Any tips on Night Eating

[rawfoodlover88]

Hello All,

So basically I am very healthy and very conscious of my eating. I am a couple months into RAW and have become about 70% raw and am only trying to improve.

However it seems my typical time that I have trouble with is at night time. I consistantly eat WAY too much food before bed

I know this is bad as it does not give the digestive system the break that it needs and therefore affects my sleep.

For some reason, every night I come home from work I eat a big salad (which I am satisfied with) and than I just keep on eating and some times turn to non raw food items.

Has anyone had a similar problem? I guess it is really whether or not I have the determination to truly combat this issue. I just need to be more consciously aware of it I suppose when I am in the midst of consuming food late at night.

HELP!!!!!:heart

[MysticTree]

Hello All,

So basically I am very healthy and very conscious of my eating. I am a couple months into RAW and have become about 70% raw and am only trying to improve.

However it seems my typical time that I have trouble with is at night time. I consistantly eat WAY too much food before bed

I know this is bad as it does not give the digestive system the break that it needs and therefore affects my sleep.

For some reason, every night I come home from work I eat a big salad (which I am satisfied with) and than I just keep on eating and some times turn to non raw food items.

Has anyone had a similar problem? I guess it is really whether or not I have the determination to truly combat this issue. I just need to be more consciously aware of it I suppose when I am in the midst of consuming food late at night.

HELP!!!!!:heart

I find that if I eat a large salad when I get back from work that I need to graze later on ... unless I add avo to the salad. So I choose fruits mostly and even have juice (or I have avo in the salad)and I haven't felt any urge to snack on non raw yet.

[dime]

It's because you don't eat enough during the day, that's why you get so hungry at night.
Eat more during the day, and night hunger will go away.

[The Sproutarian (Mr Raw)]

It's because you don't eat enough during the day, that's why you get so hungry at night.
Eat more during the day, and night hunger will go away.

Could well be true.

[D'vorah]

It's because you don't eat enough during the day, that's why you get so hungry at night.
Eat more during the day, and night hunger will go away.

There are a lot of reasons for night-time eating. Hunger is only one of them. I eat more than enough during the day, but battle the worst cravings for the worst things at night. It's why I fail at raw every single time. Or any other healthy eating plan.

Obviously, I haven't gotten to the bottom of my reasons yet.

deborah

[CathyA.]

I am a night eater too. That is just when I am hungry. I don't fight it. I just eat when I'm hungry.

[betty boop]

I have the exact same issue, it's almost like some entity takes over my body and mind around 8-10 pm if I don't have a really heavy afternoon/evening meal. I wonder if it's hormones?

I'm usually okay if I'm at home as I can eat every few hours but we aren't allowed to at work (6-10 or 11 pm) and that's too long for me to go without eating, and then sometimes there's food at work and when I'm starving I will eat anything.

[dime]

There are a lot of reasons for night-time eating. Hunger is only one of them. I eat more than enough during the day, but battle the worst cravings for the worst things at night. It's why I fail at raw every single time. Or any other healthy eating plan.

Obviously, I haven't gotten to the bottom of my reasons yet.

deborah

That's what works for me. Making sure I get enough nutrition throughout the day. Basically eating when hungry, or even better, never letting yourself even get to feel hungry. You need to develop a habit on listening your body a bit better for this to work. At times when you are into smth (e.g. working smth) and you simply don't notice you're hungry, you create a calorie debt. And later at some point it will come back as strong hunger. It's my theory btw, that makes most sense to me and actually works very well for me. Until you get into that habit you can do calorie counting, just to be sure you get enough nutrition during the day.

But you're right there can be psychological reasons, and we've actually had a discussion recently on this.

[DebB]

I am a night eater too. That is just when I am hungry. I don't fight it. I just eat when I'm hungry.

Same with me - I go quite light during the day, just the way I'm wired. I want more after dinner and I don't fight it either...

[rawdanig]

I've always read that it doesn't matter when you eat but rather what you're eating so its ok that you want to eat before bed but as long as it's something good for you and try and stretch the time from your last meal to your next meal so that you're sure your body truly has time to digest the food. :)

[Pop Tart]

I'm struggling as well, but my challenge is the munchies! I'm one that loves salty snacks like chips at night and I'm having a hard time giving them up.
As I'm typing, I have a small batch of cajun pecans in the dehydrator. I'll see if they can satisfy my cravings - at least they're raw!:cheer:

[BeingK8]

I totally struggle with late night eating too. And for me, it's never about the calories or quality of calories during the day. At least not 99.9% of the time.

Just heard something that might be particularly helpful to some of you as it was to me.

It was an interview with a woman who works with people with eating disorders. I'm NOT saying that any of you does or does not have an eating disorder, but this woman works with people who do defines "disorder" as behaviors that affect your life and keep you from living life the way you truly want to live it.
That was enough for me to diagnose me (although I self-diagnosed myself before that!)

Anyway, she says for the sort of person for whom obsessive food thoughts and food habits are a problem, (like me!) it is frequently to suppress and/or mask thoughts we don't want to have, feelings we don't want to feel.
So this is why advice to take a long walk or soak in a tub when you find yourself reaching for the ______(fill in the blank with your go-to food of choice), does not work. If you can't bear to be in your own skin, alone with the feelings or thoughts that were driving you to eat in the first place, you sure as heck can't just stop eating the food and go for a walk where you'll BE ALONE WITH THE THOUGHTS.

