Hello there!!
I also tend to sleep weird hours for no particular reason. Seems like I'm always trying to readjust my schedule.
Well, what works for me most of the time is to MAKE myself go to bed a couple of hours earlier than I WANT To, then MAKE myself get up a couple hours earlier than I WANT to as well. Usually after a few days I'm back on track.
OK, what to do besides EAT? I CLEAN my apt, watch old videos, anything to keep me busy. If I need something, I drink hot decaf tea...
Good luck to you
Spoiling your sleep pattern IS a cause for wanting to eat. It's a vicious circle but the answer is to continue trying to sleep because it will work, it just takes a while before you get back into the pattern.
Well if you are ever up late and need to vent or talk, I am usually online. When I get in the binging mood at night I usually come on here, or some of my other fitness and diet websites to motivate me to not binge. My binges are the worst late at night. They never really happen during the day! God, I have even resorted (in the past) to stealing my roomate's food! I am so bad...anyway, I am here for you late if you need me!
I am one of those who could go till evening with no food and then eat a week's worth of calories. I force myself to have 3 meals a day and I plan an evening snack for in front of the TV so that I know true hunger is not the problem. If the "calling from the pantry or the fridge" is horrible I shut down the house and hole up in the bedroom with a mystery novel. I absolutely have a rule that I do not break- NO food in the bedroom. Works for me. What I am saying is that certain rituals can help us get thru this.
I've gotten in to a REALLY bad habit of eating a bowl of cereal just before bed. (Bran cereal with skim milk and a sliced banana) It gives me that full warm comfy feeling and I pass right out. I'm trying to replace the food for water - and it's just not the same. ACK I hope people come up with some good advice!
I've gotten in to a REALLY bad habit of eating a bowl of cereal just before bed. (Bran cereal with skim milk and a sliced banana) It gives me that full warm comfy feeling and I pass right out. I'm trying to replace the food for water - and it's just not the same. ACK I hope people come up with some good advice!
I binged at night too. Normally I would graze over snacks here and there, trying to pretend that none of them were a big deal. I had a piece of chocolate here, jelly beans there, two cookies here, grapes, hot chocolate, another bite of the meat from dinner.. Before I knew it, I had eaten enough crap to give me some belly aches and a bloated tummy. I suppose it's not as bad as some people might think it is because there are people who binge way more than I did, but I did this consistently every night for a long time. After awhile it all caught up with me and now I am trying to shed 35 lbs! At some point I figured out what my issues were and it made me want to change... it took awhile.. .but here's how I got on track.
I think a good thing to do might be to start yourself with a better schedule. Whenever someone is depressed, distraught, or disorganized most professionals recommend that you keep yourself on a simple schedule. If you do you will find that you will fall asleep more easily at night. You will not feel the need to stay awake, or put yourself to sleep with food. I think the goal is stay stay full throughout the day and to make sure you have been up at a decent time to maintain the schedule to be full all day.
I dont know what you do for a living (work, school) but as an example I would wake up at 9am, eat cereal, banana, whatever healthy food you like. At around 12pm/1pm eat lunch and do something medium sized. I find that lunch foods are always really satisfying and dont make you feel like you went overboard if you aim to eat medium sized. You know no burger and fries for lunch, and conversely, no rice crackers with carrots either. I usually do 2 sushi rolls, or a salad with a hearty soup. Hehe, I am not a sandwich person, but if you are I say a sandwich and some fruit are good. Around 4 pm, have a snack, and then around 7 pm have dinner. You should have eaten and burned most of your calories if you were active throughout the day. At this point your body wont want to consume more. If you start to think about food, send yourself to bed, drink some water, read, or watch TV. You can definitely focus on not eating if you try to remind yourself that you HAVE eaten. And you did today's full menu. Now it's time for rest.
ohtempus, if I read your post right it is not the sleep pattern that is your problem or something you don't necessarily want to change. You just don't wanna eat all night. Correct? I have just about the same schedule, not quite as late. I go to bed between 3am and 4am and get up somewhere between 12pm and 1pm. Anyway, I cannot play on the puter or watch TV and not eat. No way, no how. So I actually plan a snack of some sort. I do WW so I just make sure I have a few points left. I see no problem with eating that time of night. A calorie is a calorie no matter what time it is. :-)
Can't sleep...Wanna Eat
