tips on how to stop late night bingeing?

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  • JoHo57
    JoHo57 Posts: 31
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    I put a bell on the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. I open, it jingles. Kind of gives me an audio reminder of my real priority right now.

    If I had sewn bells to my panties, maybe we wouldn't have six kids.

    Then again, sex is calorie burning. If you had a bit of an evening romp, you could afford the snack.

    My final answer is this: Go to bed with only wearing bells and make love, not dietary boo-boos!

    Don't know if it will work, but it sure sounds like fun!
  • AlicynH
    AlicynH Posts: 201 Member
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    I had the same problem except I wasn't going to bed at all. I would be up until 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning watching tv. After gaining 60 lbs I finally went to my Dr. He put me on something to help me sleep. In the first month I lost 20 lbs. I was able to stop taking the sleep meds but still wake up at night. If I want to eat something, I drink a glass of water. The only bad thing about that is I always wake up a couple hours later to use the bathroom. I've also tried eating a cheese stick before bed to help curb the hunger. My favorite brand is Sargento's light. They are only 50 calories. Also maybe a piece of jerky. Good luck.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    Holy cow! While working out is GREAT, give your body a rest. I looked through your diary and you are burning 700-1500 calories in exercise per day, almost every day. I stand by my previous statement. I know this from experience (at least for me). I was eating 500 too few in a day and this was my problem. By the time evening rolled around, it was a constant struggle to stop the binging. What your magic number is, I don't know but I would start with cutting back a little in exercise and increasing calories. Your body needs more based on how much you are exercising. JMO of course, I am no doctor.

    But I love my exercise :(
    And I am doing a course atm to become a CPT so most those days we are doing prac in class, etc.
    *Edited to add : School is only 2 days a week.
  • curiositycat
    curiositycat Posts: 111 Member
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    Wow--your last post was very telling. Sounds like the eating is more stress-related than hungry related. I'm struggling with binge eating episodes right now that are directly linked to major job-induced anxiety. Perhaps confronting the stress and finding ways to manage it might curb your binging. A couple books you might like to check out--Mindful Eating and the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook. I'm still working through them myself, but they do seem to be helpful. I'm less likely to go into that "auto-pilot" mindset that allows me to eat mindlessly. Good luck to you! I know how the binging how induce even more stress! Nasty cycle.
  • HotBodUnderConstruction
    HotBodUnderConstruction Posts: 420
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    Just went through your diary. Your problem is that you have pretty big caloric deficits ranging from 500-800 some days. That would make me ravenous.

    ETA: That's 500-800 deficit ON TOP OF the deficit you are already creating from caloric restriction (don't know if you have it set up for a 500 daily deficit or what)
  • AggieLu
    AggieLu Posts: 873 Member
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    I usually crave something sweet at night. So it's either peppermint tea (peppermint is a natural hunger/craving suppressant) or sugar free jello.
  • deadstarsunburn
    deadstarsunburn Posts: 1,337 Member
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    tea, coffee, popcorn. Those are what I use when I feel like I wanna binge. =]

    Maybe up your calories by 100-200, your body just may need more fuel, I've noticed you've been working out a lot harder the past few weeks.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    Just went through your diary. Your problem is that you have pretty big caloric deficits ranging from 500-800 some days. That would make me ravenous.

    ETA: That's 500-800 deficit ON TOP OF the deficit you are already creating from caloric restriction (don't know if you have it set up for a 500 daily deficit or what)

    Which is usually what monday and thursday cos I have school from 6am til 8pm both days whilst burning around 1500 with school and I eat brekky, have lunch, snacks, then dinner when I get home and pretty much crash...

    ETA : Problem is I am eating when I am NOT hungry... I already said that? sigh
  • gazz777au
    gazz777au Posts: 157 Member
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    I put a bell on the fridge, freezer, and cupboards. I open, it jingles. Kind of gives me an audio reminder of my real priority right now.

    If I had sewn bells to my panties, maybe we wouldn't have six kids.

    Then again, sex is calorie burning. If you had a bit of an evening romp, you could afford the snack.

    My final answer is this: Go to bed with only wearing bells and make love, not dietary boo-boos!

    Don't know if it will work, but it sure sounds like fun!
    Um... no :)

    Problem is post workout. Advice I read is workout no closer to bed time than 4 hours. Gives time for things (like Endorphins) to settle - who needs that buzz when they want to sleep ?!

    Answer is simple. Body is craving sources of protein.

    Get creative - dont just eat anything and everything, make smart choices for your protein source. Get ideas from other night time Body Builder's and runners, joggers, etc.

