binge eating at night.

oklahoma_cowgirl_51
oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
edited September 21 in Health and Weight Loss
I have been doing very well dieting during the day, and then i come home in the evening, and it doesn't matter if i'm not even really that hungry, i end up binge eating at night. usually peanut butter, almond butter, anything like that. does anyone else struggle with this? and if so, how do you control the urge?

Replies

  • ninadreamsBIG
    ninadreamsBIG Posts: 8
    I definitely have the same issue, so you're not alone. I usually try to distract myself by surfing the 'net, reading a book, calling someone up, etc. Once you're distracted it's a lot easier to let the temptation subside.


    "Nothing tastes as good as skinny/healthy feels."
  • kdeaner
    kdeaner Posts: 11 Member
    I used to until I started using MFP. I know that whatever I eat I have to log it into my food diary. And once I meet my calories, I don't want to go over that's how I control the urge. I also drink some water and usually go to bed.
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    i know! it's just so tough! i'm not overweight, but not to my goal weight, so a lot of times people don't really understand my struggle. i try to go to bed earlier, but i'm kind of a night owl. i just don't understand the craving for nut butters though? it's weird because i have a protein PACKED diet.
  • ZiaLater
    ZiaLater Posts: 23
    It is an emotional problem that I had back in the day. I realized I was hating myself and that is how I would punish myself. I somehow gained control/willpower and said enough is enough!!! I don't want to be fat anymore, I don't want to become a diabetic, I don't want to have problems walking and end up in a medichair, I want a life I will enjoy! And then I was repulsed with nighttime binge eating and have no problems. I have a really healthy breakfast in the morning and don't even have the urge to eat late at night. But everyone is different. That is my story :)
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    i appreciate your story zia! and what is MFP?
  • Russellb97
    Russellb97 Posts: 1,057 Member
    I'm with you, I am a night time eater. Like you it's not because I felt hungry, which was frustrating.

    I think you have 2 options.

    1. Adjust your daily meals so you have more calories available at night.
    2. Go to bed


    I wrote a blog post about night time eating, now I eat most of my calories after 5-6pm and I have had super results from it.

    http://spikediet.blogspot.com/2010/08/creating-fat-burning-windows.html
  • dale49
    dale49 Posts: 37
    It's a huge problem for many of us. I joke that if I could just go to bed at 7 p.m. I'd be a skinny as a rail! Some of my coping strategies include trying to keep busy and thus distract myself from the urge to eat. It would help if you could identify why you do it (overeat) at night. Is it boredom? In which case being busy is the answer. Is it a habit when you watch TV? Then don't sit in front of the TV - go to the computer and make comments on this site or somehting else. Talk on the phone to a skinny friend! :o)
    I'm mainly a stress eater and I've always denied being bored as I'm so busy all day I thought, "How could I possibly be bored?' But I do get bored and then I start to look around for something to 'do' which invariably involves food. Now I go out for a walk even if it's dark.
    I wish it was as simple as just being hungry - because then I'd be sure to eat fibre/filling foods - but it isn't. As they say, "It's not what you're eating, it's what's eating you." You have to figure it out and address it or I think we'll always overeat at certain times and for us...it's the evening.
  • kcampbell453
    kcampbell453 Posts: 29 Member
    I have the same exact problem!!! Except my cravings change. One night it's Chips Ahoy Cookies, another night it's popcorn. It really varies. I have found the best thing for me to do is to log all of my food ahead of time, and also to keep myself busy at night, working out, walking, playing in the yard with the kids, anything to keep my mind off of the food sitting in my kitchen. If I log all of my food before hand, when I have a craving I can log on and see that I only have X number of calories left and then I tend to look for something within those calories to have as a snack.
  • fat214
    fat214 Posts: 109
    I had the same problem~Hot tea works for me.It's not food but it keeps your mind and hands busy.I like Tulsi Green Tea,Nettle Leaf or Sleepytime Tea with sun crystals all natueal sweetener in it..I found these from Dr.Oz. the names are aliitle funny but there good.
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    i think that the binge eating is in my head. i feel like i need to eat before i can go to sleep? and i get so discouraged, and i tell myself i won't do it the next night, and i end up repeating it! but saving more calories for the evening is a good idea! i think i might try to surf this website at night too. that may help me!
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    food diaries seem to be working for most of you... so i am going to have to be a little more strict and make myself keep up with mine!
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    that's a great idea! thank you!
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    MFP = myfitnesspal.

    Night eating - I have 1 serving of almonds, baby carrots, sugar free popsicles on hand.
  • sarahliftsUP
    sarahliftsUP Posts: 752 Member
    When you binge eat at night, do you log in the calories? If I'm going to go for a snack attack.. say chips or something, I log it in first and make my decision from there. If it fits in, then fine.. but if not, then I put it away.

    You could try for drinking something instead of eating. Water or something with flavour such as green tea or decaf.
  • Joyjmb
    Joyjmb Posts: 221 Member
    If you're a night owl, you might consider moving your dinner meal to an hour later - you'd be fuller longer. Also consider adding a very bulky vegetable, think broccoli, to that meal so you are fuller longer. A lot of it!

