Late night eating

this has been a huge struggle for me also. I would do great all day and then boom night would hit and i would just pig out and then feel horrible the next morning. What i did was, first eat breakfast every morning even if i didn't feel hungry, then i did the 6 small "feedings" a day as i call them Saving enough calories for a snack before bed. I usually have a fat free yogurt, or if i am really "starving" i will eat some turkey ham ( 2 oz) or something like that. then stay up at least and an hour and get my butt in bed before i can talk myself into eating anything else. I am ok with this and still losing. I got into a pair of jeans yesterday that 2 weeks ago i couldn't button. So I don't know if this will help but i hope so. have a great and successful day!!!

I had/have the same problem! I'm still breaking myself, but I've been "clean" for about 7 weeks! lol! I bet quitting late night eating, is like trying to quit smoking....maybe harder! These are some things that I've been doing. Maybe they will work for you! First and foremost, I make sure to eat a nice sized breakfast, lunch, and dinner and a small snack in between each of those everyday. Just like a piece of fruit or, my favorite snack lately, a serving of pretzel chips. I have another small snack like 3 or 4 hours before my usual bed time. I keep a bottle of water by my bed, so that if I wake up hungry I can just reach over and chug some water! That way I don't have to get up and risk looking in the pantry! For those times that I do get up, I keep a pair of "goal" jeans hanging in the pantry. It really helps when you open the door looking for junk and see a pair of super cute, super little jeans staring back at you! Also, don't keep any junkfood in the house. That is a little hard for me since I have 2 young children, but I've been changing their eating habits too, so the junk collection is almost nonexsistent! I keep some sugar free hard candy (my fav is werthers) and I'll have one or two of those if I absolutely can't stand just drinking water....that's usually during my lovely monthly visitor. Strangely, I've found that brushing, flossing, and using mouth wash right before bed helps too. Not sure why, but it does! So, I did have a bad habit of going to bed without brushing my teeth first, so now I've actually killed two birds with one stone! It really comes down to individual needs and what works for you, but these things have helped me. Good luck!

Firstly I am cracking up at the posting about blazing before bed, that is hysterical.
Secondly, I have been doing this for years. I found that the later in the day/night I excercise the better off I am and dont wake up to eat because Im too tired. I have also found that using breath spray in my mouth when I wake up helps, because nothing tastes good after spraying that. I was once even involved in a sleep study/night eating at University Penn. 20/20 wanted to do a special on it and feature me, they were going to set up cameras in my house to tape this. I declined and was mortified.
Good luck with this and make sure you count the calories. I have carried them over to the next day and that makes me work even harder to burn more off.

I will chug a glass of water so my stomach is full, then the thought of food kind of grosses me out.. haha
or try finding low calorie things to eat before bed, like carrots, pickles, broccoli.
ORRRR.... you could buy crystal light packets (I am addicted to them, im amazed theyre only 10 calories)

If you eat late at night a good way to help is cut out carbs after 5pm. So eat whatever, however late - but NO CARBS. This means nothing with bread/rice/wheat/couscous etc etc you get the picture.

Now chances are, when you eat late at night - carbs is pretty much what you eat. So the advice is simple - eat, but eat different. Choose to eat some veg, nuts, maybe fruit, a whole chicken - so long as there's no carbs involved.

Slowly you'll find that you won't want to eat so late any more, and the food that you do eat makes you full. Carbs have an awful affect on people who are trying to lose weight, because you're never satisfied when you eat them. It will take about 4 days of dedication and then you'll wonder why you relied on them so much. And your late night bingeing will stop soon after.

Best of luck!

I agree with above. It helps to stick to complex carbs, protiens, etc. Carbs like bread, fiber bars, etc tend to keep you eating. If you stick to protiens and complex carbs (veggies and fruits) you will far better. Even popcorn is a bad carb or snack before bed time. I have heard that this works for some because high in fiber.

The brushing teeth works from me also. Keep in mind everyone is different. You have to find what works best for you. Carbs may be ok for you. Just make sure to save your self some calories for you habit. I use my exercise calories for late night snacks and some days I save 2 thirds of my calories for after work to accomodate late nights.

I will say it again, experiment and find what works best for YOU......:-)

You can do it!!!

I used to split up my calories so that I would force myself to eat a huge breakfast, barely any dinner and go to bed hungry. Try having a bigger dinner or save a few hundred calories for a dessert. Brush your teeth right after so you're not tempted to eat anything else.

I will chug a glass of water so my stomach is full, then the thought of food kind of grosses me out.. haha
or try finding low calorie things to eat before bed, like carrots, pickles, broccoli.
ORRRR.... you could buy crystal light packets (I am addicted to them, im amazed theyre only 10 calories)

Crystal light packets are the best. White grape is my favorite, I havent tried chugging a glass of water before bed , which sounds like a great alternative and less calories , I will have to try that!!