    Just a little ! Or you wont sleep after eating too close to bed time !!!
  • mallory3411
    mallory3411 Posts: 839 Member
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    I take a water bottle to bed, whenever I go to bed I am slightly hungry but can still fall asleep. It is rare for me to wake up in the middle of the night starving, but the times I have I and just drank my water then laid there until I fell back to sleep. You will fall back to sleep. Its like breaking your child of waking up in the middle of the night for a bottle. you just got to cut it out or else you make it so every night you and your little one is getting back up to eat. Just force yourself to sleep and within a few days you wont be even waking up to eat.

    The problem is, I don't think I AM even hungry half the time. And it was all good for a couple months as well, but now as a really hard week/month for me is coming up I have picked the habit back up and can't even seem to stop myself :/

    If you are not hungry than don't get up to eat. YOU control what you do. YOU can make yourself stay in bed. Drink water and stay in bed. Go back to sleep. Read a book. Chew on a straw if you have to.
  • stefkhan
    stefkhan Posts: 27 Member
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    I sometimes have this problem too--I find that if I eat dinner a little later, I won't get hungry in the night. Also drinking water constantly helps to curb the appetite.
  • kristi_asco
    kristi_asco Posts: 183
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    drink a lot of water! whenever i feel like i want to eat A LOT of something, i drink a cup to 2 cups of water that way it makes me feel full and if i do end up eating something, it's doesn't take too much to make me feel full. so far it's been working for me! good luck :)
  • OSC_ESD
    OSC_ESD Posts: 752 Member
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    Go for a nice walk and then go to bed earlier ! ;)
  • sspigc
    sspigc Posts: 1 Member
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    Try to avoid caffeine after 12 noon, drink all of your 6 to 8 glasses of water by 6 pm, and get some decent exercise daily--do not have unhealthy food in the house. Use optimum conditions for sleep-no bright lights, tv, or radio, use ear plugs or eyemask if needed to cut down on stimulating your senses. Practice deep breathing and relaxation when laying down to sleep. Eventually, your body should respond favorably to these measures and automatically relax and give you a deeper sleep, uninterrupted by trips to the kitchen.
  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    So from reading a few of the responses it sounds like you are saying you do this when you are not even hungry. May be the case, but I do agree that if you got in a little more protein and/or nutrient dense foods during the day it still might curb the late night cravings. It sounds more like an emotional event to me though. The reality is we sometimes like to do things in "secret." You've already closed your diary and it gives you a little sort of rush to eat something that no one knows about. Know what I mean? Humans are sneaky! Best thing you can do is either have preplanned healthy snacks you can go to during the night or even if you get up, stop yourself and ask yourself if you are hungry, emotional, tired, bored, whatever. If the answer is not hungry, then you just don't eat! I eat a fair amount of my calories after 6 pm most days so I don't usually wake up hungry during the night! Good luck!

    Edited to add: I usually don't wake up during the night at all because I have been sleeping like a rock, it's not that I don't wake up hungry...if I do wake up I am too incoherent to even consider food!
  • shelmac
    shelmac Posts: 82 Member
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    If Im stuggling for a naughty sweet fix at night I have a lowfat hot chocolate, only 60 cals and it seems to work xx
  • HotBodUnderConstruction
    HotBodUnderConstruction Posts: 420
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    Just went through your diary. Your problem is that you have pretty big caloric deficits ranging from 500-800 some days. That would make me ravenous.

    ETA: That's 500-800 deficit ON TOP OF the deficit you are already creating from caloric restriction (don't know if you have it set up for a 500 daily deficit or what)

    Which is usually what monday and thursday cos I have school from 6am til 8pm both days whilst burning around 1500 with school and I eat brekky, have lunch, snacks, then dinner when I get home and pretty much crash...

    ETA : Problem is I am eating when I am NOT hungry... I already said that? sigh

    Right, and I gave you some suggestions as to why you might be eating when you "aren't hungry. In my previous post I suggested that you keep most of your calories for your dinner and snacks afterwards so that you're so full that you do not "binge eat" later that night.

    Then, when I noticed your caloric deficit I made another suggestion...to make sure that you are eating MORE given your large deficits. I used to binge eat when I wasn't hungry as well. When I increased my overall caloric intake throughout the week, I felt more satisfied and never felt the urge to do late night snacking. I just offered you suggestions from my own experience given what you've posted.
  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    I leave calories for just that.
  • mandrox1
    mandrox1 Posts: 33
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    My best tip is to do something distracting. For me, I have to keep my hands busy. I don't watch TV in bed, so i'll sit on the couch and braid hemp, doodle, writw, surf th web, etc. Anything to keep from mindless munching.
  • gollyitsmolly
    gollyitsmolly Posts: 54
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    Eat better during the day. Enough healthy fat and protein. I like peppermint green tea and a nice bath. It's hard to get to the fridge from the bath.

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