Sleep eating

Lovethynunn · February 2017

Hi guys!

This may sound like a very strange thing to post but I really need help. My biggest struggle is sleep eating. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this? I'm not really sure how to go around it. I'm so desperate to loose the weight that I keep gaining (I'm sure this is why) but nothing is shifting.

I work as a waitress and my scheduled hours are all over the place. I'm hungry at 11:00 pm as I've just walked 10 miles. I then want to go to bed when I get it (1:30). I find I graze like mad at the end of the shift. I get home, tell myself not to eat anything. However 2 hours into my sleep I wake up and hit the fridge for the thing I told myself not to eat. It's normally something sweet. It's driving me nuts. I'm aware that I have done it the next day but I'm practically sleep walking when I do it. Any advice or anyone been in my situation?

Thanks for reading.

Hello_its_Dan · February 2017

fatbitch1985 wrote: »

Hi guys!

This may sound like a very strange thing to post but I really need help. My biggest struggle is sleep eating. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this? I'm not really sure how to go around it. I'm so desperate to loose the weight that I keep gaining (I'm sure this is why) but nothing is shifting.

I work as a waitress and my scheduled hours are all over the place. I'm hungry at 11:00 pm as I've just walked 10 miles. I then want to go to bed when I get it (1:30). I find I graze like mad at the end of the shift. I get home, tell myself not to eat anything. However 2 hours into my sleep I wake up and hit the fridge for the thing I told myself not to eat. It's normally something sweet. It's driving me nuts. I'm aware that I have done it the next day but I'm practically sleep walking when I do it. Any advice or anyone been in my situation?

Thanks for reading.

Eat higher protein, higher fiber foods at night.
Think big salads.
1) total volume is high so it triggers satiety.
2) takes longer to digest so satiated longer.
3) higher volume lower calories and nutrient dense.

Hope that helps.

kaizaku · February 2017

3 words, lock the fridge. Clank clank lol

CafeRacer808 · February 2017

What time are you eating dinner?

Lovethynunn · February 2017

CafeRacer808 wrote: »

What time are you eating dinner?

I tend to eat when I'm still running around on the floor waitressing around 7.

madamso1 · February 2017

Make a schedule so you eat at the same time every day. If you need a snack eat carrots and celery. It isn't very yummy but if you don't want a carrot you aren't REALLY hungry. You know what I mean?

CafeRacer808 · February 2017

I'd be starving too if I ate at 7pm but was still up at 1:30am. I know this because I'm often up at 1:30am.

As someone else stated above, try to incorporate more satiating foods in your dinner. I would also suggest carving out some room in your calorie goal for a snack (again, something satiating) when you get home from work. It's better to go to bed with some food in your stomach than waking up in middle of the night.

JaydedMiss · February 2017

I always save calories for before bed, I find i cant sleep without my half bagel with cream cheese. Its only 125 calories so i dont mind. Holds me over until morning. Nothing wrong with eating before bed just have a little less at each meal to allow for the calories

Geocitiesuser · February 2017

Self control. I'm sorry, there is literally no other answer and no other resolution. You're not sleep eating (a real condition) because you are conscious of what you're doing. You have to learn to eat better during the day that you're not starving at night. There's nothing wrong with a before bed snack either. You just have to stop your bad habit of late night grazing and middle of the night binge-ing.

KeepRunningFatboy · February 2017

When I was fighting bulimia a few years back I had a similar issue. I'd restrict for a couple days and through will power avoid eating. But eventually I would binge and it always seemed to happen in the night about 2-3 hours after sleep. It's when I was weakest and the subconscious was fighting for survival. So point 1 - eat enough and eat a healthy balance. But it can also become a habit, as it did for me since I fought for over a year. I began to fight the habit by putting my go to night foods in a locked small dog crate. Seriously. I also would eat waiter a bowl of oatmeal or a medium baked potato before I would go to bed. It was approx 200 calories. Both are suggested to increase seratonin. One more thing I did was "psychological self-talk." I would almost meditate or get to a quiet prayer state and repeatedly say over and over "I am strong and I do not eat at night until breakfast" I did this to try to reprogram the subconscious. Sometimes I found writing that out a couple times reinforced my will power.

Lovethynunn · February 2017

KeepRunningFatboy wrote: »

When I was fighting bulimia a few years back I had a similar issue. I'd restrict for a couple days and through will power avoid eating. But eventually I would binge and it always seemed to happen in the night about 2-3 hours after sleep. It's when I was weakest and the subconscious was fighting for survival. So point 1 - eat enough and eat a healthy balance. But it can also become a habit, as it did for me since I fought for over a year. I began to fight the habit by putting my go to night foods in a locked small dog crate. Seriously. I also would eat waiter a bowl of oatmeal or a medium baked potato before I would go to bed. It was approx 200 calories. Both are suggested to increase seratonin. One more thing I did was "psychological self-talk." I would almost meditate or get to a quiet prayer state and repeatedly say over and over "I am strong and I do not eat at night until breakfast" I did this to try to reprogram the subconscious. Sometimes I found writing that out a couple times reinforced my will power.

Lovethynunn · February 2017

Thank you so much for your advice. This was super interesting to me. I also used to have bulimia and so have always battled this insane relationship with food. However, what you have said makes total and utter sense. I will totally try these tips out. Thank you.

Sleep eating

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