Bad Habits

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vbartholo
vbartholo Posts: 4
in Health and Weight Loss
I get up every night anywhere from 1 am to 4 am and I find myself eating in my kitchen! This is my 5th day on myfitnesspal. I'm 21 and 140 pounds, I'm trying to lose 20 pounds as soon as possible.I exercise everyday, but it doesn't seem to be making any difference. Any advice?

Replies

  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    Are you like sleep eating or is it a conscious choice?
  • CherryBombXO
    CherryBombXO Posts: 2
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    Well I've found that the amount of exercise you do doesn't have much of an effect unless you change your dieting habits as well. I'm also a "snacker" and late night snacking is the worst! SO I suggest that if you HAVE to eat late, try buying healthier things. I used to eat chips, cookies, ect. as snacks but now I eat a single piece of fruit, a serving of baby carrots or celery, things like that. And top it off with a HUGE glass of water. May not be as delicious, BUT it really does help!
    Not having foods that are quick to make also helped me out a lot! That way I won't go and make that late night sandwich or whatever else is quick and easy. All my meals are things that take time to really prepare, keeps me from eating just out of boredom because I'm too lazy to cook anytime that I'm not actually hungry! haha Hope this helps :-)
  • sweetiepie31612
    sweetiepie31612 Posts: 240 Member
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    I can't see your diary, but trying drinking more water throughout the day. Also, try encoporating more protein into your dinner or snacking on peanuts or almonds closer to bedtime.
  • michlingle
    michlingle Posts: 797 Member
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    Have someone put a lock on the fridge....and hide the key.
  • DustinReiner
    DustinReiner Posts: 157 Member
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    God, MFP needs a "LIKE" button because I would hit it on TCHRISTINE24's last remark. "Are you like sleep eating!" That's just a great comment!

    Getting up in the middle of the night, unless you really are sleep eating(Doubtful!) you control getting up and indulging in late night munchies!

    That's the part of dieting YOU CONTROL, it's called will power. MY guess is that your not eating somthing healthy, which is why the working out part isn't making much difference.

    Dieting isn't easy, it takes will power. Naugh on your pillow, it's seriously filling! Low carories to. ;)
  • vbartholo
    vbartholo Posts: 4
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    no i know that i'm doing it :( I feel like it's a viscous cycle I can't break
  • milaxx
    milaxx Posts: 1,122 Member
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    If you are eating well balanced meals through out the day you shouldn't be hungry at 4 am. If you are eating out of habit or boredom, you need to come up with an activity to do instead. It can be something crazy like walk play a computer game for 5 mins or walk up and down the steps 5 times. Or drink a 10oz glass of water. Seriously put the bottle by your bed and do not allow yourself to go into the kitchen. It's about changing habits, so make a plan and work towards that.
  • danielle1787
    danielle1787 Posts: 1
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    I understand where everyone who replied to this is coming from but vbartholo, I completely relate to what your going through. I don't do it every night but there are times when I wake up, especially from naps, when I feel like I just have to eat something quickly and it's usually not something very healthy. To me it isn't a habbit, It's weird. The one thing that helps me ALOT with this is what someone else mentioned and that's only having healthy snacks 'ready to eat'... If i have a bag of cookies sitting next to a bag of apples and I wake up hungry I'm probably going for the cookies lol.. When I first wake up my will power is pretty low but if I only have apples that are quick and easy I'm going for that... I hope that helps some... : /
  • christine24t
    christine24t Posts: 6,063 Member
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    no i know that i'm doing it :( I feel like it's a viscous cycle I can't break

    Maybe it's something to do with your sleep cycle? Like you're going to bed too early so you're waking up hours later hungry? Like the others have said, maybe have a snack before you sleep so your stomach has something to digest. Or like the others said, if it's related to boredom, find something else to do, like turn the TV on or read a book for a few minutes.
    I just did a search and found this article: http://www.glamour.com/health-fitness/blogs/vitamin-g/2008/10/true-health-confessions-i-wake.html There's not much for advice there, but from what I gather, it may be psychological and it could help if you saw somebody about it.
  • vbartholo
    vbartholo Posts: 4
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    yes, I do the same. So I did some research and found NES or Night Eating Syndrome. It has to do with people who eat more then 50% of their caloric intake after 8 pm. That is me. It also said that people who suffer from it 33% of them are morbidly obese. Tonight I'm going to try drinking a whole glass of water before bed keeping one next to my bed and locking myself in my room. This has to stop. I would lose so much weight if I could just get this under control.
  • erikaphoffmann
    erikaphoffmann Posts: 13 Member
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    try eating something rich in protein or whole grains as a snack before bedtime (i eat a small bowl of fiber one cereal ~ it helps me), it takes your body longer to digest~ it may keep your tummy satisfied until morning...
  • willywonka
    willywonka Posts: 743 Member
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    I have (and still do) struggle with this several nights a week. I felt so guilty the next morning. I need to do better at eating more calories throughout the day and less at night. I do think some of mine is habit, but there are times (like last night) that i woke up at 11:00 starving and devoured a bunch of cinnamon almonds (love those things)
  • ChantalGG
    ChantalGG Posts: 2,404 Member
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    You are addicted, eating like that is a habit that you need to break. Just dont do it. lol I know it sounds easier said then done but just stop! I am addicted to eating i want to eat til i feel full, i also crave certain food s and i will have mood swings until i get the taste. I havnt had much of that since i started eating healthier foods though.
  • jrp31
    jrp31 Posts: 47 Member
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    Why are you waking up? I would talk to you doctor about options to help you sleep. I have restless leg syndrome, and have had many bouts with insomnia. I would toss and turn in bed, sometimes falling asleep but then always waking up again. To help me be able to get back to sleep I got in the habit of getting up in the night and having a bowl of cereal (ie Fruit Loops). It would wake me up all the way so that I could start the process of going back to sleep again. My doctor gave me an anti-anxiety/sleep aid and slowly but surely my sleeping patterns have gotten back to fairly normal. Until you can address your sleep issue, however, you've got to just exercise self-control and not eat during that time. There's no other way around it.
  • Skinny100
    Skinny100 Posts: 77
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    Try praying. I used to eat at night too. But now I try to pray and, if necessary, I'll chew some fruit flavored gum and go back to bed.
    Good luck!!! :)
  • jad54
    jad54 Posts: 192
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    When you feel the need to eat in the middle of the night, you're most likely not eating enough during the day. Make sure you eat breakfast every morning and try and space out 4-5(or 2-3 depending on your schedule) more well balanced meals throughout the day. If you still feel the need to get up in the middle of the night, chug a big glass of water instead of giving into your midnight cravings.

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