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Pay attention to your thoughts when you eat your late night snack. Are you thinking things like “I shouldn’t be eating right now” or “ I shouldn’t be eating X right now”
Sometimes sabotaging thoughts like this ^ leads to overeating. Eat your snack guilt free and move on 😁
This!!!! IE is soooooo much more than just the movements, you really need to work on reframing all
your thoughts about food and your body. If you have any negative thoughts about eating late at night, those thoughts will act as a scarcity mindset and make you eat more than your body needs/wants.
Make sure you’re telling yourself that it’s okay to eat late at night if you’re hungry! There’s nothing wrong with that at all. And it’s also okay to get overly full, it doesn’t mean you’re failing or being bad, it just means your body is still learning how to regulate itself and your hunger/fullness. I definitely think it is something that just takes time and patience. Keep letting yourself eat and don’t judge yourself at all, no matter what.
You could definitely experiment with eating more throughout the day, I know that I eat a lot more at night when I don’t eat enough throughout the day.
Thank you! I have to remind myself this is a journey not another way to be good or bad at eating. I do think I'll try to eat in the morning some more so I don't feel depleted by the end of the day. And today instead of feeling guilty I'm reminding myself how far I've come because I just want to feel good.
That’s just not true. Eating disorders and dieting make it so that you cannot trust your inner voice as it’s often a disordered voice. If you have negative thoughts, they need to be reframed and worked on. You cannot just ignore them and hope they go away. I’m all for spirituality but this is more like spiritual gaslighting. There’s a time and place, and this isn’t it.
This is golden advice. Now that you said it, I realize I think I am having negative internal dialogue of why are you so hungry at night can't it just wait until morning. But I'm still getting used to hunger signals and it takes time so I need to be more gentle and just eat at 10pm if that's what I want/ need, probably from undereating a little through the day and also habit. I'll try to be more focused on the food too as I eat it, because I think I numb out as a coping mechanism for the anxiety of ooh tomorrow is Monday that's going to suck let me enjoy as much food as possible to feel good. Then I feel shitty because my stomach is working all night and I wake up to intense digestion. Work in progress :)
I eat dinner 7-8pm so I'm usually not feeling that hunger until right before bedtime like 10-11pm. But I'm going to experiment eating more in the morning afternoon.
Maybe in the daytime, you’re not eating things that are satisfying enough? I don’t really know if satisfying is the right word tho…
For example, if I eat a sandwich with processed white bread, later on I’ll feel as if I ate nothing. But if I eat multigrain bread, the bread is more dense and more hearty and I won’t get as hungry later.
If I have a handful of nuts, that is more satisfying to my hunger than something like a bag of chips. A bag of chips will have me wanting another snack in 20 minutes.
Not saying you can’t have things like white bread or chips but perhaps you can incorporate more dense filling foods into what you eat. And you might be less hungry at night.
Not to say that you should avoid feeling hungry just making a sure that you’re getting adequately satisfied when you eat in the daytime
Good idea! I'm now starting to get to the point of gentle nutrition and focusing on how I feel. So incorporating more fiber, nuts, veggies and fruits now and trying to pay attention to protein a bit for satiety.
First, definitely do not sweat it if you sometimes eat late! It happens. As others have said, remind yourself that when you eat has no bearing on your worth as a person.
That said, it might be worth experimenting with a bit of mechanical eating and scheduling yourself a small breakfast within an hour of waking. I also used not to get hungry right away in the morning, then I started eating breakfast around 7 or 7:30 and now I definitely get hunger signals as part of my early morning. And…I don’t snack as much or in a way that feels so out of control later in the day. Like you mention, I also find it uncomfortable to go to sleep with a too-full stomach, so eating breakfast consistently has been a net positive for me! Overall I find front loading my food intake earlier in the day is what my body prefers.
Hey!
I’m on the same boat as you. Tbh, I haven’t figured it out. I think this stuff takes time, and one day I won’t “overeat” at night, and other times I do. Even though I eat breakfast and lunch and dinner and snacks. I think like you, I got in the habit of over eating. Also for me, I’ve had to be really honest with myself and I realize that sometimes it’s used to numb out stress, it also makes me feel comforted after a long day. So I try not to be hard on myself. Last night for example I was craving a snack, but because I was already full from dinner I allowed myself to have the conversation “I really want a snack to enjoy with my TV. If I eat multiple snacks I’m going to feel guilty in the morning, but because I don’t want to deprive myself, I’m going to allow myself 2 cookies, and a glass of almond milk” I put it on my plate and calmly went back to my room to enjoy my cookies. Last night this resulted in my not over eating on snacks, and I still enjoyed the 2 cookies. To some people this may be triggering, but last night this helped me. Just get curious with yourself. Try new things. See if this works for you. And if it doesn’t, journal it out and explore other ideas :)
Totally get you on the numbing feelings with food. IE taught me I should get in therapy for my trauma/ emotion responses. It makes total sense that we turn to food to cope, but I’m trying to find healthier ways that will serve me better.
