Where is my self control?

photojunkie28

So a mini background story :

I started MFP having basically starved myself on 1200 calories for a long while to lose weight (so much that my body quit functioning properly and I lost my menstral cycle for 4 months) . I did the whole EM2WL reset thing and worked my way back up to around 2400 caloires (roughly my TDEE) It was SOOO hard to eat that much food at first.

NOW...I can't get enough food. Even when im not technically hungry I want to eat and eat and eat. I love food again! I keep VERY busy throughout the day and work hard, I workout a few days a week and am able to maintain control of my calories the entire day! Wonderful right?

It is...until I wake up in the middle of the night to let my dogs outside..use the facilities myself or whatever else and wander on into the kitchen for a 'midnight snack'.

I am half asleep and have no self control it seems. I dont care how hard I worked all day to save those calories apparently. If there is cookies or anything quick and sweet particularly ...it gets gobbled right up. How in the world did I have the control to restrict my diet to literally starve myself once before and now I cant make it through a nights sleep without eating?

Where is the happy medium? Anybody else have this problem?

lvtruu1

Your self control is between your ears.

You could try some different "systems". Look into IF. But the bottom line is that you have to eat less then your TDEE to lose weight. There are a 1000 ways to do it. Almost every diet scheme on the market will work. (Yes some are not safe) They all come done to the basic principal of consuming less then the body needs to maintain weight. Yes you can eat to little like you did, and you've learned that lesson. Now you need to find the resolve to start again. Cut at a more reasonable rate and stick to it. Good luck.

firelle

ps. toss or hide the cookies. You know you can't stop at one, so why have one nearby at all?

sarahstrezo

Is it possible that you are so hungry in the middle of the night because you aren't eating enough during the day? Are you eating enough fat and protein to keep you feeling 'full'?
Is this midnight snacking putting you over your TDEE? If not....who cares? I eat cookies and ice cream. I eat them and they fit into my calories and macro goals...so it's all good!

VelociMama

in the end, it comes down a simple fact: you have to want to reach your goals more than you want the cookies.

Try to refocus yourself and write down why you want to reach your goals. Remind yourself of that daily. Write them on your bathroom mirror or somewhere you'll see it daily.

lvtruu1

If you find that you over eat at night I would seriously look into Intermittent fasting. You basically eat in a window of time. So you may skip breakfast. (I know people are aghast to read that suggestion) You eat from noon to 8 pm. This gives you the ability to pack in the calories in in a shorter period of time. You will be much fuller at night. Also, hydration could be an issue. Are you really hungry or just thristy? Your body can send the same signals.

BurtHuttz

To echo Sarah, I wonder if you're not eating enough during the day. Perhaps your earlier experience with under-eating has caused your body to sort of go "on the offensive" a little bit.

Perhaps consider recalculating your TDEE and eating just 10 - 15% less than it. Additionally, perhaps you could back-load your diet so you are eating smaller meals in the morning and larger meals in the evening to have greater overnight satiety.

jkestens63

Nbump

schondell

Don't buy junk foods or things you're likely to binge on.

paleirishmother

If you don't buy junk food, you wont eat junk food.

TheRealParisLove

I have to keep sweets out of the house or I'll do the same thing. I'm not a huge fan of ice cream and my husband loves ice cream, so I can maintain control when we have that in the house. But cookies, pie, chocolate, muffins, doughnuts etc are not safe in my presence.

I have a "no junk" rule. If my husband wants it, it has to be purchased and eaten out of the house. I will throw away left over cake from a party because I know I just don't have the self control to select an apple or something if I'm feeling hungry.

1_HottMess

Hi! I'm sure this is very frustrating. Sorry you're going through this. I agree that if you simply do not buy the sugary treats, you won't have them to eat.

But, here's my view. I hope you don't mind but I looked at your diary and your carb intake is high so it's possible what's happening is your sugar levels are spiking during the day, so then when you wake in the middle of the night you end up with a sugar low that triggers cravings. Try getting a protein snack in just before bedtime, preferably a protein shake... maybe one scoop with 1/2 C yogurt (no fruit or other carbs at bedtime though). Also, consider dropping breads and pastas for a time period to "reset" your system, two weeks minimum but maybe up to 4 weeks if you can. If that's too much, at least drop any pastas and keep your breads and fruits only during the morning to noon meals. I.F. is not something you should consider right now. It's purpose is for fat loss but your regular eating habits have to be on target for it to be succussful.

