Eating At Night.. Help!

Options
saqueno
saqueno Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
Hey there, I've come asking for a little advice as I seem to have hit a bit of a hard spot in terms of weight maintenance.

So I've begun to enjoy exercise very much since I lost weight initially (This time two years ago I was about 105 pounds heavier), with this brings a lot of extra calories that I have to eat after training sessions, bumping my needs up much higher than they've been in my entire life which has made adjusting a little difficult, but overall fine. During the day I eat very cleanly, lean protein, lots of veggies and fruit, and complex carbs. Occasionally I do eat processed meat or fast food but I try to keep it to a minimum (I'm a student so sometimes time doesn't permit).

Now I typically get my needs in fine during the day. However, at night time I've been experiencing a strong hunger, even when I've accounted for my calorie needs for the day. Because of this it has caused me to binge on foods like Peanut Butter & refined carbs (think sugary sweets).

I don't eat like this ever during the day, and no matter how hard I try I always end up eating in the middle of the night or shortly after waking up after a nap. I've tried drinking water in place of food but it never helps, any advice would be appreciated as this habit seems to be inhibiting my weight maintenance. I've only gained 5 pounds over the course of 3 months or so, and I can imagine some of it being muscle, but regardless, it has me worried.

Thanks in advance!
Cheers.

Replies

  • tricksee
    tricksee Posts: 835 Member
    Options
    Eat 3/4 of every meal throughout the day. Save all the leftovers until your hungry at night.
  • muaylex
    muaylex Posts: 32 Member
    Options
    Eat lots of healthy snack during the day to fill you up, get rid of unhealthy snack out of your pantry and fill it with healthy one, rice cake, nut, etc.
  • RonnieLodge
    RonnieLodge Posts: 665 Member
    Options
    ... I always end up eating in the middle of the night or shortly after waking up after a nap... it has me worried.


    It has me worried too - waking up in the middle of the night to eat sounds like it could be hypoglycemia/ a night time low. Please check with your doctor - hunger shouldn't be waking you up at night.
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
    Options
    If you have "trigger" foods, you might consider controlling them in your environment and have "safe" snacks at hand: yogurt, fruit, vegetables, etc. Analyze your food diary and see where you can substitute clean satisfying foods instead of sugary, fatty foods that take you over your calorie limits and sabotage your eating plan. I find that if I have cake at hand, I eat the entire cake and develop a taste for more. If I eat no cake, my body won't crave cake. There are people who can control having these things in their cupboard: I am not one of them.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    Options
    try and save a few hundred calories for late night...I try to have at least 100 to 200 left after dinner...

    if you pre-log everything this will help you better plan you day..
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
    Options
    Just take what you are doing during the day time and mimic that at night. Eat high protein/fat foods and your satiety will be improved.

Categories