Least hungry in the morning, most hungry at night

meggwtw

I have this problem where when I wake up in the morning I'm at my least hungry, but as the day goes on I get hungrier. At nighttime, I always want to snack. I'm assuming that part of the reason I'm not hungry in the morning, usually, is because I'm digesting still from the night before. Is this true? I'm making an effort to not eat after 8 p.m. and ignore the cravings at night. I've also decided to eat lighter meals in the morning so I have enough calories left near the end of the day.

Any tips for what I should do to decrease nighttime hunger? Will changing my diet up fix the problem, or will I always get hungrier at night?

evanesco

You could try intermittent fasting. It seems like it would suit you.

www.leangains.com

Look here for more info.

cma17

I find after a couple of days of eating structured meals making sure i have breaky lunch and tea i no longer feel super hungry at night.

JeffinRaleigh

My question to you would be what sort of food are you eating through the day? It could be food choice rather than timing.

Chadomaniac

IF - SORTED! skip breakfast , have a small lunch and huge supper

JustANumber85

I have this issue too. Im trying to play around with meal times and foods to fix it though.

dancerom

I have always been the same, until I started eating my breakfast (and really finding out what is right for me). At the moment I'm more into a huge green smoothie (about 400cal from Avocado, proetein powder, quark and linseeds, and some more veggies like spinache and a half a grapefruit) but sometimes I also eat lentils veggies and eggs, or an vegetable-egg omelet. Now I neeeeeeeed my breakfast. I even need a small protein shake just when I wake up. And so I feel less hungry during my day and there are less cravings by night. And if they come they are faster satisfied. It feels as if my body could start to relax and trust that there is new food coming in the morning ;-)
Just try and figure out what works for you! Good luck and enjoy!

Chadomaniac

@dancerom that looks damn nutritious!

neverstray

I might suggest that instead of crushing your natural tendency, ou work with it.

Why not, skip breakfast, eat a light lunch, then save mst your calories for dinner and a night time snack.

No need to fight it or throw your body off it's rhythm. Just do what feels right.

SHBoss1673

while I wouldn't say to skip breakfast. I would say that there's no reason to try to force yourself to conform to standards. There's no science out there that says eating at night is bad.

Have a light breakfast, and a filling nutritious lunch, with a few snacks mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and if the evening is when you feel hungriest, then eat then.

What I will say is this, our bodies work off what they are used to. So you CAN change how you eat, the more gradual the better, if you want to have a more balanced eating schedule, take baby steps, increase calorie levels in the morning by very small amounts (25 to 50 calories more every week in the morning). Soon enough your body will get used to the new schedule.

Rocbola

Eat more fruit mid day.

75in2013

Any tips for what I should do to decrease nighttime hunger? Will changing my diet up fix the problem, or will I always get hungrier at night?

Listen to your body. Don't eat when you are not hungry.

If your body prefers to eat later in the day then just skip breakfast.

Don't be afraid to skip breakfast. Read this:
http://www.leangains.com/2010/10/top-ten-fasting-myths-debunked.html

Try intermittend fasting. It may work for you. Some people live better on fewer but bigger meals.

EDIT: IMO what you describe is not "a problem". So don't try to fix it. Accept it and organize your diet around it.

harvo

I have this problem where when I wake up in the morning I'm at my least hungry, but as the day goes on I get hungrier. At nighttime, I always want to snack. I'm assuming that part of the reason I'm not hungry in the morning, usually, is because I'm digesting still from the night before. Is this true? I'm making an effort to not eat after 8 p.m. and ignore the cravings at night. I've also decided to eat lighter meals in the morning so I have enough calories left near the end of the day.

Any tips for what I should do to decrease nighttime hunger? Will changing my diet up fix the problem, or will I always get hungrier at night?

Protein shake at night...but allow your calorie intake to get a snack if you are hungry. Be careful "starving" your body. As a diabetic I have talked to many nutritionist. If your body thinks that it is going to be 12 hours till they get nourishment it will start storing fat to sustain itself.

wrentrotter

I just move my meal times. I have breakfast at around 11am, lunch about 3 or 4pm and then dinner at about 8pm, and usually a little late night snack to satisfy any cravings.

saraann4

Eat light during the day, so you can eat a big dinner and a snack.

Capt_Apollo

You could try intermittent fasting. It seems like it would suit you.

www.leangains.com

Look here for more info.

i was going to suggest this.

i don't eat breakfast anymore. i save my calories for bigger meals at lunch and breakfast. it feels like cheating, but it's not.

BeSophisticate

I had the same issue. I noticed that, after a few days of eating only at scheduled times, about every 3 hours (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner), I became accustomed to it and started feeling hungry when it was time to eat. I found that, by eating every 3 hours consistently, I started being able to tell if I was eating too much at one time because I wouldn't be hungry at all 3 hours later.

It takes some practice to figure out how much you should be eating, and when, if you aren't accustomed to much structure around eating. Eating too much at night can certainly leave you less than enthusiastic for breakfast. I actually look forward to breakfast now.

Edit: Also, I find that, if I skip my snacks, particularly the afternoon snack, then I'm ravenous by dinner and will overeat. (Possibly has something to do with hitting the gym after work.) For me, snacking has been the single most important tool in maintaining a reasonable calorie intake. Without it, I tend to eat way to much at meal time.

knk1553

I eat breakfast, just because I'm up between 5am and 6am every morning, but I usually don't eat it until 9am or so and its usually something small - less than 200 calories. I really only eat it because by 9am I've been up for 4 hours and Im starting to feel a little icky if I don't eat.

However, if you aren't hungry in the morning, just adjust your meal schedule to when you're hungry. Your digestive system doesn't really know time, and the whole not eating after a certain time thing only works because if you stop eating say after 8pm and you normally consume 300 calories after 8pm, you then stop eating those 300 calories, which 300 cals x 7 days a week = 2100 calories that you didn't eat that week. When I bartended/waited tables, dinner was generally between 9pm and 2am and I weighed less then than I do now, so theres nothing wrong with eating late, if thats when you're hungry, eat then.

Chadomaniac

IF does feel like cheating! i eat up to 1500cals for a meal apposed to the regular 300-500cals 6 times a day

Cranktastic

You could try intermittent fasting. It seems like it would suit you.

www.leangains.com

Look here for more info.

i was going to suggest this.

i don't eat breakfast anymore. i save my calories for bigger meals at lunch and breakfast. it feels like cheating, but it's not.

me too...works for me.

Martucha123

IF - SORTED! skip breakfast , have a small lunch and huge supper

i do this exactly

I skip breakfast, then have lunch, snack if hungry, dinner, and always some kcals saved for 10 om before bed snack