does anyone else have this problem? At night time I am just a munching fool. I can maintain pretty much all day but at night, I mean late night, all bets are off. Big bowls of cereal are my thing. Why does this happen? any tips?58

What are you eating during the day? For me, when I am super munchy at night, it usually means I either am low on my cals for the day, or I didn't get enough protein/fiber that day to satisfy my appetite. So looking at what else you're eating during the day might give you some insight.

If you are eating out of habit rather than hunger, I might try imposing a time limit on my eating. No eating after Xpm. Do that for a month or so, and you might successfully break the habit of late night eating, after which you could get a little more flexible in your stopping point.

Oh this is a very common problem. And a problem it is. And funny enough in the old days, cereal was often a food I would eat.

I have to agree with Amanda. If you're truly not hungry, then it may be best to just set a strict, STRICT rule - no eating after a certain hour. And stick to it like glue - no matter what.

Make some plans for the evening to keep yourself occupied and not thinking about food. A nice hot bath, give yourself a manicure and pedicure, read, journal, some computer time, knit, sew, crochet, do puzzles, straighten up the house - whatever it is, just keep busy. Before you know it the night time eating habit will be gone.

I DO like to sit down with a nice hot cup of tea every evening. It's very relaxing and it's something I now look forward to. We've got to keep on trying different things. We need to pinpoint our weaknesses and do our best to get around them, in order for us to be successful. Good luck.

This was a problem for me and this is how I solved it:

I have a snack about 3:30-4'ish and eat dinner about 7-7:30'ish. That is about the time I would want to start munching and eating later has solved this problem for me. For the longest time I would cook dinner and have it ready by 5:30-6 and then around 8 I was ready for more, lol. I can't remember the last time I ate anything after dinner...it's been that long.

I eat a late dinner too (after 7) and I'm rarely hungry or munchy after dinner. I'm much more of an afternoon snacker - that's my big challenge. For after dinner munchies, I would probably plan a healthy after dinner snack that fits into your calorie budget for the day. A baked apple with blueberries and a sprinkle of granola on top is pretty yummy and filling. Another thing to try is brushing your teeth after you think you are done eating for the night. After brushing and flossing, I rarely want to eat anything!

when I was younger (I'm thinking around 16-17... that's when the Midnight Monster-ness really kicked in) and lived with my family, my sister always called me the Midnight Monster because late at night, I'd raid the kitchen and eat everything in sight. However, I had no desire to change this habit back then because I was thin.

As they always say, old habits die hard. I try to have this rule of no eating after 8 PM, which can sometimes be hard to follow. I wish I wouldn't even get hungry at night, though sometimes I'm not sure if it's legitimate hunger or if it's just the Midnight Monster desperately pleading to be fed.

I know some people say eating a large dinner is a bad thing to do, but if you eat things that are healthy and low cal for breakfast and lunch, you can have more dinner options. I've found that eating a larger dinner can sometimes keep the Midnight Monster away.

i highly recommend finding things to keep yourself busy. majority of late night eating for me is more out of boredom. I "think" i'm hungry, yet in reality i'm just bored. I don't watch tv that much any more. I do a lot at night to keep busy. stroll around 3fc for a while...you could get lost in some of the posts. I also love going for a workout or even just a stroll at night. I also love yoga to help wind me down. I've even wondered about taking up knitting (something that i thought i would never be interested in) or jewlery making to help keep me busy. Next time you want to snack..take a step back and count to 100, then decide are you hungry or bored. if u are truely hungry, than maybe you should look at what you are eating throut the day. but i def recommend finding things that keeps you occupied and is fun to do.

I find if I don't eat enough during the day, I will overeat at night.

I'm going to second FrouFrou here. If you're eating dinner early (and 5:30 is traditionnally almost still considered as snack time where I live, so for me this sounds uber-early), it just does make sense that you get more easily the munchies in the evening.

Of course, if you were already eating late enough, then this suggestion doesn't work, but...

Thanks soooo much for the tips! It helps to know I'm not alone in this problem. One thing I forgot to mention is that I am a nurse, working the 3pm to 11pm shift, so it's after work when I start feeling hungry and munchy. After I come home from work, I feel like I can *exhale* since I had to eat on the fly at the hospital so I'm relaxed enough to take time with my food. But then there's the vicious Milk-Cereal cycle...you know the one where you are done with the cereal, but there's still some milk in the bottom of the bowl, so you use it up by pouring more cereal, then you need a little more milk, and so on and so on. Maybe I need to ban cereal!

Can you plan a meal for that time? Since you're on the offset schedule, can you just shift all your meals around, make yourself a really nice dinner at midnight, and go to bed around 2? Not sure what your family situation is or what time you go to bed/wake up, so I don't know if this would work.

You don't know how happy I was to read this post (even though Im sure you arent happy about it) and Im not happy about the fact that Im going through the exact same thing as you right now. For the past couple of months Ive been raiding my kitchen every night finishing boxes of cereal its horrible! Last night was my first time not doing it and Im really happy about that
But that definetly doesnt mean that I can just forget about it now because actually, a couple weeks ago, I did go a night without bingeing, but then the next night it seemed I did a "make-up" binge (hahah) Ive gained 20 pounds in the process and good thing I have afforded it all but I dont wanna stay at this weight forever!
Anyways, to my point..I noticed that some people asked if you were eating enough calories during the day? That is a very good factor for many people, so make sure you arent eating too little or that could be whats causing this!
Though, I eat perfectly fine during the day and still binge at night. Ive done many observations on the possible causes:

Boredom: (Of course) At night, I dont have anything that needs to be done. So Im just hanging out around the house and I always end up reaching for food to munch on.

The computer: I seem to associate the computer with eating (darn!!) so I no longer use the computer at night. I usually turn it off before my last meal so Im not tempted to hop on!

Isnomnia: Staying up all night=eating.

Emotional Eating: Sometimes people (including myself) use food as a way to distract themselves from the issues going on in there lives. It does work, but once the food is gone, you need more and that leads to raiding your pantry.

Or maybe you really are hungry. Maybe its been a couple of hours since dinner. Maybe you havent eaten enough during the day. If you are hungry, you can eat, just stop when youre full!
I usually try to eat as much as I can until Im full at dinnertime because it seems that anytime I go down for dessert/snacks at night, it turns into a binge.

If you find yourself in a binge at night, dont let yourself eat bread. Only allow one certain type of fruit like frozen grapes for instance (very filling) pretty soon, you won't wanna eat them anymore and you wanna binge but thats all you can eat, so you'll probably just give up!

Distract yourself at night by reading, watching tv (if it doesnt trigger cravings) go on the internet (if it doesnt trigger) talk to someone, play with a pet if you have one. Listen to your body. If youre not hungry, dont eat. If you feel the urge to binge, youre not listening to yourself because theres obviously something youre thinking about thats triggering. Write your feelings down.

Take a shower.
Put in teeth bleachers (whether you have gel in them or not)
Chew Gum
Paint your nails
Brush you teeth
Exercise (even if its midnight! haha)
Post on 3FC about your urges to binge and we will support you!

I hope this helps!

born2surf92,

Jay

this problem is so common, they even have a medical terminology for this habit. To me, its barely a syndrome but I just floss and rinse, and brush. Nice minty mouth...

I had to pretty much ban cold cereal from the house - something about sweet carby goodness sets off an incredible trigger for me. Even if I just start the day with a regular serving of cereal, I get freaky munchies the rest of the morning/afternoon (it's a weird, almost painful hungry too). If I'm actually hungry and eat cereal, I just want more and more. A few foods are like that for me - cereal, crackers, Wheat Thins, etc.