[candace.gail]

Last night I woke up to the sound of wrappers. I found that my husband had eaten 2 slim-fast bars, 2 cereal bars, 2 grilled cheese sandwhiches, 1 vanilla pudding, and a 1/2 bag of chips. All at 3am.

I had never actually seen him do this, although my mom had told me he did (she caught him doing it a few times when we visited them).

He is very overweight. He is very NOT active. I'm really worried about him. Now I have to worry that he is binging.

The worst part is.... he denies it. He will not acknowledge it. What do I do? I'm really worried about him! He has gained a lot of weight in the 2 years we've been married, and he was very overweight when we got married.

[Ellen]

Does he do this in his sleep? Maybe he is not aware he is doing it. Can you get him to walk with you in the evenings? Just a nice stroll to enjoy the cooler weather...

Can you sit him down and tell him you love him and are going to miss him when he kills himself from lack of exercise and eating poorly?

It is not easy dealing with a spouse's problems. My husband is Mr. Perfect when it comes to self discipline. I know he gets frustrated with me...

[Hale_Mary]

Hey Candace, I'm sorry to hear about your problem. This sounds like something you should be concerned about. Eating in his sleep or secretly eating in the middle of the night is more complicated than merely being inactive or making poor food choices.

You might need to take him to marriage counceling and/or therapy. He might be doing this due to emotional problems.

[QuilterInVA]

There is a condition where people eat in their sleep and don't know it. Since he is very overweight, he may have sleep apnea as well that contributes this. I'd take him for a physical first to see if there is a reason for this. You need to be supportive and believe him until medical evidence proves otherwise.

[shelby897]

I've been there. Even when I was thin there were times I would get up at night and binge, at my worst I would be at the grocery store at 1:00 a.m. buying food. I would check into whether or not he has an eating disorder and needs counseling. But, unfortunately, he has to want to stop this. I also ate at night because I was too embarassed to do it in front of my husband but would just have aweful cravings all day and couldn't wait for everyone to go to bed so I could fulfill them.