Sleep eating what do you do?
 

For weeks now i have been sleep eating. I discover evidence of it some of the time. Last night i apparently drank some water, drank some milk and ate some ritz crackers.:( I may have eaten more but i just don't know.
DO any of you know how to stop doing this. I weighed down a pound before i went to bed then i woke up this morning weighing more.
I am certain now this is the reason i cant lose weight. I haven't lost a pound since the 19th of last month. I eat 1500 to 1900 calories a day like sparkpeople tells me to and i usually exercise for 30 minutes to a hour sometimes more and my weight just won't go down.
I don't know what to do. I looked online and they said doctors sometimes prescribe two different medications to stop this. I don't recall what they are called right now.
Is there another way to stop this that you know of? I want to lose weight and i am sabotaging myself every night now.
Any help would be appreciated.

Sleep eating? Wow, I've never heard of that. So you have no recollection of it the next morning?
I had a friend who was a severe sleep-walker. She would get up and clean, ride her bike in PJs and one time unwrapped all her birthday presents the night before the b-day - and then had no recollection who gave her what :lol: . Anyway, she went to a specialist, slept in a sleep lab to get herself analyzed and eventually was put on medication.
It might be worth asking your doctor about this - it can't be good for your rest to be up at night anyway, right?

Hope you can figure this out :hug:

I don't have any advice, but wanted to post this article for you and anyone else dealing with this: NYTimes article about binge eating while asleep

Good luck to you. :hug:

I use to do it and I am sure it had a lot to do with the mental state I was in at the time. I hope you can get it figured out soon :hug:

Yikes, that sounds scary :(

If it were me, I'd go to the doctor ASAP. In the meantime, if you live alone, maybe put a little lock on the fridge/cabinets at night? Hmm.. that sounds pretty drastic. And I don't know whether or not you'd still be able to remember the combination/find the key in your sleep. This really might be contributing significantly to your weight, though.

Anyway, I'm definitely not in a position to give advice on this as I don't know much about it but I just wanted to give you :hug: You should talk to a doctor! Good luck!

Thanks everyone, I have an appointment with my therapist next week i will talk to her about it and see what she thinks.
This didn't happen the last time i went on a diet, i lost 27 pounds in three months then. According to the article i read thanks to thesame7lbs i think i will need to see my doctor.
I can't continue on this way. It's depressing to work at losing weight during the day only to sabotage myself at night.
Thanks everyone for your input. And thanks onederchic it helps knowing someone else has gone through this. I have felt like i was going completely nuts the last few mornings. things moved around and such. I was afraid i was going off the deep end. I talked to my boyfriend about it, he doesn't think it's a big deal. Ha!
Luckily i had heard of sleep eating before or i would have been petrified. I was still quiet scared until i figured it out. Now i just need to stop doing it!:^:

Good luck with your therapy and keep us updated :hug:

sleep eating
 

I have had a sleep test and would recommend that for you, if your doctor agrees. Mine showed I move a lot in bed and have some apnea. I have started sleep eating, before I went on a diet. I made a sundae and since I didn't have whipped cream, I just poured heavy cream on top, bottom, etc. I also bought something on craigslist and had to cancel that in the am. I was afraid I would try to drive and hurt someone, so my doctor changed my sleeping pills. Haven't gotten out of bed since.
btw, my doctor approved of my diet, Medifast, altho he doesn't offer it to patients. He did say his partner does, and later said that sometimes doctors order things because they make money, not because it is good for the patient. My husband and I have stopped the diet today.

Thanks onederchick!:hug: I will keep all of you updated.

Are you taking any sleep aids? Many sleep aids warn of side effects like doing activities while asleep. You should see your doc. If it's not meds, you may want to have a sleep study done. You definitely have to get this figured out for your own safety.

I am not taking any sleep aids. I was wondering if taking a tylenol PM for a few nights would be ok. Usually i sleep hard when i take them. :^:
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

In school, I learned that sleep eating usually happens when you go to bed hungry. When you are asleep your body is so hungry that it wakes itself up partially and eats. 4star is also correct that sleep aids cause sleep eating as well.

How many calories are you eating a day?

I am trying to eat between 1500 to 1900 calories a day. And i ate about 60grams of protein yesterday though that was a good day. I usually eat between 40 to 50 grams of protein a day. I know that is low but i find it hard to get enough protein. I found a site a couple of days ago that said i should get between 60 to 130 grams of protein a day. I managed this the last time i lost weight by drinking protein drinks i am not doing that this time.Should i be eating more?

^^That's too low, .8 per kg of body weight is a decent recommendation by the RDA. Why so much trouble getting protein in? Are you veggie/vegan/picky eater?

Not sure if this helps, but I work overnight shifts and find that eating protein (chicken,nuts,protein shake) is *very common* amongst us shift workers, especially around 2-3am because it helps perk up our energy. If you are not eating enough during the day (and 40-50 grams is not a lot at all for your body weight), your body is likely craving protein. You may not be actually choosing protein (although milk is a good source), but, I dunno. Just a thought. I am no expert on this.

I think adding more protein in your diet would be a good idea, especially since you didn't experience the sleep eating the last time you lost weight when you were drinking the shakes.
I have experienced sleep eating on occasion myself and it was always on nights when I was hungry. I make sure to eat a dinner that is high in protein.

Adding whey protein powder to your favorite drink or even a smoothie is another great way to get more protein too.

How many grams of protein should i be getting. Is 60 to 130 correct?
Thanks by the way for helping me with this!:hug:

By the way sacha i am a very picky eater according to my boyfriend. Many guys over the years have tried to get me to eat more and i just cant bring myself to try new things. For instance i hate pizza, weird huh!;)

From what I remember it's around 0.5 - 0.8 grams per pound of body weight. But I am not trained in weight loss, so I don't know everything.

Thanks that's a mimimum of 115 grams a day, I am no where near that. I will search the web to be sure. I would have to double my intake of protein if that is correct.
Thanks!:)

The x.8 formula is for kilograms, NOT pounds. So first you need to convert pounds into kilograms, then multiply x .8. Or just multiply x.37 if you are using pounds. So at 231 you should be getting at least 85 grams of protein each day.

I was also going to say I think it's too little protein- try adding things like eggs and meat to salads, eggs for snacks, protein powders in shakes, etc. I usually get at least 75 grams of protein per day and sometimes up to 130 grams of protein a day.

I'd also never dip below 1700 calories until you lose more weight. I am at a lower weight and I do exercise a lot but I eat around 1600 to 1800 calories per day :)

TornadoSiren you are right. Thank you for catching my mistake!

I saw this on 20/20 (or one of those shows) a few years ago and it was pretty scary. I'm sorry you are going through this! :hug:

I don't think that your protein intake has anything to do with this. Most people eat too much protein. It's my understanding that the charts are not accurate for overweight and obese individuals. There are far too many variables to consider to make them accurate.

Since this seems to happen only when you diet, you might be able to solve it by making sure you go to bed feeling satisfied and not hungry. Save some of your calories for a bedtime snack, and something that leaves you full (ish). Make sure all of your food is in the cabinets or fridge. Place some tape on the cabinets and fridge so you can check in the morning to see if you've been in there. It might work! And it might not, lol. I'm glad you are going to a therapist, s/he'll be able to help.

You might also purge your home of snack food, such as the Ritz crackers. See if you make a bee-line for the carrot sticks :)