So she says that she helps people by teaching them mindfulness and says to start by asking yourself, when that first thought to eat the whatever-you-were-going-to-eat comes into your head, "What am I wanting the food to do for me right now?"

I thought that was BRILLIANT! Because if I get really honest with myself, I can ascertain whether it's that I want the food to actually feed genuine hunger or to hydrate me if I haven't had enough water or if I want it to pick me up when I'm low on energy (carb and caffeine cravings!!) or if I want it to make me not feel lonely, sad, anxious, bored, etc, etc.

She also said that, just like obsessive food thoughts can be a way to distract ourselves from the undesirable feelings/thoughts, so can "fat thoughts." I thought this part was really good. She said that when unconscious, unwanted, feelings/thoughts creep in, we can turn to, "I'm fat" thinking as a distraction and that this kind of thinking leads to the next distraction: "I'll go in a diet (100% raw, anyone?) and everything will be all solved when I do that and lose the weight."

She does a whole bunch of counseling/coaching work in all sorts of ways, so this was just a little bit of her advice and perspective in an hour long interview, but her main points were about becoming mindful of what we want the food or obsessive food thoughts to hide us from and to come up with things to do instead.

What she didn't cover was suggestions of what to do instead. I mean, I can assume meditation would be a good one because that's a conscious effort to get OUT of your thoughts and into peace, and something like energy work would be terrific, like meridian tapping, but other than that, I don't know what sorts of things to do in place of obsessing/eating when you realize you're doing that to hide from feelings/thoughts.

[Sweat.Equity]

I agree Bejing.
Although a raw lifestyle will ensure healthier food choices, it does not correct habitual, mindless eating. I too have wrestled with this and realize that although I am eating a healthier fare, I still have my old habits of snacking at night. Often times the snacking is just a knee-jerk reaction to fatigue and the last few issues of the day hanging over my head masked as phantom hunger.
Perhaps we should challenge ourselves to stop eating after a certain time and see how we feel...any takers?

[dime]

What she didn't cover was suggestions of what to do instead.

Find some hobby. It's simply a matter of replacing your addiction with another (better) one.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Is your stress level add up during that time of the day?

I tend to want gourmet food in that time of the day, the more and more i just don't bother.

The first day that you decide you won't eat past a certain time, is challenging but only that first day. Drink water, take deep breath, go outside if you can or find an alternative way to cope with the feeling of being deprive or stress.

The other solution, could be that you don't worry about for you to eat late and focus on your accomplishment during the day, in time, you will take the plunge and simply don't bother to eat so late.

Yes, you would benefit from cleansing more, to sleep better etc... but it is far more important that you get comfortable no matter what you decide. NEVER OUT OF GUILT neither from Excuses because it feeds the habit or addition or cravings.

Be proud of you, be proud that you are making room for the good stuff. Try to add juicing and green smoothie during the day. It nourish your body and if you want strong craving at night, you will know it comes from your emotions or stress versus your body being hungry.

All the best!

[MysticTree]

I think Raw Angel Mom has said it best of all.

[rawfoodlover88]

I very well know that it is an emotional attachment and I think I use food as a comfort and distraction from my thoughts before I go to bed so that I can just hit the pillow and fall asleep.

I guess rather than taking that time after work to eat and distract my self with the latest news and tv show and internet, I should take the time for myself every night and just try and tune in to what my body is telling me.

I will try it tonight. All your guys support is HUGE HUGE HUGE help... I appreciate it so much.

THANK YOU:throwhearts::woot::dance:

[RawFeelsGood]

I tend to eat at night because:
1) I didn't eat enough during the day
2) I am eating for emotional reasons.

I'm working on getting through the latter, which you can do by simply writing down a list of your emotions, what is on your mind (positive or negative), how you feel about those thoughts/events, and then responding to them with a 'realist' perspective or alternative solutions. Helps me a lot, as does yoga and any strenuous physical activity.

Have you figured out your own reasons for night eating yet? Hope you are well!

[rawfoodlover88]

I agree Bejing.
Although a raw lifestyle will ensure healthier food choices, it does not correct habitual, mindless eating. I too have wrestled with this and realize that although I am eating a healthier fare, I still have my old habits of snacking at night. Often times the snacking is just a knee-jerk reaction to fatigue and the last few issues of the day hanging over my head masked as phantom hunger.
Perhaps we should challenge ourselves to stop eating after a certain time and see how we feel...any takers?

SO here is my thoughts... tonight I want to start my first attempt at night eating and I really want to conquer and I think we can all do it with the support of each other...any takers...

also does anyone know how to link rawfoodtalk to e-mail so you get notifications????

ill come back on tonight to write about night eating FOR SURE!!!

[MysticTree]

I am comfortable with what I eat after 6pm but I'm definitely here for support.

You might find it helpful to list your goals and what you want to specifically work on and those things that you are happy to go along with.

Maybe you want a specific cut-off point but maybe you'd allow juices or smoothies after that cut-off point.