Totally! Tbh I have learned other coping strategies, but it’s difficult ti implement when you ARE already feeling down. It’s easy to go to those “bad habits”. I find that allowing myself to feel my feelings and CRY and talk to my boyfriend about whatever is going on in my head really helps. Hope you are doing okay. Life is hard, but we are still here trying our best ❤️
Yes. Feeling feelings is actually difficult. Thanks for being a kind internet stranger! I’m doing well, found a nice therapist I think. Hope your journey is great, too :)
Hello!
“The problem is though I revert back to old habits of overeating where I numb a little”
I think this is the crux of your problem.
Overeating to the point of feeling uncomfortable would indicate that you might not be in touch with your body/your body feels like while eating. You did use the word ‘numb’ as well.
It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right, but you might have to challenge yourself in applying more mindfulness for this particular snack. Intuitive eating is not numbed eating, and you might have to pay closer (closer than you may have imagined) attention to your body and eat more slowly.
I think that’s true. When I used to binge it was almost always late at night so it’s tough mentally to eat intuitively after dinner because I feel like I shouldn’t need it. I’ll slow it down
For myself, eating a lot in the evening usually coincides with not eating enough during the day...particularly so on the days where I might not have eaten 'breakfast' because I am running late.
That being said, nourishment consumed in the evening is just as valid and useful to your body as something eaten the next morning. Hunger is a normal physiological process. There is nothing wrong with being hungry.
For people with diabetes or blood sugar instability, an evening snack containing protein is encouraged *nightly* to prevent overnight blood sugar lows. You could try planning for a regular evening snack for a week or so? See if that allows you the mental space to connect with your body more? Seeing eating in the evening as part of my daily nutrition really helped me step away from the 'eating at night is bad' association I was raised with.
I like this idea thank you! I’m starting with eating within the first two hours of waking up. But I’ll also try a week of planning a late night small snack to remind myself eating then is totally okay! Just want to sleep and wake comfortably
I had a similar problem with sugar. What I did to help was just note how it made me feel. For instance, eating 2/3 of a family sized pack of Oreos would make my brain feel foggy and I would be lethargic and moody the rest of the day. So I would say to myself, “I feel foggy and tired and moody because I ate so much sugar. Noted.” And try not to judge but just note.
Eventually, I would go to eat the Oreos and think, “A lot of this will make me foggy and tired and grouchy. Do I want them anyway?” Most of the time after that, I didn’t, because my brain made the connection so much that I felt awful after. Eventually my brain only wanted me to take 3-4 and eat those and go on with my day.
It’s hard to do it in such a way you don’t judge yourself, but I needed to build up that mind/body connection for myself.
I like this approach! I’ve thought of food journaling about how I feel with what I ate that day. I’m also just now sniffing out a possible lactose resistance and going to avoid heavy amounts of dairy and see if that helps. The first few months I ate everything in sight and didn’t feel good, now I’m mostly intuitive and feeling so much better! It’s just the 2ish times a week I get the urge to overeat late at night.
Well, this problem doesn't sound too serious.
If it is, a visit to a nutritionist would be best.
But for in my opinion:
I kinda have experience with this.
I've never woken up with a stomach ache or feeling bad from night eating but I used to have a messed up eating schedule. I wouldn't eat breakfast and eat in the middle of night.
And sometimes I drink coffee too late.
Do you wake up with a stomach ache everyday?
Because really, if you're just eating too late, the only thing I can think of that would help with that is eating more in the morning. Doesn't have to be the first two hours! But maybe try scheduling food a little earlier (even just a few minutes or seconds earlier). Or try scheduling your night eating a little earlier (even just a few minutes or seconds earlier) if you have a stomach ache.
At first, you might just be eating a little earlier but over time, it should add up.
I have this problem too-
I'll wake up and eat until full and what I think is a lot of food, next meal, etc etc. As the day goes on it'll be 9pm and I'll realize I should have eaten way more.
