Hello lads and lasses. I am being very good at controlling my calories at the moment, at least from the morning to early evening. Whenever it gets to about 11PM I am always famished, for example last night's sin was a portion of egg fried noodles, the night before it was a whole tube of Rice infusion pringles. I know you aren't meant to eat anything after about 9PM in order to sleep properly, but I sleep like a log anyway. What can I do? I already eat fairly large teas, supposedly to fill me up for the evening. Maybe downing about a pint of water is the answer? I know we're all here to shed some poundage but I'm not prepared to simply ignore my tummy when it's telling me to fill it!! Please help!
xXx

Hey h,

Give us an idea of how many calories you eat in a day, and when you eat them (breakfast, snacks, lunch, etc). Maybe we can make some suggestions!

Jay

my only advice is if its not in your house you wont eat it. Get rid of the junk food.

that's very true. How about you keep fruit and yogarts for your midnight cravings, they are much better for you and will still fill you up.

What seems to curb my hunger in the evening (once it gets real late especially) is to eat a small balanced snack. Some protein, carbs and fat. I like 1/2 apple, a few nuts or a little PB on the apple, and a small serving of cheese or deli meat. Kinda Zone-ish. Something about getting a little fat makes it stick for me.

If you are going to eat at night, plan it out & have something high fiber with some protein like a little peanut butter on high fiber bread, or on a spoon (1/2 a serving usually) and a bowl of high fiber cereal. Drink your water right after & it should keep you feeling full.

First off, I would make sure I was eating enough. I have been steadily losing weight for 6 mos, but hunger has rarely been a part of it. If you aren't getting enough calories, it's counter-productive if you're tempted to binge on bad stuff late at night.
Second, if you are eating enough, I'd incorporate an evening snack into the plan. Something with protein, maybe some good fats, that will stick with you through the night. Hot lowfat or sugar free cocoa, yogurt with some nuts, cheese and whole grain crackers, etc.
I agree not to have bad stuff around to tempt you. I do that as much as possible, but as 4 other people live in my house, sometimes there are cookies or chips around. I have to deal with it.

A slice of turkey is a great way to have a bit of protein before bed, or a light string cheese or a FEW nuts.

I also like the K2O Protein water by special K. The strawberry kiwi tastes yummy to me... 5g protein and 50 calories.

I was a late night eater, and still struggle sometimes with this. I found that it's not real hunger, it's part habit and part comfort. I started exercising in the evenings and this has just stopped the problem for me. I feel so good after that workout I don't think of food...it has taken the place of that food.

If you are truly, legitimately hungry at that hour, then maybe you aren't eating enough during the day? There is a little feeling at night where you could jsut eat a little something, maybe just a tiny empty feeling...that is GOOD to feel and you want to not eat that away. I think Oprah described the feeling better but it's like you could jsut eat a little something...I forget the whole reason, but it's good to feel that way, and I have found that I lose more weight when I keep that feeling at night, and lose a lot less when I eat for that little feeling.

I second the protein water, it is really good and you feel really full. It is expensive in the bottles, but you can get little powder packs that you just mix in your own bottle of water, that is what I keep on hand...and I never need the whole bottle to feel full, so I will put it back in the fridge.

I think most people can eat late and still sleep... there's been some controversy about whether we should eat in the evening or not. The recent research seems to suggest that our food gets digested the same, but many people prefer not to eat at night for a variety of reasons. Others (such as myself) often eat an evening snack and have no trouble losing weight or sleeping.

You may have to play around a bit to find out what works. It could be eating more during the day will make you less hungry at night. Or it could be that you can work it out to have a healthy snack in the evening and make it part of your calories. I don't think there's one right answer to the question, but the one that works for you.

But if you are binging on a lot of high fat foods (which might affect your sleep), one way to avoid that is to keep them out of the house, which has been suggested!!