waking up in the middle of the night very hungry

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chrisdavey
chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does anyone else wake up in the middle of the night really hungry? I have been a bit lately (even though I have been eating more lately) and I also have a solid pre bedtime meal of cottage cheese and either natural peanut butter or casein (slow digesting) protein.

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  • MB_Positif
    MB_Positif Posts: 8,897 Member
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    I am surely not an expert, but I have heard a lot of people on here say sometimes we mistake hunger for dehydration. Could it be that you just need to pound a glass of water?
  • mistyb47711
    mistyb47711 Posts: 861 Member
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    Id try drinking a glass of water and see if that helps.
  • jon_dub
    jon_dub Posts: 166
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    Yeah i have the same problem.. I am guess you eat a lot of small meal and have driven up your metabolism. If you have then your body is waking you up because he it is ready for its next fuel up. What you can do is have a snack preped and ready. A peanut butter cracker or something to give your stomach what it wants. You coudl be dehydrated so drink a glass of water with it. You woudl be amazed at how the hunger goes away becaus of the one cracker.. it is just doing what you are training it to do if you are doing that
  • LittleD311
    LittleD311 Posts: 618 Member
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    I woke up at 2am the other morning, feeling starving, and drank water, it hit the spot!
  • kerryhastwins
    kerryhastwins Posts: 15
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    OMG you hit it RIGHT on the head!

    Every time, FAITHFULLY, when one of my twins woke up in the middle of night I absolutely needed to nosh on something, anything! I bake a lot, so I ate the worst kind of foods too. I gained a ton of weight on top of the baby weight I still have. Finally I just had to stop. It was getting so out of control. I got sparkling water and drank that instead of eating, the carbonation made me feel full, and there are no calories in it, or sugars, so I felt way better!! And I lost 10lbs, just from switching to that!!!
  • Goal_Seeker_1988
    Goal_Seeker_1988 Posts: 1,619 Member
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    If water doesn't help try drinking some milk. Or a banana, which is healthy and filling.
  • DizzieLittleLifter
    DizzieLittleLifter Posts: 1,020 Member
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    I do! I just ignore it though and grub my breakfast first thing.:ohwell:
  • JulieTX86
    JulieTX86 Posts: 303
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    Along with the slow digesting protein try eating other foods that are low on the glycemic index before bed. The higher the number the quicker the spike in your blood sugar (and then crash)... the lower the number the slower your blood sugar raises. Maybe this will help keep your body satiated while you sleep.
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Definitely not a water issue. I average about 4L (132oz?) a day.

    I haven't been eating bad stuff when I wake up, usually some oats or cottage cheese as both should take a long time to digest. I'm not actually trying to lose weight at the moment so I don't think the midnight feeding is hindering my goals. Basically, just wondering if it could be a medical issue. Bought it up with the doc when it first started but at that time it was only once so he said it could just be a random thing. hmm...
  • mideon_696
    mideon_696 Posts: 770 Member
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    I keep a shake in the fridge almost every night, lol.

    only wake once or twice a week, in which case, i drink it, lol. i'm always hungry when i wake up. be in morning, or the middle of the night....if i sleep right through, i'm literally feeling like an ethiopian child...and smash a shake. lol.
  • Lisamariemlt
    Lisamariemlt Posts: 101 Member
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    Its my total MY BAD. Now I plan for it in my meal planning as a day before snack and journal it and leave it out sob its all accounted for
  • cakeslovesbaking
    cakeslovesbaking Posts: 23
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    I always wake up hungry... I train quite hard too. If i do wake up haungry, i get up and have a bowl of cereal and dont add it to my MFP diary... I fugure, i just need it that particular day! I dont think that anyone should be too rigid, it makes it more difficult to stay on a healthy diet if you are always very strict and dont listen to your body.

    Personally, i have a snack just before i go to bed, this normally helps me sleep through.

    I hope this helps.

    Also... You look like your body fat is quite low.... an extra snack just may be what you need and it will give you a bit more energy to get though anther training session the next day.
  • FemininGuns
    FemininGuns Posts: 605 Member
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    I sometimes wake up throughout the night and feel hungry... This just started in the last couple of weeks... In the last few days I've also felt hungrier throughout the day with the same amount of calories. I am chalking it up to my metabolism working it's magic and I am going to see where this goes in the next week. I am still strying to lose body fat for a contest in May, so I am not straying from my nutritional plan... I will talk to my coach next week if it persists.

    For me, when I am not so 'rigid' I would eat... Toast with natural PB or something like that to get me through the night. And it wouldn't be every night. If you're okay with snacking once in a while, then I would say do it. But you must be careful not to cue your body to wake up EVERY night like that... Maybe having a larger snack before bed would help?
  • chrisdavey
    chrisdavey Posts: 9,834 Member
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    Thanks people. I thought a cup of cottage cheese and a solid amount of natural pb was a pretty damn large snack before bed :P
  • Juleone
    Juleone Posts: 1
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    When I wake up hungry its not a glass of water that helps but a 1/2 a cup of granola (Kashi) cereal with soy milk, I always wake up at this specific time, and I do have a small snack and a glass of water or sleepy time tea. Doesnt seem to matter.

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