there is not an issue with having something to eat that late.
I often have a snack of nuts around midnight, as I have saved calories for them.
Have you tried drinking a glass of water maybe a bit before late at night to give the sensation of being full?

Actually I saw there is a challenge going on for stopping late night snacking you could read up on that and consider joining it.

Viktorija34

Thank you, I will look into it.

brenn24179

I drink, whether water or tea, drink fills me up. I never eat at night any more, it was a bad habit but my husb cannot seem to give it up either, I make him go somewhere else with his food.

Viktorija34

I will try water and tea and no food.

suzycreamcheese

I always need to eat something before I go to bed otherwise I wake up hungry in the night. I think needing supper is quite normal, and it might just be worth working it into your day to save some calories for it. Even if its just a yoghurt or a banana

lalalacroix

How many calories are you eating daily and what time do you have dinner?

Viktorija34

lalalacroix wrote: »

How many calories are you eating daily and what time do you have dinner?

The app was giving me 1740 to lose 0.5kg a week. So it is enough not to feel hungry. I have dinner around 17:30

I've changed settings to lose .075kg a week and I can eat 1450 calories a day. I think I'll just have dinner a bit later and stick to water and tea later on at night.

Viktorija34

suzycreamcheese wrote: »

I always need to eat something before I go to bed otherwise I wake up hungry in the night. I think needing supper is quite normal, and it might just be worth working it into your day to save some calories for it. Even if its just a yoghurt or a banana

Thank you, makes sense.

Diatonic12

@Viktorija34 Here's some more ideas for you to try.

Drinking stock/cuppa soup

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/44608039#Comment_44608039

Viktorija34

Diatonic12 wrote: »

@Viktorija34 Here's some more ideas for you to try.

Drinking stock/cuppa soup

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/44608039#Comment_44608039

Thank you!

PAV8888

Hmmm .... I'll be a bit shamefaced here because this is something that I have not really managed to change; just something that I'm managing within the context of my overall calories

And, if I get to feel particularly cold either because I was sitting down too long or having wet /frozen feet like the other day... quite often all bets are off at that point and I end with a large overage for the day.

Since I don't have any trouble sleeping with a relatively full stomach... I basically consume about half my daily calories during the last meal of the day which is often around or after midnight.

About the only time that midnight meals are smaller for me are if I had that level of calories late in the day (say a 9 p.m. dinner or something) at which point I might not even eat anything or just grab something small on my way to brushing teeth and jumping in bed.

During a time where I was experimenting with higher volume lower-calorie stuff, some of my favourite midnight snacks were in the 3-400 calorie range and I still use quite a few of them today as go to late night meals!

kimny72

I need to have a late night snack or I have trouble getting to sleep. I pre-log a 100-200 cal snack first thing in the morning so I have those cals left at the end of the day. If the day doesn't go as planned I'll try a 40 cal square of dark chocolate with a cup of tea, or a Coke Zero.

Viktorija34

PAV8888 wrote: »

Hmmm .... I'll be a bit shamefaced here because this is something that I have not really managed to change; just something that I'm managing within the context of my overall calories

And, if I get to feel particularly cold either because I was sitting down too long or having wet /frozen feet like the other day... quite often all bets are off at that point and I end with a large overage for the day.

Since I don't have any trouble sleeping with a relatively full stomach... I basically consume about half my daily calories during the last meal of the day which is often around or after midnight.

About the only time that midnight meals are smaller for me are if I had that level of calories late in the day (say a 9 p.m. dinner or something) at which point I might not even eat anything or just grab something small on my way to brushing teeth and jumping in bed.

During a time where I was experimenting with higher volume lower-calorie stuff, some of my favourite midnight snacks were in the 3-400 calorie range and I still use quite a few of them today as go to late night meals!

Oh wow, that's different way of managing calories. I presume you are still losing weight managing diet this way? Perhaps this is something I should try! Now that's an idea 🙂

Viktorija34

kimny72 wrote: »

I need to have a late night snack or I have trouble getting to sleep. I pre-log a 100-200 cal snack first thing in the morning so I have those cals left at the end of the day. If the day doesn't go as planned I'll try a 40 cal square of dark chocolate with a cup of tea, or a Coke Zero.

I think I'll do something similar, pre-log 100 or 200cals for late evening snack. Never thought of this before, this is a great idea. Thank you!

PAV8888

I'm maintaining now / at most making small changes within a small range

During weight loss I mostly spaced food so as to be as close as I could but not over the edge of being too hungry before my next intake. That was partially in self-defense as I logged everything by weight before eating it (and sometimes changed it if I didn't like where the logging was going)

A 650g tub of 0% sucralose sweetened yogurt with 10-20g of all bran buds or similar high fiber cereal and 1-3g of cinnamon or unsweetened cocoa is just under 300 Cal 😹

Viktorija34

PAV8888 wrote: »

I'm maintaining now / at most making small changes within a small range

During weight loss I mostly spaced food so as to be as close as I could but not over the edge of being too hungry before my next intake. That was partially in self-defense as I logged everything by weight before eating it (and sometimes changed it if I didn't like where the logging was going)

A 650g tub of 0% sucralose sweetened yogurt with 10-20g of all bran buds or similar high fiber cereal and 1-3g of cinnamon or unsweetened cocoa is just under 300 Cal 😹

That's great, you already achieved your goal! Well done and thank you for the advice, it is always very useful! Thank you.