Ways to deal with night time cravings?

Aussie4870

im not going to lie...sometimes even thought i have had a great day, worked out and ate right 11pm rolls around and i have terrible cravings to eat stuff that i know i shouldnt...

and its really not that the food would be bad for me...its the amount of food that i end up eating...

does anyone else have these same issues?

if so, how do you cope with them? do you eat? do you just go to bed? do you just have a small amount of something?

HELP!!!

avaloneternal

Some of my favorites are Tofu shirataki noodles with marinara sauce (a whole bowl of pasta for about 70 cals) fresh veggies dipped in mustard (depends on the veggies you choose, and the mustard can be up to 5 cals a tsp depending on the brand)... also, try having a glass of water or piece of gum and waiting 5- 10 minutes. Chances are you will forget you were munchy to begin with. If you are still hungry, eat, your body probably needs it.

brunnemeyer

I am going through the exact same dilemma in my head right now. Had a great day and worked out for the first time in weeks but now it's getting late and I'm getting bored and hungry. I came on here to get my mind off of it and try to find some more motivation.
Seems to be doing the trick for me.

haeden

Do you workout during the am or pm? I found that i did good working out in the morning but then night time would roll around and i have no calories left and i would be sooo hungry. So what i did was start working out at later in the day at like 5 so i would have more calories and it has worked so much better for me. But if im hungry i always eat a small snack just to make me not feel really hungry and sick and then i go to bed.

GTOgirl1969

If I haven't worked out that day, I'll fit in a workout at night (I'm on ChaLEAN Extreme's Burn Phase right now). The exertion diminishes my appetite. If I did get my exercise in earlier in the day, I might have a small amount of whatever it is I'm craving (if it fits into my calories for the day).

DannyMussels

11pm is pretty late

This brings about the 'dont eat after ____pm' debate.

It's not the hour at which you're eating or hungry...it's the fact that you've eaten all your days calories, and you wanna eat MORE.

I usually eat somethin small like 1/2C cottage cheese, cinnamon, sweetner <90cals.

Maybe plan for it? Or try to get to bed by 10 or so

If you do snack, keep it to 150 calories or less. Or brush your teeth, cause nothing'll taste good, then head to bed.

jersey222

I have an odd but consistent work schedule. That has the advantage that I'm not going to be eating meals when the rest of the world is. So I try to make every day (or at least every work day) the same as far as number of calories consumed by Noon, 3 PM, 6 PM, 9 PM and bed time. I usually exercise at 9 PM and so then have some calories I can use for a before bed snack. I realize metabolically that may not sound ideal, but day in, day out, week in, week out, that discipline keeps working for me. If I made it through yesterday and wasn't starving when I went to bed, why would today be any different? The foods vary but I try to make the numeric calories come out the same by those hours.

brunnemeyer

Brilliant! I like the idea of brushing your teeth. In fact, I'm gonna go do that right now.

mobskee

I heard somewhere (probably Dr. Oz lol) that sometimes people interpret tiredness for hunger. I do run in to the same situation sometimes though...I try to have low cal popsicles in my freezer at all times and gum. Have you tried the desert gum? I don't remember what brand it is but it's amazing! My favorite is key lime pie...yummy!

ninerbuff

im not going to lie...sometimes even thought i have had a great day, worked out and ate right 11pm rolls around and i have terrible cravings to eat stuff that i know i shouldnt...

and its really not that the food would be bad for me...its the amount of food that i end up eating...

does anyone else have these same issues?

if so, how do you cope with them? do you eat? do you just go to bed? do you just have a small amount of something?

HELP!!!

Go to sleep at 10:30pm. Can't eat anything while you're sleeping.

JaenaM

I find that the later in the day I workout the less I want to binge at night. Try an 8pm workout one day and see how u feel. When I workout late the last thing I wanna do is mess it up with food and trust me...I'm a recovering food addict who binge-ate nightly up until a few weeks ago when I really dove into this. Working out makes me not hungry until much later. That may or may not be your case but it has made a huge difference for me. That along with eating small meals every 2-3 hours thru the day keeps the old blood sugar right where it wants to be. Bye bye binging!!!

guessgigi

@jaenaM those r great tips!!

VemmaMom

I would bet to say most of us get cravings and hungry at night and wanna binge it out but the truth is we all know thats how it packs on as well. I do know that if you are hungry then eat protein and not dairy protein.....it has a tendency to slow down weight process I guess. anyways like egg or chicken or something that ll stick. I was told by trainer that eating protein before bed helps keep your body like a burning furnace thru the night and is actually good for weight loss. This was new for me....but worth a try! Good luck to us all LOL

krissykross

This has been my biggest problem for sure. I just try to go to bed, even though it usually takes a while. Over time the cravings have lessened and it's been easier to just sleep. If I absolutely must eat something, I just make sure it's as healthy as I can make it.

MissMaryMac33

Stay under your calories and it doesn't matter what time you eat.

I do know for myself, high carbs at bedtime does not help me sleep -- -but I LIKE to eat late at night.
I usually eat greek yogurt with walnuts (the good stuff -- not the crap that has more sugar than protein - I get fage 0%)
I also will snack on string cheese, or cold chicken --- I specifically plan my day and leave calories to eat at night

maremare312

Do something with your hands--video games, crochet, knit, embroidery, sudoku.

If you're going to eat, and you know you're going to eat, save some calories and have a plan. I like to do either a protein shake (weird but it works for me), air popped popcorn without butter, or maybe an apple or banana with a smear of peanut butter.

jonniemarie1

What are you craving?? If it is carbs, sugar, etc... its probably just because you are tired. It happens to me all the time... I literally just have to tell myself NO! and then i brush my teeth... lol sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't... but just try it