let me first disclose: i am in relapse, so consider this 'with a grain of salt'...
last year, when my higher power and i really closed in on my disease, i wrote at the end of each night (after dinner or at bedtime)
HIGHER POWER , (mine has a name but i will leave it blank for you to fill in yours)
PLEASE REMOVE FROM ME ALL INTEREST IN FOOD UNTIL 7 AM TOMARROW MORNING.
There was more to the prayer, but this is the part relevant to your post.......sort of a letter to my higher power.
it worked exceptionally well.....i am in relaps cuz i dont want to stop overeating, i just want to not have the 'fat' consequences...i understand that, and i am prayerfully begging for the strength to 'jump ship' away from the food, and cling on to my HP
keep up the good fight, and bless youi
kim

Kim, I too believe that it is the power of the mind that will set us free. The power meaning for me, My Lord and Saviour Jesus. I do notice that when I try to be in charge I fail, but when I give it up to God, great things happen. But we all know that its not that easy, at least for me its not. I tend to want to do things all the time MY way and in my rush, rat race of a life I forget to slow down and pray.

Thank for the reminder once again and congrats on your progress.

Hugs, Leenie

Thanks for posting this issue. I have always been a night time eater. At times, I would bring food up to my bedroom and wake up in the middle of the night and eat it.

Sabreek, thanks for posting. I'm sorry to hear you have trouble with this.

While I wouldn't advocate taking medication unless it's essential, I wonder if taking something for a little while would break the cycle. I mean, the practice of waking in the night must be a formed "habit", right?
While I don't get up in the night to eat (I sure do like taking food up to bed with me, though!), I have had times when I'll wake in the night, and it'll become a habit. You know... an anxious sort of sleep. And that will become a habit that's difficult to break.
I have a prescription for an anti-anxiety med (1/2 pill knocks me out nicely), and I'll take that on occasion (once or twice a month) if I need to "get back on track" with my sleep patterns. It really does help.
Again, I'm not recommending meds... just speculating on their possible usefulness...

Me too...me toooooo!

I do OA & WW and nighttime eating is the bane of my existance. I just hate it and I hate myself when I do it.

What makes it better for me is that I keep a bag of Pirate Booty in the bedroom with a quart of water that I allow my self on the nights I'm jammed. That is at least a little less dangerous. Because I am not doing absinance from flour, I also allow a few points for a WW dessert after dinner.

It's so hard, I know. The book that was recommended on this thread sounds good. I am going to look into that, as well.

Hang in there with me!

Radiodoll

Radiodoll, that's a great idea! You've reminded me that I made a pact with a friend awhile ago to keep some fruit by our beds... I'm going to do that...

Gosh do I relate... I wish I had an answer. For me, like another in here, I pray, ask God for strength to not eat... also, I try to watch interesting tv to keep my mind off the chips and crackers... and too, I think about tomorrow, thinking back to tonight, and being thankful I didn't eat and seeing the scale move downwards. I always have to remind myself of the scale moving, and also seeing myself in an image of the future, thin, trim, happy, glowing..
God bless you

someone once recommended Crest Whitestrips after dinner. then you can't eat or drink.

That's a great idea, Bella.

I discovered the crest white strips also. You can do the bottom and top 2X a day. So if you do them separetly at 30 min each that is 2 hours that you are not eating. I don't do them for 2 weeks as recommended but pull them out to keep from eating when needed!! I also use them when I'm preparing food for my children and all I want to do is nibble.

Fruit also is great!! Recently I've been eating Asian pears. They are huge and very juicey. The other night I ate 2 of them and was actually full...& did not feel guily unlike the guilt that plagues me when I pig out on chocolate, chips, cheese, nuts, ice cream etc...

Shanarain

I was reading all the posts and my downfall is nighteating too! I did not know it was a syndrome. I consider it my worst habit...now that I gave up smoking. I am going to pick up that book. Lately I go to bed, and wake up and eat . It's not easy getting over that feeling like you just blew it anyway mine as well go for it!

Hang in there you are not alone

I eat at night, that's my weakness when I am watching TV!

I'm new to this site, so I saw this thread a few days after it was posted. But if anyone reads this, I would appreciate some help. Late night (or in my case, early morning) hunger is the bane of my existence. I wake up every morning at 4 am pretty much on the dot CRAVING something..usually something sweet. I have tried a lot of things like trying to ignore or putting a water bottle by my bed so I can drink a little water instead of getting up and going to the kitchen. But that usually doesn't work. If I try to ignore, I won't go back to sleep and H2O doesn't seem to cut it. I have quit buying sweets when I grocery shop, but that sometimes leads to s 4 am trip to Krispy Kreme. What else can I do?

I'm a late night binger as well. I find that I do it alot more when I don't go to bed the same time as my boyfriend. That's when I "sneak" food One thing that works for me is bringing a tall glass of ice water with me to drink while I read in bed before I go to sleep. It does the trick 95% of the time, and I like crunching on the ice, I still get to "eat" something but I don't feel any guilt for it

I'm another late nite binger. I will get up anywhere from once to 3 or 4 times a night. If I get up only once I consider the night a success. About the only thing that helps me is to constantly tell myself not to eat in the evening and when I wake up I tell myself, just don't go into the kitchen and then I have to listen to myself. I was part of a nite eating study. taking an antidepressant but it didn't help me. I have been doing this for years. and writing that makes me feel very sad.