two dirty words... midnight snacks

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Christie23
Christie23 Posts: 357 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, so I know they're probably not wise, for all intensive purposes. But they HAPPEN! I even read somewhere that eating the right kind of snack late at night can help keep your metabolism up and running while you sleep. My question is what are some good late night snack options?

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  • jenferan
    jenferan Posts: 2
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    I'm a late night snacker myself and its never stalled my weight loss - if you are REALLY HUNGRY and not just fancying a biscuit from habit. I try to eat something that will at least be beneficial - carbs to help me sleep for example. I have a small banana on wholemeal bread or Whole Earth peanut butter on a couple of crackers - enough to still the hunger pangs but not sabotage the calorie total!
  • BBruins12
    BBruins12 Posts: 10 Member
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    Bananas are good, Not only will the potassium give you energy in the AM, but they have very few calories which is breeeety sweet...I usually go with fruit as it's digested rather easily and it's like eating candy that's healthy for you...just make sure you don't get the garbage that's in a can asthe calorie intake will be small like real fruit., but no matter what anyone says, high fructose corn syrup is terrible for you.

    Other than that i've found that broccoli or other greens fill you up fairly well, and sometimes even just a glass of milk does it for me.

    Hope it helps!
    -K :bigsmile:
  • Pete_Mann
    Pete_Mann Posts: 94
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    I'm hoping a bowl of cereal is a good one, because that's what I find myself eating most of all :smile:

    I definitely fall into that area. I wake up in the middle of the night starving. I have been told that I should grab a couple glasses of water and see if that cures it, but I find myself just reaching for the cereal bowl.
  • RodgerBuckley
    RodgerBuckley Posts: 48 Member
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    Jammie Wagon Wheels swilled down with a large measure of Vodka and Coke with Ice - love it :D

    ON a more realistic note, I really am a midnight feaster, but as of yesterday I stopped doing it (I hope). My personal view is that when your body is at rest - as in asleep - the only calories it requires are those to keep the organs ticking over, so anything you do eat at midnight isn't necessarily going to get burned overnight. Despite what you may read, is it really worth taking the risk? Eating late at night is only a habit anyway, so just break the habit !!! Not only will it save you having to burn off those extra calories the next day, but it will also save you money too - so it's win-win ;0)
  • SparklyButterflies
    SparklyButterflies Posts: 17
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    I was recently told you shouldnt eat fruit on an empty stomach as it ferments as it is digested slowly, hence will make you bloat and feel uncomfy.

    Anyway, on the midnight snack front, i work a lot of night shifts so have taken to having some low fat hummous with carrot sticks/celery. Not huge amount but enough to starve away the hunger. Also a good bowl of porridge really fills you up nicely! Add some raisons etc if you want a sweet taste to it
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
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    if you go from 23:55 to 00:05 can you split your calories over two days? ;) Only joking - its a bad idea however you're looking at it unless you are working a night shift!
  • justincantwell
    justincantwell Posts: 7 Member
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    I personally choose and have other choose, low fat cottage cheese. It has only a few carbs and fat but also has quite bit of some good, slow breaking down, protein (casein), which is great especially if you are doing a good resistance program like you should be. 1/2 cup is under 100 calories too :)
  • Christie23
    Christie23 Posts: 357 Member
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    I'm hoping a bowl of cereal is a good one, because that's what I find myself eating most of all :smile:

    I definitely fall into that area. I wake up in the middle of the night starving. I have been told that I should grab a couple glasses of water and see if that cures it, but I find myself just reaching for the cereal bowl.

    Me too!! A bowl of cereal is always what I want most of all in the middle of the night. And I eat healthy cereal, but I always feel so guilty because I end up not logging it, since I closed out the day, and I worry about the carbs right before bed...
  • Uberpookie
    Uberpookie Posts: 4
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    I do a casein protein shake at night. It supposed to help keep your body feeding on fat on fat and not muscle when you go for a long time without food like when your sleeping. Im on a 1200 calorie diet and other than the protein shake I don't eat 3 hrs before bed and I try to get at least 6-7 hrs of sleep a night. Drinking casein keeps me full all night and I wake up feeling lean but not starving.
  • Angelbum31
    Angelbum31 Posts: 5
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    Me too I have the same problem I turn in to the honey monster in the middle of the night 
  • Ajaay
    Ajaay Posts: 70 Member
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    google 'hungry girl' I watched her cooking show and loved it. She swaps high calorie snacks for lower calorie ways to have the same thing. My son made her brownie muffins and they were quite good.
  • londoneye
    londoneye Posts: 192 Member
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    The expression is 'for all intents and purposes', not 'for all intensive purposes'. I don't say that to be pedantic! I just thought you might like to know ;)
  • ChristieisReady
    ChristieisReady Posts: 708 Member
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    I was recently told you shouldnt eat fruit on an empty stomach as it ferments as it is digested slowly, hence will make you bloat and feel uncomfy.

    This isn't true. Stomach acid doesn't allow fermenting. Fruit's a great thing to eat on its own.

    Anyway, here's an article on midnight snacks, approved by an MD with a masters in Public Health (I don't really know what that means, but it sounds good).

    http://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/healthy-midnight-snacks.aspx
  • ChristieisReady
    ChristieisReady Posts: 708 Member
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    I do a casein protein shake at night. It supposed to help keep your body feeding on fat on fat and not muscle when you go for a long time without food like when your sleeping.

    Your body ONLY feeds on muscle when you work out long (5 + hours) and HARD (think marathon) and only WHILE you're in an anaerobic state. It can be avoided with proper hydration and nutrition prior to the workout. Most of us will never, ever actually metabolize muscle. I know you probably heard this from a trainer. I heard it from my 19-year0old trainer. He was adorable and wrong.

    It sucks how much misinformation we have to wade through. :flowerforyou:
  • Pete_Mann
    Pete_Mann Posts: 94
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    I'm good about logging the midnight munchies. I even made a seperate meal category for them in my Food Journal just so I can run reports off of my midnight missteps.

    I took a look at the link ChristieisReady posted and good news:

    "Other ideas for healthy midnight snacks include a piece of fruit, a bowl of berries, a cup of popcorn, low-fat yogurt, crackers with low-fat cheese, or cereal and skim milk."

    I've been eating Cheerioes and Life cereal, both of which are pretty good nutritionally.

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