Starving at Night

magerum

Eat more at night. I eat 2/3 (or more) of my calories in the last two hours before bed, right up to the point of going to bed, on most nights.

BoxerBrawler

Yeah I have gone through this terribly as well and it was a result of not eating enough and not spacing out my meals and snacks appropriately. It doesn't happen anymore due to sheer will power. If that doesn't work, I just got to bed. I find that if I'm not truly hungry and just want a snack because of a craving or something, once I have one small snack, that turns into two, then three, then four, then the next thing you know I've consumed a ton of calories and I'm still not satisfied. Its just not worth it. So when the feeling comes up I usually make myself a strong cup of hot tea (decaf), sip it slow, chew a piece of gum, pick up a magazine, get into a movie and I remind myself that the guilt I'll feel after is just not worth the few minutes of satisfaction I'd have in the moment. I always take 10 to 15 minutes and try to think about my stomach... is it grumbling? Am I really truly hungry? Am I bored? Tired? Thirsty? I try to really figure it out first. Usually by the time I am done analyzing I forget that I wanted to snack in the first place. Also, I don't keep snacks in my house and if there ARE snacks in my house, like left over from people bringing them over or something I simply walk out the door and dump the bag for the animals outside. If there is nothing to snack on it's pretty impossible to snack. If I am truly hungry some of my choices are baby carrots, a plain non fat Greek yogurt with a little stevia or P2B mixed in, some air popped pop corn... I can't do the cereal thing because if I have one bowl I am eating he entire box! I always try to leave calories in my day for a potential snack later at night. Nine times out of ten, just knowing that I can have a snack and fit it within my calories stops me from even having one. It's funny but once you give yourself permission you don't want it as bad anymore. Good luck.

lindsey1979

How many calories are you eating right now? How big is your deficit? What are your macros? Are you getting all your micros?

I ask these questions because I can think of a couple different scenarios that may be the case if this is true hunger (and not boredom or an emotional triggers):

(1) You're not getting all the nutrition you need, so your body is still craving foods to get those nutrients. This may be the case if you have a lot of empty calories in your diet from processed or heavily sugar laden foods. If this is the case and swap out some of those foods for more nutritionally dense ones (think dark green veggies, good proteins, good fats, etc.), your cravings may dissipate.

(2) You're not eating enough calories, period. If your deficit is too large, this may be your body's way of trying to tell you to eat more as it needs more fuel. That's why the calories/deficit information is needed.

(3) You may be someone that simply needs more protein and that's why you're getting those cravings. How much protein are you getting? I personally aim for 0.7 g per 1 lb body weight as that amount has been shown to maintain or reduce lean body mass in a caloric deficit (i.e. I'll lose more fat versus muscle).

(4) You may have a carb sensitivity issue that you're not aware of -- like insulin resistance. Some people are sensitive to carbs, especially high glycemic carbs, and so when they eat a certain amount, they want more and more of them (likely because of the excess insulin response). So, folks like this (and I'm one of them) do well to reduce their carb intake, especially of the high glycemic carbs (sugar, white flour, certain fruits, etc.). I personally keep my overall carbs in the 100g range or less per day and always have either fat or protein with them. And, for me, this has greatly reduced my carvings for carbs and makes it much easier to stay within my calorie goals.

Just my thoughts on the situation.