Does anyone wake up in the middle of the night and eat?

anexus323
anexus323 Posts: 25
in Food and Nutrition
I had a PERFECT diet yesterday! But, I woke up, half asleep, and ate like a pig! I actually ate 4 cupcakes at 3 a.m. this morning. RUINED MY DIET.

Does anyone do this and do you have any advice to stop?
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Replies

  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    at my leanest I would wake up and eat a few tablespoons of peanut butter at like 3-4 AM. When you eat is not an issue really at all.
  • mistikal13
    mistikal13 Posts: 1,457 Member
    I usually don't but funny thing is last night I also woke up hungry! I had some peanut butter and cheese and was satisfied. Maybe you should try to eat a little more protein before bedtime? Do you usually stop eating at a certain time?
  • fattypattybinger
    fattypattybinger Posts: 337
    It may sounds silly but I have hypoglycemia and take a sleeping pill at night severe insomnia well anyway I have been known to have low blood sugars and I guess I realize it but don't remember waking up and walking to the kitchen but I will have chocolate on my face, I used to be a sleep walker but a sleep eater odd but it is true.
  • nola1020
    nola1020 Posts: 8
    I used to get up in the middle of the night and eat a bowl of cereal. I wouldn't even realize it until the next morning when I saw the bowl in the sink. I was eating in my sleep! It lasted for months. Don't know why but it played havoc on my waistline.
  • tmos512
    tmos512 Posts: 119 Member
    I have not experienced this, but my sister has. It's an actual eating disorder...

    http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-related-eating-disorders
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    When I'm training I wake up two or three times in the night and eat. Usually it's a scoop of protein powder with some rolled oats. Nothing wrong with it as long as you're still within your calorie range.
  • mama4loca
    mama4loca Posts: 181
    Yeah, I used to do hat- it was always leftovers from dinner...been sleeping sound lately so I don't get up. That used to ruin all the good I did during the day too! Frustrating
  • anexus323
    anexus323 Posts: 25
    I usually don't but funny thing is last night I also woke up hungry! I had some peanut butter and cheese and was satisfied. Maybe you should try to eat a little more protein before bedtime? Do you usually stop eating at a certain time?

    A protein shake before sleep would be perfect! I bet you my body is craving something. And yes, I usually stop eating around 6 or 7.
  • anexus323
    anexus323 Posts: 25
    I used to get up in the middle of the night and eat a bowl of cereal. I wouldn't even realize it until the next morning when I saw the bowl in the sink. I was eating in my sleep! It lasted for months. Don't know why but it played havoc on my waistline.

    Haha ok, I do have nights where I barely remember... or, like last night, I was in ZOMBIE mode. I remember but, vaguely.
  • Deipneus
    Deipneus Posts: 1,861 Member
    Wow. I never heard of that one. I've always been fascinated that no matter how hungry I go to bed, it passes when I go to sleep and I wake up not as hungry as I was when I went to bed.
  • CyberEd312
    CyberEd312 Posts: 3,536 Member
    Timing of meals is not an issue, what your eating is..... If you have the calories available and are hitting your Macro's for that day then eat regardless of what time it is... I would suggest saving enough calories that you take a snack to bed with you (as long as you do not have acid reflux or a reason eating b4 bed would cause you problems) I am a diabetic and would wake at 3 with low blood sugar and stumble to the kitchen to get something in my stomach that didn't last long cause I started taking a nice size snack to bed every night (500 calorie range) and this curbed my 3 a.m. wake ups and never stopped my weight loss... best of Luck
  • cheerforsteelers
    cheerforsteelers Posts: 686 Member
    I've never done this, but sometimes I get really really hungry right before bed. Like...I wanna eat 3 burritos hungry. If I'm that hungry I try to drink water, tea, or have an apple. Or 3. :)
  • fatboypup
    fatboypup Posts: 1,873 Member
    dont-feed-the-troll.jpg
  • Sheila4046
    Sheila4046 Posts: 28
    Yes, i usually get up around 1 am and spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on a slice of wheat bread, that's does it for me.
  • rileamoyer
    rileamoyer Posts: 2,412 Member
    Some times. DH does every night.
  • jennaworksout
    jennaworksout Posts: 1,739 Member
    Never in my life :noway:
  • bleacheblonde
    bleacheblonde Posts: 333
    Just did this today...woke up at 4 a.m. and had a bowl of oatmeal (with margarine in it, thus negating the healthiness of eating oatmeal). Then I watched a documentary about mummification...freaked me out and I didn't fall back asleep until 5:30! I would not recommend that combination of activities at that time.

    Seriously though, I do this quite frequently. I'm not sure how to stop. If I wake up with a mad craving, I lie there for about 15 minutes and try to ride it out and fall back asleep. If I can't fall back asleep and can't stop thinking about it 15-20 minutes later, I'll just get up and eat it. :( Last night, I *kitten* you not, I actually woke up around 2 craving cookie dough and I almost got up and a made a little bowl of it. I rode it out and fell back asleep, and I actually DREAMED about freaking cookie dough. That's when I got up and satisfied my sugar craving with some buttery cinnamon oatmeal. You know that's sad when you dream about it. Yikes.
  • ksemien
    ksemien Posts: 133 Member
    Yep, sometimes when I let my dog out, I am tempted to swing by the kitchen and see what's going on in there :) I try to think, in my half sleep state, 'are you hungry' or just doing an old habit???
  • anexus323
    anexus323 Posts: 25
    Just did this today...woke up at 4 a.m. and had a bowl of oatmeal (with margarine in it, thus negating the healthiness of eating oatmeal). Then I watched a documentary about mummification...freaked me out and I didn't fall back asleep until 5:30! I would not recommend that combination of activities at that time.

