appetite suppressant- night eating

[lookagain3]

Hi, I have this really bad habit of eating at night, it's been a problem for the past 1 or 2 years. I've been working on myself to change my relationship with food, but sometimes I just feel like giving up.

By the time it gets to be 10:00 pm I suddenly start thinking about food, even when I'm not necessarily that hungry. I started taking melatonin and it helps to make me want to sleep a little easier

So was thinking that it might help a lot to start taking an appetite suppressant around 9 or 10:00 every night. It would help to give myself a positive routine to fall back on when I just want to jump back to old patterns..

Does anyone have any ideas of an appetite suppressant I can take at night to help me just get to sleep? Any advice would be great!

 

[kind2creatures]

Hi lookagain3, welcome to the forum. :wave: Good to hear that you're working on changing your relationship with food. Keep in mind that a lot of the cravings are just habits, and can be overcome with a positive and realistic mental attitude. Very similar to breaking a smoking or drinking habit, more mental than physical.

Fiber is good for giving your stomach a full feeling. Something simple like psyllium husk, which is the main ingredient in products like Metamucil, will do the trick. You need to drink a lot of water with it so it doesn't gel up in your system, and the water has an added advantage of giving you a feeling of fullness. An herb that is known to be a good appetite suppressant is Fennel. You can use a cup of tea before bed, or take it in capsule/liquid form as a supplement. As with all herbs, research the side effects and drug interactions before use.
https://www.natmedtalk.com/wiki/Fennel
Some people use a supplement called Glucomannan, which is known to give a feeling of fullness before eating meals, so they don't overeat.

Here's some tips from an old Turbo Jam booklet I have that may be very useful too, note the ones in red.

Chalene's 11 Secrets to Success from Chalene Johnson (Turbo Jam)

1. Vigorous exercise won't stimulate you to overeat. It's just the opposite. Exercise at any level helps curb your appetite immediately following a workout and will likely cause you to actually crave healthy foods.

2. Distract yourself when you have a very strong craving. Cravings usually disappear after 2 minutes. Don't sit in front of the fridge negotiating with yourself. Instead, walk away and focus your attention elsewhere. And if you have a few food items which are simply too much to resist, toss them!

3. Think "W.I.W.M." When you really crave something unhealthy, finish the phrase: "What I Want More is..." Is it the piece of chocolate cake, or a body of which I'm proud? Nothing tastes as good as fit feels!

4. As hard as it may seem to lose weight, it's more stressful, depressing, frustrating, embarrassing, and even life-threatening to remain overweight.

5. The large majority of people who struggle with late night eating are those who skip meals or don't eat balanced meals during the day. Try to be consistent.

6. Change your nighttime schedule. Make it your goal to go to sleep with an empty stomach. You'll wake up feeling thin and rested.

7. Put a sign on the kitchen and refrigerator doors: "Closed after dinner. Water open all night."

8. Brush your teeth right after dinner to get the taste of food out of your mouth and to make the statement: "I'm done eating!"

9. Eat without engaging in any other stimulating activity, i.e. no reading, TV, or sitting at the computer. Savor the food and you'll be more conscious of portions.

10. Move more and move quicker. A slow metabolism is rarely the culprit for the inability to lose weight. Rather, fit people tend to move more and move quickly. When they need something, they jump up and get it themselves. So take the stairs, take a walk, do some gardening, start your spring cleaning. Be an active person every hour of the day. Use the stairs instead of the elevator. And climbing two steps at a time is great for toning the glutes.

11. When shopping for food, try whole food markets as they stock very few of those tempting, unhealthy junk foods we find in most mainstream grocery stores. When you do go shopping at a regular grocery store, as a rule of thumb the aisles are filled with processed foods while the most whole foods are found around the perimeter. That's how you avoid packaged items that contain hydrogenated oil, trans fat, shortening, animal fat and mega-calories.

__________________

 

[ozzie]

Maybe a blended milo, milk, and chia seed, drink in the evening might help.

 

[jbo]

kind2creatures gave some excellent advice

What do you have for breakfast? Most Americans skip breakfast or eat the smallest meal for breakfast, which they they are starving for lunch and by dinner time they are extremely hungry. Make sure you are getting a good breakfast, I've seen recommendation of 20 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up and 8 grams of fiber.

Stay away from anything diet as it makes you hungrier. If your popping a can of diet soda at night that will be your cause. You'll see that diet sodas actually make you gain more weight than anything else.

I drink a lot of fluids at night, mostly rooibos tea since it doesn't have any caffeine and I think the extra fluids actually stop me from wanting to eat.

I recently read there was a myth also with gaining weight by eating at night. There was a thought that eating really late at night you tend to gain more weight, but there's been studies that show if it's the same exact calories it doesn't make a difference. The problem is people who tend to snack at night are eating chips and extra calories. My father swears he gained weight years ago from working and coming home just to eat and then go to sleep, which maybe he went soo long without eating that he consumed twice as much food, which lead him to gain weight and not the time of day.

Larger breakfast is just so important. You'll eat less throughout the day and your meltabolize gets kick started

 

[lookagain3]

well I've been in a rut of eating all night, and it's usually so much that I don't eat the entire next day..last night I was up until about 5:30 in the morning, and I was eating like a whole day's worth of food. So I'm just really desperate to try anything that will help me to just stay out of the kitchen at night..I feel like it's a habit that's gotten so bad that breaking it is like quitting smoking.

Also I'm not worrying about the actual types of food I'm eating because my diet is always pretty healthy, I don't eat most processed foods or drink soda or things with lots of sugar

 

[kind2creatures]

well I've been in a rut of eating all night, and it's usually so much that I don't eat the entire next day..last night I was up until about 5:30 in the morning, and I was eating like a whole day's worth of food. So I'm just really desperate to try anything that will help me to just stay out of the kitchen at night..I feel like it's a habit that's gotten so bad that breaking it is like quitting smoking.

It's hard for me to imagine staying up and eating ALL night, the body and mind needs sleep. Do you eat and take naps in between during the night? In the daytime, do you sleep then? I assume you have a weight problem from the food, correct me if I'm wrong. To help with sleep, in addition to the melatonin, you can try Solary Sleep Blend SP-17, it's a blend of herbs in capsule form, that is used for insomnia.

 

[Solstice Goat]

Nighttime hunger is a great opportunity to eat something fatty; Cheese, nuts, etc. Nuts are typically high in phytic acid and chelating at night is a good option.

Protein first thing in the morning is a good thing. Fats and proteins help reestablish a healthy leptin cycle.