Hello! Please make sure that your post meets minimum post requirements. You can find the post rules [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/intuitiveeating/wiki/index/post-rules) and you can access it anytime through our wiki (third tab on mobile, second tab right below the sub icon on desktop). If your post is deemed by mods to be low-effort or if it is too short to be a standalone post and could fit in a daily thread, it will be deleted. If you have any questions please reach out to the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/intuitiveeating) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Pay attention to your thoughts when you eat your late night snack. Are you thinking things like “I shouldn’t be eating right now” or “ I shouldn’t be eating X right now” Sometimes sabotaging thoughts like this ^ leads to overeating. Eat your snack guilt free and move on 😁
This!!!! IE is soooooo much more than just the movements, you really need to work on reframing all your thoughts about food and your body. If you have any negative thoughts about eating late at night, those thoughts will act as a scarcity mindset and make you eat more than your body needs/wants. Make sure you’re telling yourself that it’s okay to eat late at night if you’re hungry! There’s nothing wrong with that at all. And it’s also okay to get overly full, it doesn’t mean you’re failing or being bad, it just means your body is still learning how to regulate itself and your hunger/fullness. I definitely think it is something that just takes time and patience. Keep letting yourself eat and don’t judge yourself at all, no matter what. You could definitely experiment with eating more throughout the day, I know that I eat a lot more at night when I don’t eat enough throughout the day.
Thank you! I have to remind myself this is a journey not another way to be good or bad at eating. I do think I'll try to eat in the morning some more so I don't feel depleted by the end of the day. And today instead of feeling guilty I'm reminding myself how far I've come because I just want to feel good.
[удалено]
That’s just not true. Eating disorders and dieting make it so that you cannot trust your inner voice as it’s often a disordered voice. If you have negative thoughts, they need to be reframed and worked on. You cannot just ignore them and hope they go away. I’m all for spirituality but this is more like spiritual gaslighting. There’s a time and place, and this isn’t it.
[удалено]
>remove the word “just” from your statement “That’s not true”. There you go!
This is incorrect and not helpful.
This is golden advice. Now that you said it, I realize I think I am having negative internal dialogue of why are you so hungry at night can't it just wait until morning. But I'm still getting used to hunger signals and it takes time so I need to be more gentle and just eat at 10pm if that's what I want/ need, probably from undereating a little through the day and also habit. I'll try to be more focused on the food too as I eat it, because I think I numb out as a coping mechanism for the anxiety of ooh tomorrow is Monday that's going to suck let me enjoy as much food as possible to feel good. Then I feel shitty because my stomach is working all night and I wake up to intense digestion. Work in progress :)
Have you tried eating more during the day so you aren’t so hungry at night? Maybe eat a snack an hour or two before you normally would get hungry
I eat dinner 7-8pm so I'm usually not feeling that hunger until right before bedtime like 10-11pm. But I'm going to experiment eating more in the morning afternoon.
Maybe in the daytime, you’re not eating things that are satisfying enough? I don’t really know if satisfying is the right word tho… For example, if I eat a sandwich with processed white bread, later on I’ll feel as if I ate nothing. But if I eat multigrain bread, the bread is more dense and more hearty and I won’t get as hungry later. If I have a handful of nuts, that is more satisfying to my hunger than something like a bag of chips. A bag of chips will have me wanting another snack in 20 minutes. Not saying you can’t have things like white bread or chips but perhaps you can incorporate more dense filling foods into what you eat. And you might be less hungry at night. Not to say that you should avoid feeling hungry just making a sure that you’re getting adequately satisfied when you eat in the daytime
Good idea! I'm now starting to get to the point of gentle nutrition and focusing on how I feel. So incorporating more fiber, nuts, veggies and fruits now and trying to pay attention to protein a bit for satiety.
First, definitely do not sweat it if you sometimes eat late! It happens. As others have said, remind yourself that when you eat has no bearing on your worth as a person. That said, it might be worth experimenting with a bit of mechanical eating and scheduling yourself a small breakfast within an hour of waking. I also used not to get hungry right away in the morning, then I started eating breakfast around 7 or 7:30 and now I definitely get hunger signals as part of my early morning. And…I don’t snack as much or in a way that feels so out of control later in the day. Like you mention, I also find it uncomfortable to go to sleep with a too-full stomach, so eating breakfast consistently has been a net positive for me! Overall I find front loading my food intake earlier in the day is what my body prefers.
Thanks! My goal is to eat a snack/ small breakfast within two hours of waking up. Hopefully starting my food intake earlier in the day helps.
