Starving at night.

km33818 · February 2020

What should I do when I wake up in the middle of the night starving? I don’t eat in the evening before bed. I wake up about 3 am and can’t go back to sleep because my stomach is hurting. Such a dilemma because I want to go eat something. Any suggestions?

estherpotter1 · February 2020

have light butter popcorn in your bedroom.You will be full with not many calories.

nighthawk584 · February 2020

are you eating enough calories through the day? eating back any exercise calories? maybe you are being too aggressive with your weight loss goals?

nutmegoreo · February 2020

If there is no medical reason for not eating in the evening (reflux/poor sleep) save a few calories and have a snack before bed.

sarabushby · February 2020

Personally if I’m going to bed starving hungry or wake up thus, which is quite exceptional, then I’ll have a small glass of milk - nutritious and enough to satisfy my tummy gurgles long enough for me to fall back to sleep. I actually did it last night, but it’s prob only every 6mo I do so.
Perhaps you want to consider eating your dinner later in the evening or using your calories for more satiating foods?
A great pre-bedtime snack is Yoghurt as it contains Caesin which is a protein that’s more slowly digested so perfect for consumption before bed. 100g of 0% Greek Yoghurt wouldn’t do much damage to your daily calorie allowance but might stop your hunger issues.

cmriverside · February 2020

Yeah, I agree that if you're waking up at 3AM and your stomach actually hurts, then try having a snack before bed.

sarabushby suggested yogurt. I like cottage cheese with a few raw vegetables. Less sugar, so my insulin stays steady.

Then the other thing is make sure you're hitting those protein and fat minimum goals every day, that helps me a lot. Carbs just make me hangry.

josephinebowman · February 2020

The yogurt would be good. I have a drink by the bed-sometimes tea, sometimes milk. Water--if I don't drink it, I use it for taking morning pills.

MaltedTea · February 2020

Fiber will also fill your stomach longer. So perhaps add some All Bran, Smartbran or similar to whatever sweet or savory snack you have. Also, mentally for me, once I brush my teeth at night...it's a wrap. If I was to eat again in the middle of the night, there's another 2 minutes of teeth brushing, my interdental pick, etc. Like...why? I'd rather snooze lol

Jimicarpenter · February 2020

Before I go to bed I mix 2 tablespoons of peanut butter with 2 tablespoons honey in a bowl mix and eat.

gothchiq · February 2020

Save 120 calories for an ounce of cheese at bedtime.

Debs_1985 · February 2020

I make my own ice lollies from water and sugar free diluted juice. At night when I feel the hunger I just have one of those it's enough the take the hunger away.

km33818 · February 2020

Thanks for all the suggestions. I definitely will eat something after dinner. I don’t like to eat dinner late because I get acid reflux and that is miserable. I like the yogurt idea or a small piece of cheese. I love milk but that doesn’t stay with me.

vegasgirl0825 · February 2020

I definitely find that if I don't have either protein with my dinner or a larger calorie dinner then I am very hungry in the morning. I don't often wake up at night because of it, however. Some people I know will even have a small protein shake/smoothie in the evening as kind of a "dessert" but that protein helps to keep them full overnight. I would definitely look at what you're eating when you eat dinner to make sure it's enough.

JJS1979 · February 2020

While there should be a little discomfort when dieting due to the calorie restricting, if you are really so hungry that you can't sleep, you probably are either eating too few of calories during they day, exercising excessively or a combination. Use a TDEE calculator to figure out approximately what your caloric burn is during the day, then back that out about 500 calories or so to get what you should be eating. For example, if you are burning 2400 calories a day, your diet should be 1900 or so. If the deficit is substantially more than that, it is probably too much.

Once you confirm the deficit is not too much, you could save some of your calories before bed so you don't go to sleep so hungry, as others have suggested. Goodluck!

rkmcniel · February 2020

The trainer that is working with me right now says a protein shake is good if you're hungry before bedtime.

serindipte · February 2020

rkmcniel wrote: »

The trainer that is working with me right now says a protein shake is good if you're hungry before bedtime.

Just make sure you're weighing and accounting for it. Some of these can push you well over your calories, depending on what you put in it.

cmriverside · February 2020

km33818 wrote: »

Thanks for all the suggestions. I definitely will eat something after dinner. I don’t like to eat dinner late because I get acid reflux and that is miserable. I like the yogurt idea or a small piece of cheese. I love milk but that doesn’t stay with me.

That would have been helpful to know before we all suggested eating before bed.

The best thing for reflux is weight loss, but in the meantime can you use some meds to relieve your discomfort? Reflux can be doing damage to your esophagus, so you need to treat that.

My last meal is usually around 4PM and I don't wake up hungry, miserable or in pain like you said in your first post...that doesn't seem right. You should be able to go 14-16 hours easily without eating and pain is not a normal part of hunger. Maybe go to the doctor?

ActionRZ · February 2020

Since you do get acid reflux it might be the acid that is causing stomach to hurt? I too suffer from acid reflux but I think it is more caused by stress than when I eat. Try drinking more water during the evening. Although drinking too much water right befor bedtime can cause you to wake up often.

elisa123gal · February 2020

I would go to the fridge and eat one or a few of hard boiled egg whites ..or eat some boiled shrimp..just a few pieces. and a 1/2 cup of low sugar fruit. Keep the protein to 2 ounces..so weigh it out... It will keep your metabolism going and you won't gain. I lost all my weight allowing myself what I called a P.M. snack of this natured. don't eat salty popcorn in bed.. empty calories and carbs.

timnsara617 · February 2020

I too get acid reflux and don’t like to eat late. But having a small snack after dinner always helps me. Milk alone doesn’t do it for me either. If I do milk I will usually also do some ham and cheese or the yogurt works great for me. The higher the protein in the yogurt the longer it stays with me. Good luck and hope you can get though this.

serindipte · February 2020

For me, a banana has always been a reflux friendly snack. (Weighed and logged, though, because a 'medium banana' can be completely inaccurate in the data base)

Starving at night.

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