late night eating

"That T Woman" wrote in message
...

Maybe have something protein for your snack like a small cube of cheese or
some peanut butter on a celery stick instead of the bread and grapes. The
protein would probably satisfy you longer than the carby things.

As for the twilight zone dreams, I find I have them when I get too warm at
night either from a low grade fever, having too much bed covers or just
the
room is too hot. The weird dreams may have nothing to do with your snack
is
my thought. Check out your bedroom conditions next time you have the
dreams.

Tonia
221/186/130

The nightmares have actually been happening a long time and usually when
I've had something to eat before bed but I will keep your thought in mind
next time it happens.

I need to avoid the cheese because of my cholesterol and peanut butter and
celery just don't mix with me. I can't eat celery I find it's like eating
an oinion (personal reaction of course). I don't need to have the snack.
My tummy grumbles and I assume it's because I haven't had enough to eat that
day (the 1200 - 1300 calorie thing) so I have something light. Toast is one
of the only foods that sit nicely at night. It's also fresh rye bread, not
processed. My carbs on most days are under 150. Quite a bit of the time
it's closer to 120 so I'm not worried about the little extra.

"Cp" wrote in message
ble.rogers.com...

"A Ross" wrote in message
...
In article
able.
rogers.com, "Cp" wrote:

Snippage
Do I
just stay where I'm at
and ignore the grumbles of my tummy at 9pm? Soon I'll be
adding more
exercise to my day (daily 1hr walks starting today) so
the extra calories
will be even more important. Is there any other option
I'm not considering?
Please help! I've never had this problem before.

Cp



Hi!
My body also tells me I need a little snack around 9
p.m., but I think it has very little to do with hunger
and more to do with long-ingrained snacking habits. 9
p.m. seems to be my wind-down time--dinner's over,
dishes are done, kids are in bed, I finally get to sit
down and relax, read or watch TV, and hey, doesn't a
snack sound good?

I find that if I make myself a mug of broth or hot tea
to sip on as I relax, the hunger pangs go away. If the
pangs persist, and I do a mental check of what I ate
and find that "oops, forgot to have my 2 p.m. snack," I
may have a treat, or at least a bite of whatever DH is
chomping on. (He can eat like nobody's business, and
has weighed 165 since high school--over twenty years
ago.)

So, if you're really hungry, and you know you haven't
reached your count for the day, enjoy a small snack. If
you find that you're body is just used to snacking that
time of night, find an alternative.

Good luck!

Amy
168/117

I can ignore the hunger (and with little difficulty) and have lots to do
to
keep me occupied. I don't feel I need to eat, I feel I should eat because
usually by then my calories are between 1200 and 1300 (I weigh 256
incidentally). I feel that I should be giving my body more calories but I
don't necessarily want them.


As long as you are losing weight at a consistent, healthy rate (less than 3
lbs per week), I wouldn't worry about the calories you think your body
"needs". The fact is, you are probably carrying around more than 250,000
calories stored as fat.

GG

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:49:01 GMT, "Cp" wrote:

Now this is where y'all come in. Do I force myself to eat more during the
day (the reason for such low calories is because I eat mostly fruits and
veggies). Do I eat higher calorie foods during the day? Do I keep snacking
at night (which I really don't think is good). Do I just stay where I'm at
and ignore the grumbles of my tummy at 9pm? Soon I'll be adding more
exercise to my day (daily 1hr walks starting today) so the extra calories
will be even more important. Is there any other option I'm not considering?
Please help! I've never had this problem before.

I don't think you should force yourself to eat when you're not hungry.
But I also don't think you should avoid eating when you are. From a
diet perspective, I don't believe there's anything wrong with an
evening snack. I have an evening snack more often than not and I
don't feel it's affected my weight loss at all.

If eating in the evening disturbs your sleep, you might need to avoid
it. But you might try different sorts of foods to see if all do this;
something easier to digest might not. My evening snack is most
typically fat-free cottage cheese or yogurt.