    The craving for nut butter seems not like a craving for protein, but a craving for FAT. If you have a craving snack with just a little bit of fat in it, it should quell the craving - think small cube of cheese, cup of milk, handfull of nuts.

    And put the nut butters in the garage! =)

    Oh, and brushing my teeth usually halts the snacking in its tracks.
  • missboriken
    missboriken Posts: 52 Member
    Brush your teeth thoroughly with the strongest flavored toothpaste you can find, floss and gargle with Listerine. All that minty typically kills my “appetite”.
  • kayleigh333
    kayleigh333 Posts: 138
    You're definitely not alone on this one. I had a horrible binge last night... I weighed in yesterday, had lost 2 pounds and was really proud of myself, ate well all day and exercised, but then I went to work. At the end of the night the chef left a big tray of chips out for the staff, and eventually I was the last one there clearing up. I ate a chip, then another... and another, then before I knew it I'd eaten sooo many I felt sick. They were chips from the deep fat frier as well, really greasy and probably hundreds and hundreds of calories. I'm soo disappointed in myself :(
  • billgiersberg
    billgiersberg Posts: 163
    I use to do this too but now when I go home I get on my workout clothes and head to the garage where I have set up my workout room. By all means, I do not turn on the TV. It seems that when I turn it on, my thoughts turn to what can I eat while I sit here.
  • brettatk
    brettatk Posts: 12 Member
    I've done this a well and most of the time it's because I didn't eat enough throughout the day.
  • billgiersberg
    billgiersberg Posts: 163
    Kayleigh..... I see that a lot here. It happens. Don't beat yourself up and move ahead. As a motorcycle rider, we learn to turn our head and eyes where we want the bike to go. If you look at the curb, you're going to run into the curb. So keep your head and eyes fixed on the place you want to go, your long term goal. Those chip are the curb...start looking down the road and the bike will go there.

    By the way, patients bring stuff to where I work all the time. Today one brought in Lemon Bars. I found and estimate of the calorie count, printed it out and laid it on top of the tray to remind me to stay away.
  • Losingfast
    Losingfast Posts: 9
    Just a thought. I used to eat like that at night too, actually hit me about 2 am. I found I wasnt eating enough protein. Trying drinking more water too. Often people feel hungry if you dont have enough water in you. NOt enough water can make you feel tired too.
    You could be using food as a stress relief too. Try eating protein about 3 pm, I bet it helps with the eating when you get home for the day.
  • skinnytayy
    skinnytayy Posts: 459
    I've been eating around 7:30pm and taking an hour long walk and after i workout or something then I don't feel hungry afterwards. I take a shower and am in bed around 9:30 .. No room in between all that to eat. Last night I was up late with business tasks til around 11 and I got SOOOO incredibly hungry BUT I drank a bottle of water as fast as possible and went to bed. :D
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    that was a great idea to leave the estimated calories laying around! i think i'm going to have to keep the nut butters out of the house... i can control my cravings for anything else.... just not that!
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    i think i am lacking fat.... i'm going to cut out the nut butters, and just not have any at the house, and have ezekial toast with coconut oil in the evening or something, healthy fats that i won't over do
  • Allibaba
    Allibaba Posts: 457 Member
    I used to eat more at night since I wasn't eating enough during the day, I try to eat more earlier in the day, then I have a small dinner and I usually leave some calories over in case I want a snack after. It is just about habits and it takes time to make new ones.
  • edorice
    edorice Posts: 4,519 Member
    I've done this a well and most of the time it's because I didn't eat enough throughout the day.

    Yes that helps. Many people wait till the end of the day to eat. They pack in 700-900 calories in one sitting.
  • antiadipose
    antiadipose Posts: 447
    omg i had this problem for years!!!!!!!!!
    and finally figured out what was wrong just recently.

    the only way i could solve this is by having bigger meals during the day. (i used to rarely rarely even have a 300 cal breakfast.... or a 300 cal lunch)

    now i go for a 400 cal breakie. 300 or so lunch, snack for under 200, a good 300-400 dinner. and i allow myself some fruit and tea after dinner..

    i know many ppl said this before but i wanted to share that it was my only cure!

    good luck
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    thank you! i think this may help!
  • Lithuria
    Lithuria Posts: 132
    Im sure someone has said this before, but keeping them out of your house all together s a great way of saving yourself.

    My biggy was toast. Oh how I love that stuff, all smothered in spread of any kind...delicious! But I'd snack on it...even thinking about it now maes me hungry. So I stopped buying bread. My husband takes microwave noodles to work for lunch so he doesn't need bread, and I usually have a slimfast shake and fruit for my lunch through the week, and we have cereal and/or fruit for breakfast, so there's really no need for us to have bread at all.

    If at the weekend I want to treat myself to some bready deliciousness I buy a pack of bread rolls, just enough for a sandwich or to dunk in soup etc, rather than buying a whole loaf that will sit there staring at me for the rest of the week :)
  • oklahoma_cowgirl_51
    oklahoma_cowgirl_51 Posts: 87
    yes, i agree. the peanut butter is just going to have to go. i'm gonna keep it out of the house all together!
This discussion has been closed.

Categories