eating late at night...help!
 

I work every day from 2:45 p.m. to 11:30 at night. I dont go to sleep till about 3 a.m and wake up around noon. This has put a serious damper on my weight loss. I have my "lunch" break around 7 and usually have a light meal. But by the time I get off work i'm starving and usually eat a normal size dinner around midnight. I'm gaining weight like crazy. At first I was confused because at my job i'm constantly walking for 8 hours, so I thought I would LOSE weight since I was getting more exercise. But I'm thinking this eating late at night is putting on the weight.

Any suggestions?? I can't sleep when I'm hungry, it's too distracting. Are their foods that I CAN eat before bed?

You guys are the best!

I had issues with night time eating, so I would go to bed earlier with a book. And I'd find myself nodding off after a couple minutes.

Try eating your dinner during your break time and once you get home, have a light snack... maybe crackers? Something high in protein gives me energy and keeps me up so I'd stick with something high in carbs but low in calories. Then a glass of water and then off to bed?

My DH had the same problem when he worked 11-7 for a few months.

He blamed it on eating his big meal just before he went to bed, so he started eating his big meal of the day at work and just had a bowl of cereal and skim milk before bed. He slept better and lost the few pounds he'd gained.

However, he also stopped snacking during his shift, so it's hard to tell which was the real cause of his weight gain. :D

ETA: Ooops, I got to this thread through "new posts" and didn't notice it was in the 20 somethings til after I posted. Sorry about "butting in".:o

Heidi, you are definitely NOT butting in. All opinions are welcome! Also, come to think of it, cereal and skim milk sounds heck of a lot better than crackers. Heh.

I think the solution for you is just going to have to be changing when you eat your big meal. It makes sense that you're starving when you get home, so I think you just need to eat your biggest meal either on your meal break or before work. Just try not to go home at midnight starving - eating a big meal right before bed would definitely hinder your weightloss.

I've worked midnights for the past year and a half (i.e. I wake up at 8:30pm, go into work at 10, work til 8am, etc) and I've found that you just have to move your eating habits accordingly. Whatever time you wake up... that's breakfast. A few hours later, snack. A few hours later, lunch. A few hours later, dinner. Before bed, a snack. Even if before bed is 9am! Quit thinking in "normal" time terms. :)

I agree with starfish's thinking. It makes sense to have a meal after work, a few hours before bedtime. Even if it's not "normal" dinnertime, that makes sense for you. I'd say try a bowl of cereal and milk... that seems like a good idea

Here's a questions because I have this issue... I am MAJORLY triggered by carbs/sweets... especially at night. To the point that if I eat them late I will wake up in the middle of the night craving them. If you have a similar problem have you thought about cutting back on bad carbs before bed?

Hey there. Good for you to ask for some support or answers. It matters more WHAT you eat not WHEN you eat. If you are gaining weight your daily calories IN are exceeding your calories OUT--pure and simple. I would focus on veggies and lean proteins. Eating foods low on the GI scale have really, really helped me. I WAS a huge late night eater. I find going to sleep as soon as possible helps--but I don't go to bed hungry. Also, it's great you are getting more active BUT in my experience weightloss is about 80%-90% diet and 10-20% exercise. I hope something here helps.

I have been reading Jillian Michaels book Mastering your Metabolism. According to the data in there the WORST food to eat before bed is carbs. If you have to eat anything eat lean protein. It is better to got to bed on an empty stomach.
Reason - for you to get the peak in production of your Human Growth Hormone you need to be in a semi fasting state. HGH helps you build muscle and use fat, you need it, you want it. Leptin (the satiety hormone) hinders the production of HGH so if you are full when you are going to sleep you are not producing HGH like you should. Your peak time for production of HGH is in your stage 4 sleep (deep) that occurs about an hour after you fall asleep.

For all these reasons you shouldn't eat in the hours before bed time. Jillian says after 9 is a no no but that is based on a 'normal' schedule, and you might need to adjust accordingly.

I don't know if all that helps or if it is more discouraging.