Another alternative might be to have your dinner a little later in the
day, which might keep you from getting hungry again before bedtime.

And you may find that when you add more exercise you will want to eat
a bit more during the day. If so, go for it.

Chris
262/154/ (145-150)

On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 20:05:20 GMT, "Cp" wrote:

I don't need anything heavy at night.. in fact that's just it. I could
easily ignore the grumbles and have nothing at all. My worry was calories
while I sleep sort of thing.

stuff snipped

It's totally a mental thing. I don't have trouble sleeping (aside from the
nightmares). I just have a mental state where I feel that eating so close
to bedtime is giving my body calories that won't get burned up anywhere.

I'm with Lictor on this one -- I think it's just a myth. I don't
think there's such a direct temporal link between consuming and using
food.

On the other hand, if you go to bed hungry and as a result sleep
badly, that could affect weight loss. It seems to now be pretty well
established that inadequate sleep raises cortisol levels in the body,
and that this in turn causes fat retention.

Chris
262/154/ (145-150)

In article
. roger
s.com, "Cp" wrote:


I can ignore the hunger (and with little difficulty) and
have lots to do to
keep me occupied. I don't feel I need to eat, I feel I
should eat because
usually by then my calories are between 1200 and 1300 (I
weigh 256
incidentally). I feel that I should be giving my body
more calories but I
don't necessarily want them.



Well, no wonder you're hungry!! If you weigh 256, why
are you eating only 1200 calories? Shouldn't you be
shooting for something like 10x your current weight?
Goodness.

MHO,

Amy

"A Ross" wrote in message
...
In article
. roger
s.com, "Cp" wrote:


I can ignore the hunger (and with little difficulty) and
have lots to do to
keep me occupied. I don't feel I need to eat, I feel I
should eat because
usually by then my calories are between 1200 and 1300 (I
weigh 256
incidentally). I feel that I should be giving my body
more calories but I
don't necessarily want them.



Well, no wonder you're hungry!! If you weigh 256, why
are you eating only 1200 calories? Shouldn't you be
shooting for something like 10x your current weight?
Goodness.

MHO,

Amy

Well that was sort of my point. The fact that I seem to be eating far less
than recommended. The trouble is, during the day I am not hungry (I eat 3
meals a day with a snack between lunch and dinner if needed). The next time
I feel I need food is usually around 9pm, which for me is near bed time. I
feel a bit better about eating if I feel I really feel the need to after
reading some of the posts so I think that's what I will do.

Also, I'm not eating that low on purpose. I have chosen to eat more fruits
and veggies throughout the day and I eat smaller portions (recommended
portions actually) and that's the number that ends up in the end. Like I
said, I have never had this problem. Totally new territory.

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:49:01 GMT, "Cp" wrote:
I don't think you should force yourself to eat when you're not hungry.
But I also don't think you should avoid eating when you are. From a
diet perspective, I don't believe there's anything wrong with an
evening snack. I have an evening snack more often than not and I
don't feel it's affected my weight loss at all.

Usually my snack is a slice of bread (rye, not processed) with margarine. I
feel better about eating a bit later although I may eat at 8pm rather than
9pm before the grumblies hit. I was very worried about excess stored
calories.

If eating in the evening disturbs your sleep, you might need to avoid
it. But you might try different sorts of foods to see if all do this;
something easier to digest might not. My evening snack is most
typically fat-free cottage cheese or yogurt.

I do have fat free yogurt on hand but feel it's too sweet for a late night
snack. Toast seems to work alright to satisfy.

Another alternative might be to have your dinner a little later in the
day, which might keep you from getting hungry again before bedtime.

We eat as a family of 7 and we're normally done dinner by 6pm. The children
go to bed at 7 or 7:30 pm so there's not much room to eat later (besides,
I'm usually hungry by dinnertime).

And you may find that when you add more exercise you will want to eat
a bit more during the day. If so, go for it.

Chris
262/154/ (145-150)

I think that's what I'll do. I'll eat when I'm hungry.