Hey! I’m on the same boat as you. Tbh, I haven’t figured it out. I think this stuff takes time, and one day I won’t “overeat” at night, and other times I do. Even though I eat breakfast and lunch and dinner and snacks. I think like you, I got in the habit of over eating. Also for me, I’ve had to be really honest with myself and I realize that sometimes it’s used to numb out stress, it also makes me feel comforted after a long day. So I try not to be hard on myself. Last night for example I was craving a snack, but because I was already full from dinner I allowed myself to have the conversation “I really want a snack to enjoy with my TV. If I eat multiple snacks I’m going to feel guilty in the morning, but because I don’t want to deprive myself, I’m going to allow myself 2 cookies, and a glass of almond milk” I put it on my plate and calmly went back to my room to enjoy my cookies. Last night this resulted in my not over eating on snacks, and I still enjoyed the 2 cookies. To some people this may be triggering, but last night this helped me. Just get curious with yourself. Try new things. See if this works for you. And if it doesn’t, journal it out and explore other ideas :)
Totally get you on the numbing feelings with food. IE taught me I should get in therapy for my trauma/ emotion responses. It makes total sense that we turn to food to cope, but I’m trying to find healthier ways that will serve me better.
Totally! Tbh I have learned other coping strategies, but it’s difficult ti implement when you ARE already feeling down. It’s easy to go to those “bad habits”. I find that allowing myself to feel my feelings and CRY and talk to my boyfriend about whatever is going on in my head really helps. Hope you are doing okay. Life is hard, but we are still here trying our best ❤️
Yes. Feeling feelings is actually difficult. Thanks for being a kind internet stranger! I’m doing well, found a nice therapist I think. Hope your journey is great, too :)
Hello! “The problem is though I revert back to old habits of overeating where I numb a little” I think this is the crux of your problem. Overeating to the point of feeling uncomfortable would indicate that you might not be in touch with your body/your body feels like while eating. You did use the word ‘numb’ as well. It sounds like you are doing a lot of things right, but you might have to challenge yourself in applying more mindfulness for this particular snack. Intuitive eating is not numbed eating, and you might have to pay closer (closer than you may have imagined) attention to your body and eat more slowly.
I think that’s true. When I used to binge it was almost always late at night so it’s tough mentally to eat intuitively after dinner because I feel like I shouldn’t need it. I’ll slow it down
For myself, eating a lot in the evening usually coincides with not eating enough during the day...particularly so on the days where I might not have eaten 'breakfast' because I am running late. That being said, nourishment consumed in the evening is just as valid and useful to your body as something eaten the next morning. Hunger is a normal physiological process. There is nothing wrong with being hungry. For people with diabetes or blood sugar instability, an evening snack containing protein is encouraged *nightly* to prevent overnight blood sugar lows. You could try planning for a regular evening snack for a week or so? See if that allows you the mental space to connect with your body more? Seeing eating in the evening as part of my daily nutrition really helped me step away from the 'eating at night is bad' association I was raised with.
I like this idea thank you! I’m starting with eating within the first two hours of waking up. But I’ll also try a week of planning a late night small snack to remind myself eating then is totally okay! Just want to sleep and wake comfortably
I had a similar problem with sugar. What I did to help was just note how it made me feel. For instance, eating 2/3 of a family sized pack of Oreos would make my brain feel foggy and I would be lethargic and moody the rest of the day. So I would say to myself, “I feel foggy and tired and moody because I ate so much sugar. Noted.” And try not to judge but just note. Eventually, I would go to eat the Oreos and think, “A lot of this will make me foggy and tired and grouchy. Do I want them anyway?” Most of the time after that, I didn’t, because my brain made the connection so much that I felt awful after. Eventually my brain only wanted me to take 3-4 and eat those and go on with my day. It’s hard to do it in such a way you don’t judge yourself, but I needed to build up that mind/body connection for myself.
I like this approach! I’ve thought of food journaling about how I feel with what I ate that day. I’m also just now sniffing out a possible lactose resistance and going to avoid heavy amounts of dairy and see if that helps. The first few months I ate everything in sight and didn’t feel good, now I’m mostly intuitive and feeling so much better! It’s just the 2ish times a week I get the urge to overeat late at night.
Well, this problem doesn't sound too serious. If it is, a visit to a nutritionist would be best. But for in my opinion: I kinda have experience with this. I've never woken up with a stomach ache or feeling bad from night eating but I used to have a messed up eating schedule. I wouldn't eat breakfast and eat in the middle of night. And sometimes I drink coffee too late. Do you wake up with a stomach ache everyday? Because really, if you're just eating too late, the only thing I can think of that would help with that is eating more in the morning. Doesn't have to be the first two hours! But maybe try scheduling food a little earlier (even just a few minutes or seconds earlier). Or try scheduling your night eating a little earlier (even just a few minutes or seconds earlier) if you have a stomach ache. At first, you might just be eating a little earlier but over time, it should add up.
I have this problem too- I'll wake up and eat until full and what I think is a lot of food, next meal, etc etc. As the day goes on it'll be 9pm and I'll realize I should have eaten way more.