Late Night Eating? Oh noes

jigsawxyouth

As a member who has been on and off this thing, I'm turning to this forum to see if anyone else has the same problem (and possibly suggestions) with one of my main vices with food.

Waking up in the middle of the night to eat. (Which, over time, these incidents have been dubbed as "snack attacks", they usually only last 15 to 20 minutes)
Yup. I normally go to bed around 9-10 pm. I usually wake up around midnight, or one in the morning, and raid the fridge. However, in the past few months, I wake up AGAIN around 4ish, and do it! I've learned to not keep food like potato chips, cookies, sliced deli cheese, and other things, in my apartment (oh how I miss pepperjack cheese). I also tried to get HEALTHIER snack foods (low fat string cheese, hummus, low fat wheat crackers, etc) but even with these, I eat them so late in the evening.

i understand that everyone is different, so me asking what causes this is pointless. But I am really interested in ways to deter myself from doing this, if other people have this problem. Any suggestions would be helpful! Thanks!

jojoworks

wow, this is a new one for me, I've never really thought about it in the context of this weight loss effort although I have a sister-in-law who does the same thing. Whenever they come for a visit I stock the fridge for her late night sessions. I'm wondering if you need some sort of lighting to go off or buzzer that goes off if you walk into the kitchen at night....something to jolt your mind out of the pattern its been in. Maybe when you get up you should just go brush your teeth instead? Are you truly hungry or is this pattern of eating just a habit? Do you count the late night calories? Do they put you over your goal? Maybe you just level out your daytime eating to accommodate your nighttime calorie intake?

good luck!!!
JoJo

Brooklyn84

I have a few suggestions....(take or leave)

1) Take a mild sleep aid. If you are waking up in the middle of the night it may be due to problems sleeping. I'd look for a natural sleep aid, something light and non-addictive and see if that helps you get through the night sans snacking.

2) Prepare healthy low-calorie snacks for the fridge that you can grab when your snack attacks occur. Chop up some cucumber and add a tablespoon of light Italian dressing or a little salt and pepper...slice some fresh tomato or chop up some fruit. Something your body can easily digest that doesn't have starch or bread in it, that way at least your not hurting your progress too much.

3) Fight it. This may sound a little raw, but you may just need to be strong and fight it. It's not going to help in your weight quest to snack in the middle of the night, you know this. Getting healthy is about changing your habits, not pacifying them. So you may just have to fight through the midnight snacking temptation for a few weeks until it becomes habit.

Good Luck! :flowerforyou:

adamtall

ive had that happen to me alot and the thing that fixed it for me is when i started eating better i started sleeping better and now i just sleep though the night.

i dont know if your the same way as me but when i got up it was almost like it was a race to eat as much as i could to so i could go back to bed feeling full or satisfied or whatever and now if i get up at night i drink a glass of skim milk and that seems to fill me up instead of the 300 or so callories i was eating before

yvette8377

The only way i got myself of that was to stop keeping unhealthy snack in my apartment. I stopped buying them

defygravity531

Huh. This is kind of new for me. Thoughts...... this is a total fire hazard but you could baracade yourself in your room so you have to take the time to get out and hopefully by the time you do you'll ''come to your senses''. Maybe havea set snack that you allow yourself to eat at that time? Prepare it beforehand and know that when it's gone, it's gone and you'll go back to bed? I've heard of some people locking up their fridge and cabinets. You could keep the key in the mailbox or something so you'd have to go outside in the middle of the night to get it? Not sure. It sounds pretty severe though so I wish you lots of luck.

CuteAndCurvy83

I could very well be a pattern now. I got into that for a bit and had to force myself out of it, I'd go to bed at like 9 and wake up around 1 or 2 and just grab a few cookies or lunch meat or something already made, and I'd eat it and go right back to sleep. Maybe try just getting a big glass of water when you wake up? I just forced myself to stay in bed and go back to sleep and promised myself I could have whatever It was that I wanted in the morning, and usually by that time the craving was gone.

husker73

I not a doc but hae done a lot of reading about sleep issues. Now a days it seems like we have very busy lifestyles and it tends to keep our minds at 100 mph. I am in the military and with our busy schedule i am always learns of ways to get better sleep. i think if you could get long continous sleep that would help your midnight eating. The things that help me get a long nights rest is: 1. do some exercise during the day, which will burn off extra energy. 2. Our PA said not to drink any caffine after 4PM if you are going to bed around 10PM. and 3. Try to get to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time. Hope this helps....BTS

mr_ashley

I don't really wake up and do it. And I don't usually wake up, but when I do, it's because I'm really hungry, and it's not just psychological. So, I'm thinking that you're body may not be getting enough of the right kinds of filling foods during that day, so it's waking you up to eat.

Now, I'm not a doctor. But I did sleep in a Holiday Inn last night.

Otherwise, I do share the evening snack attacks that are probably keeping me soft in the middle. It's my biggest problem. I stay busy during the day, so eating isn't really a big problem, though I do get breakfast, lunch, and a snack. I don't skip meals, and I don't overeat at those meals. But I snack. And I snack. And I snack.

I second the posters who recommend healthier choices.

jigsawxyouth

WOW! I'm surprised at all the responses I have gotten on this! I'm most defiantly keeping these suggestions in mind.
It was also suggested by other people I've been talking to, that me not eating "good" carbs can play a role in this. Me being a vegetarian, I know I eat a lot of carbs. And I know that fiber and protein keep you feeling fuller longer.

When I had all the old foods that I used in my snack attacks, I would go over my caloric intake DRAMATICALLY. Now, I can easily have a serving of crackers and hummus, and keep that alone under 200 calories. I make sure I have breakfast, even when I'm not hungry, and eat meals and snacks when I should. I have hyperglycemia, so I have to use food to keep my blood sugar high enough, but I don't feel like my blood sugar is low when I eat in the middle of the night (that usually happens around 2 in the afternoon when I've been at work all day)

However, it's good knowing that I'm not the only one who has these snack attacks. Thanks again, everyone, for the tips!