Waking Up in the Middle of the Night to Eat

I removed all junk food from my house. And I have a snack before bed time that is high in protein. Seems to help.

Consider leaving some margin in your daily calories to have a late night snack, if this is a regular occurrence. Nothing wrong with eating late if it fits your calories.

If you want to succeed you have two options
1. Leave enough calories to have a middle of the night snack
2. Don't have a middle of the night snack.


It's your choice. Remember the more your resist temptation the better you will become at resisting them.

Good luck.

Are you eating enough during the day? If your appetite is waking you up at night, I'm wondering if your daily calorie intake might be too low.

Otherwise, I agree with the PP who suggested considering a visit to a mental health professional to talk about compulsion and anxiety. Because, unless you are exaggerating, what you are experiencing is not normal.

I am bad for that too. I used to eat something bad every night...at least once. Now I either have a glass of water and force myself to go back to sleep, or I save a few calories and try to choose something more filling. Usually a tablespoon of peanut butter does the trick. Or some grapes. Better than the chips it used to be.

mkveli2pac wrote: »

As the title explains, I wake up every night and eat. Usually , it is junk food and it happens sometime more than once a night. I am disgusted with myself for doing it every night and I want it to stop, but when the time comes, it is almost like I cannot stop myself. The times when I do try to fight the compulsion and go back to sleep, it seems like a will keep waking up throughout the night. This habit has been going on for a very long time and I can't seem to stop it.

I appreciate any thoughts or advice.

Thanks

Sounds like a sleep related eating disorder (or night eating syndrome):

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-related-eating-disorders

I did exactly the same thing for roughly 30 years (age 16 or so to age 46). Some nights I would "only" get up once or twice, some nights it would be more like 6 or 7 times. I had sleep studies done and they just came back with "multiple spontaneous arousals" as the diagnosis. I wouldn't even realize I was awake until I was in the kitchen (no memory of getting out of bed or walking down the stairs) so simply rolling over and going back to sleep wasn't an option. When I would try to not eat I would end up pacing like a junky and would wake up in the kitchen again a half hour later.

I tried pretty much ever sleeping drug out there. They just made me more out of it. I would wake up as my face hit the wall/door while sleep walking. I was afraid of falling down the stairs so I gave up on drugs.

I tried other things that I don't really believe in like hypnotherapy and acupuncture with no success.

For the past 8 months or so MFP has really helped. I still wake up about an hour after I fall asleep and have a small snack that I planned out in advance, but I don't pace like a junky and I don't wake up nearly as often. I think I still sometimes wake up later in the night but the knowledge that I'd need to input whatever I eat into MFP and it would count against the next day is strong enough for me to just roll over or go the bathroom and back to bed without visiting the kitchen. Really just knowing that I would have to log everything I ate was enough for me to not want to graze all night long.

For me I think the night eating was a sort of eating disorder. I was a fat kid and lost a lot of weight and got popular (and a girlfriend) when I was 15-16. Back then I would eat next to nothing during the day and then eat at night when no one was around.....if no one sees you eat something it doesn't count right? After years it became a strong habit. I'm really hoping I can keep it behind me.

You aren't alone. I hope this helps. Hang in there.

I did that for years--I would say atleast 10 years. I felt so out of control. It started during my first pregnancy then just kept going. Usually it was a huge bowl of sugary cereal. I'm not much help though because I stopped about 6 years ago but I don't remember if I did something to stop it or if the "need" just went away. Your post brought back memories, I didn't realize it happened to other people.

I have the same problem. I found out it was mainly due to anxiety. I was able to control emotional binges during the day. But at night, my thoughts would wake me up and I would binge. I'd realize what I was doing mid-binge. I would sleep walk to my kitchen. I have it somewhat under control, but not fully. It's hard.