Late Night Snacking Help

mama_cattt

I have a bad habit of eating unhealthy snacks right before bed or even in the middle of the night. I wake up craving something sweet or salty, and wind up eating a lot of unhealthy foods for no reason. Unfortunately, eating fruit or another healthy substitute doesn't fulfill the craving. I'm not even hungry, so ideally, I want to cut out late night snacking entirely.

Any ideas?

mommy_gigi

How about a chocolate or strawberry protein shake? Get one that is lower on the sugar end but tastes like you are cheating!

LoupGarouTFTs

I've recently started keeping sugar-free cookies in the house. They are sweet enough to sooth my cravings and are low in calories. Murray's makes some really good ones--to me, the Voortman's cookies have a bit of a bitter aftertaste.

SugaryLynx

Is there a particular reason you feel you need to cut out the late night snacking? There's nothing wrong with it.

There's no such thing as unhealthy foods. There's unhealthy diets (those that are comprised of an unbalanced macro/micronutrients). If you're getting a proper amount of protein, fat, fiber and carbs there's nothing wrong with any particular food.

Make the food you love fit into your day and don't deprive yourself. You're working hard to make better habits and find something sustainable, I assume and I'm thinking those foods you're trying to avoid will eventually make their way back, so why not learn how to portion them in to your day?

leggup

First, are you getting all of your calories for the day? Try to eat at (or just under) your daily calorie recommendations. If you have fewer than 40 lbs to lose, aim for less than 2 lb loss per week. You could be having cravings because you're at too much of a calorie deficit.

Do you brush and floss every night, right before bed? That would be my motivator for not getting up in the middle of the night and snacking. Give yourself a firm cutoff (like 8 pm) after which snacks don't exist.

Finally, if you want something sweet, have something sweet! Just build it into your daily calories and eat it with dinner.

mama_cattt

I don't feel like I'm depriving myself during the day - even days when I indulge a bit more than I should in snacks, I still wake up wanting something. I'm not at all hungry, just craving salty or sugary foods.

saynay18

Waking up in the middle of the night to eat sounds like less of a diet issue and more of a sleep issue! That does not seem normal! lol Late night snacking, before bed, is one thing. But it does not seem healthy to wake up to eat. I don't know...

I would say that if you can consciously refrain yourself from eating in the middle of the night....you should stop.

As far as evening snacking goes...I've accepted the fact that I need to work a late night snack into my diet. As soon as my kids go to bed, and I get my work done and sit down on the couch...I want to eat something. It's part of my relaxation for the day! So, I've got to work it in and fit it into my calorie goals!

Also, I might suggest removing those unhealthy sugary and salty foods from your house. If they're not there, you can't eat em! Good luck!

Nedra19455

Low-cal popcorn is a good way to cut my cravings for salt. 100-cal packs of snack foods also help -- I like Snackwells chocolate covered pretzels because they satisfy my sweet and salty cravings at the same time. I find that if I have a portioned-out amount of a snack, it helps me a lot. I've never opened a second 100-cal pack -- it just seems wasteful. But I would totally be guilty of measuring out a cup of popcorn from a big bag and then saying, "I'll just measure out half a cup more..."

ninerbuff

I have a bad habit of eating unhealthy snacks right before bed or even in the middle of the night. I wake up craving something sweet or salty, and wind up eating a lot of unhealthy foods for no reason. Unfortunately, eating fruit or another healthy substitute doesn't fulfill the craving. I'm not even hungry, so ideally, I want to cut out late night snacking entirely.

Any ideas?

How about saving calories for them? I eat up to 11:30pm every night, hit the sack at 12:00am and am up by 7:00am then next morning and don't eat again till 12:00pm.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

redhead217

One thing I've started doing that has helped me is clicking that "Complete this Entry" button both on my Food Diary, and in my head. Once I click that, I am done eating for the day. It's really easy for me to get in the habit of eating something sweet in the evening, regardless of whether or not I'm hungry. For me, it's a habit and I think it's all in my head, and by mentally closing my diary for the day seems to help. If it fits in your calorie budget for the day though, I say go for it! I do! But once I click that button, I'm done.

mama_cattt

Thanks for all the suggestions and helpful comments everyone!

onefortyone

I went cold turkey. I completed my diary at 7pm, and had no more snacks. I challenged myself for a week, and pretty much did it (except the one night where I was up late and had calories left). I think I broke the back of the snacking animal. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't want to have smaller suppers to feed my snacking addiction. So I just quit.

Now, I work 6-10pm, so I'm invariably hungry by the time I get home from work, so I plan my calories so I can eat something before bed. But I don't have the impulsive urge to snack on unhealthy junk any more while mindlessly watching TV (most days lol).