    Seriously though, I do this quite frequently. I'm not sure how to stop. If I wake up with a mad craving, I lie there for about 15 minutes and try to ride it out and fall back asleep. If I can't fall back asleep and can't stop thinking about it 15-20 minutes later, I'll just get up and eat it. :( Last night, I *kitten* you not, I actually woke up around 2 craving cookie dough and I almost got up and a made a little bowl of it. I rode it out and fell back asleep, and I actually DREAMED about freaking cookie dough. That's when I got up and satisfied my sugar craving with some buttery cinnamon oatmeal. You know that's sad when you dream about it. Yikes.

    That is so funny. I'm beginning to wonder if maybe we are missing something from our diet? I mean, our body uses a lot of resources while we sleep, maybe it is craving something we need and if we fulfil it during the day we won't suffer from this. My new thing is, I am going to have a big jug of water next to me and I am going to drink the water until I am full.
  • amculver1
    amculver1 Posts: 36 Member
    bump
  • WABeachWalker
    WABeachWalker Posts: 133 Member
    When I first started restricting my calories, hunger would wake me up several times during the night. I made a plan to have a couple of crackers and a string cheese or a spoon of peanut butter around 8 p.m. Of course, I logged these calories.

    Your body is just trying to balance out what you're doing. Eventually, your blood sugar will stabilize and you won't have such high highs and low lows. Those lows lead to the kind of eating you describe. You might also try eating something containing protein/complex carbohydrates every 2-3 hours while you're awake to keep your blood sugar stable. I wish you success in reaching your goals. :D
  • censu67
    censu67 Posts: 53 Member
    Funny I've done this on and off for the last 15 years and never before. For me it was triggered by a move and not knowing anyone in the area. But I can't seem to break the habit.

    What's worked for me is not having anything in the house that I can eat without first preparing. The only exception is cheese slices and most of the time, that's not enough to get me out of bed.

    My other suggestion would be, if you are going to eat in the middle of the night, keep it to protein only.

    M
  • AlsDonkBoxSquat
    AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
    4 full sized cupcakes? That's not eating, that's binging! I don't wake up at all at night, but if I do I'm generally not hungry. However, if I were, I'd definitely eat . . . right now it would probably be cold chicken . . . yummmmmm

    When are you eating your last meal in the evening. Look at what you're eating when you do this, what your feeding schedule was the day before, consider if you're allowing enough calories in your diet. If this is a normal practice for you, then plan for it and set out an easy solution (carrot sticks or cut fruit) already prepared in the fridge so that you're at least doing it thoughtfully.
  • fattypattybinger
    fattypattybinger Posts: 337
    My doctor did tell me that it was an ED but I really thought she was jokin. Nobody ever believed me. Thanks for the link.
  • positivepineapple
    positivepineapple Posts: 87 Member
    Yes that's my biggest problem, I can deal with being a little hungry during the day but its really hard for me to go to sleep hungry.

    I eat dinner an hour before bedtime but it doesn't always work, I take sleeping pills and even so I still wake up around 2 or 3 am ravenous and I totally ruin all my hard work from the previous day.

    Sometimes I don't even realize I'm doing it until halfway through whatever I'm eating.

    but at times I think you do just need a little snack, I would do what other posters have said, make sure you still have a few hundred calories leftover and have a snack when you wake up hungry but make sure its healthy.

    oatmeal with cocoa powder and stevia or sugar free maple syrup really does it for me, its a lot of food for just 200 or 300 calories and it fills you up.
  • anexus323
    anexus323 Posts: 25
    My doctor did tell me that it was an ED but I really thought she was jokin. Nobody ever believed me. Thanks for the link.

    fattypattybin, I don't have erectile dysfuntion, but If I did i would take Viagra etc. I don't see how both are correlated with eachother but I should assume they are because I do not know enough about the issue.
  • Love_flowers
    Love_flowers Posts: 365 Member
    It only ever happens to me if I dare go to sleep hungry. Then I cant sleep properly and ending up eating high calorie foods before going back to bed with stomach ache and then having trouble sleeping because I will be too full.

    Thats why I dont dare go to sleep hungry ever again
  • Amberonamission
    Amberonamission Posts: 836 Member
    My husband does this.. middle of the night on occasion. Worse than that he is a post 8PM binger. It triggers me something awful to hear the wrappers crinkling and smell the peanut butter on his breath. I pinch my wrists to remind myself not to join him.
  • liketheseaa
    liketheseaa Posts: 23
    I never really had an issue with waking up hungry, only when one of my kiddos wakes up. My baby has a cold currently and has been waking up a a ton. Usually it is the least healthy food in the house and like you all, I do great all day and then ruin it when I am half asleep. Nice to know I am not alone!
  • ware_sarah
    ware_sarah Posts: 21 Member
    I think they mean Eating Disorder... ED...not the other one... took me a min to figure out also.

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