Consider changing your macros to up your protein intake through the day and lower your carb's. My husband does personal training and competes and I follow that same lifestyle. A healthy balance for leaning out is 50% prot / 25% healthy carbs / 25% healthy fats. Or, here's a program that I have had friends that have been successful with creating a healthy balance to live by.... http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

One thing to keep in mind, it's about retraining how you think so it's becomes a lifestyle change, just a part of who you are rather than a "program" or gimmick to achieve a goal. Good luck and I hope you punch through this successfully!!!

photojunkie28

ps. toss or hide the cookies. You know you can't stop at one, so why have one nearby at all?

They are my bf's sweets actually. I can stop at one ...its just that i shouldnt have one at all. I dont binge anymore. I just eat in the middle of the night for some reason

photojunkie28

If you find that you over eat at night I would seriously look into Intermittent fasting. You basically eat in a window of time. So you may skip breakfast. (I know people are aghast to read that suggestion) You eat from noon to 8 pm. This gives you the ability to pack in the calories in in a shorter period of time. You will be much fuller at night. Also, hydration could be an issue. Are you really hungry or just thristy? Your body can send the same signals.

I forgot about fasting, I had toyed with the idea before but never tried it for fear of skipping breakfast would make me one big grinch at work lol. It may be worth a shot though

lvtruu1

Drink more water. Drink water if you wake up in the middle of the night. You need to retrain your brain. If you manage to go a few weeks without eating in the middle of the night your body will stop waking you up to do so.

photojunkie28

To echo Sarah, I wonder if you're not eating enough during the day. Perhaps your earlier experience with under-eating has caused your body to sort of go "on the offensive" a little bit.

Perhaps consider recalculating your TDEE and eating just 10 - 15% less than it. Additionally, perhaps you could back-load your diet so you are eating smaller meals in the morning and larger meals in the evening to have greater overnight satiety.

I really like this idea a lot and it does make some sense to me. I appreciate the reply. As I have sat and thought about it, even with my night eating I must be eating around a 10% cut still because this morning I actually weighed in with a loss. Maybe I was trying to make my cut too big for my bodies liking these days.

Cranktastic

I have coffee for breakfast and dont start eating food till 11am, and sometimes not until 2pm if I am not hungry yet...I have never been happier...I love having more food toward the end of the day.

photojunkie28

Hi! I'm sure this is very frustrating. Sorry you're going through this. I agree that if you simply do not buy the sugary treats, you won't have them to eat.

But, here's my view. I hope you don't mind but I looked at your diary and your carb intake is high so it's possible what's happening is your sugar levels are spiking during the day, so then when you wake in the middle of the night you end up with a sugar low that triggers cravings. Try getting a protein snack in just before bedtime, preferably a protein shake... maybe one scoop with 1/2 C yogurt (no fruit or other carbs at bedtime though). Also, consider dropping breads and pastas for a time period to "reset" your system, two weeks minimum but maybe up to 4 weeks if you can. If that's too much, at least drop any pastas and keep your breads and fruits only during the morning to noon meals. I.F. is not something you should consider right now. It's purpose is for fat loss but your regular eating habits have to be on target for it to be succussful.

Consider changing your macros to up your protein intake through the day and lower your carb's. My husband does personal training and competes and I follow that same lifestyle. A healthy balance for leaning out is 50% prot / 25% healthy carbs / 25% healthy fats. Or, here's a program that I have had friends that have been successful with creating a healthy balance to live by.... http://whole9life.com/2012/08/the-whole30-program/

One thing to keep in mind, it's about retraining how you think so it's becomes a lifestyle change, just a part of who you are rather than a "program" or gimmick to achieve a goal. Good luck and I hope you punch through this successfully!!!

I agree with the carb to protein ratio. I have it set at 40/30/30 but rarely make the 40% protein. I used to drink protein shakes 1-2 times a day to achieve this ratio..I should probably get back to that and see if I feel any difference. Not having sweets in the house at all just isn't going to happen with my boyfriend so I have to just be strong enough to avoid them ALL the time rather than 'except in the middle of the night'.
Thank you for your reply, everyone has left some insightful information

_FATNSASSY

Retrain your Brain. I was eating chocolate every afternoon at work and I had to force myself to leave it alone for a couple of weeks (not easy) but I did it and now I don't even think about it anymore.