I think it also depends on how late you stay up after you eat. I usually
go to sleep anytime from 11-1 am. Then again, I do more stalling then
losing lately... so maybe I should revise my methods. I don't even see how
I can eat dinner at 6 like a "normal" person does. I work until 6-8 most
nights get a high protein snack, work out 4-5x a week then get dinner
between 8-10. I eat about 3-5 meals/snacks a day. Big help I am!


"Cp" wrote in message
et.cable.rogers.com...
Hey all ... again

I'll catch you all up on my progress so far. Since being perscribed
anti-depressants for anxiety attacks I've had no trouble keeping to a
healthy lifestyle. I've lost 11lbs as of this morning (I'm a little
concerned because friday it was a 1.5 less, but oh well).

I posted earlier about whether or not I should be eating more (and had
decided that since I wasn't hungry I should just listen to my body) but
as
I settle into this lifestyle I find that my calorie levels are actually
dropping a bit. Here's my problem. I don't seem to be getting enough
calories through out the day and end up with a grumbly tummy at 9pm. Most
days it's between 1200 and 1300, with an occassional 1100. To make up the
difference I usually have a snack at around 9pm (when I feel hungry) and
it's usually a slice of toast (yesterday I added some grapes). I don't
like
doing that for a few reasons. One is that I think it gives me strange
twilight zone dreams and the other is because I'm not comfortable
consuming
calories so late at night. I'd like to stop any eating by 7pm.(Dinner is
usually between 5 and 6pm). I could start eating a snack during the day
but
I find that I don't really need one (ie, I'm not hungry for one) or I can
keep my calorie levels low but then where do I go when I need to change.
Also I'm worried about my body holding on to calories because I'm not
getting enough. Or I can keep eating late night snacks (and FYI, my usual
bedtime is between 10 and 11pm) which I don't really want to do.

Now this is where y'all come in. Do I force myself to eat more during the
day (the reason for such low calories is because I eat mostly fruits and
veggies). Do I eat higher calorie foods during the day? Do I keep
snacking
at night (which I really don't think is good). Do I just stay where I'm
at
and ignore the grumbles of my tummy at 9pm? Soon I'll be adding more
exercise to my day (daily 1hr walks starting today) so the extra calories
will be even more important. Is there any other option I'm not
considering?
Please help! I've never had this problem before.

Cp

In article
.roge
rs.com, "Cp" wrote:

"A Ross" wrote in message

ll.edu...
Well, no wonder you're hungry!! If you weigh 256, why
are you eating only 1200 calories? Shouldn't you be
shooting for something like 10x your current weight?
Goodness.

MHO,

Amy

Well that was sort of my point. The fact that I seem to
be eating far less
than recommended. The trouble is, during the day I am
not hungry (I eat 3
meals a day with a snack between lunch and dinner if
needed). The next time
I feel I need food is usually around 9pm, which for me
is near bed time. I
feel a bit better about eating if I feel I really feel
the need to after
reading some of the posts so I think that's what I will
do.

Also, I'm not eating that low on purpose. I have chosen
to eat more fruits
and veggies throughout the day and I eat smaller
portions (recommended
portions actually) and that's the number that ends up in
the end. Like I
said, I have never had this problem. Totally new
territory.


Understood. I know you've been getting a lot of
responses, so cull through the feedback you get, use
what you can, and forget the rest. My two cents worth
would be to aim for more protein along with your fruits
and vegies--my favorites are tuna, chicken, cottage
cheese, hard cheeses like cheddar, and yogurt. They'll
help get your calorie count up, provide you with more
protein and fat, and help you feel fuller longer. I
usually have a serving of protien with a serving of
fruit or vegies.

Take care!

Amy

On Tue, 20 Apr 2004 12:43:11 GMT, "Cp" wrote:

I think that's what I'll do. I'll eat when I'm hungry.


Good! That's really the whole key to achieving and maintaining a
healthy weight.

Lictor wrote a long and interesting post in another thread, in which
he talked about how thin people eat. That's what they do. They never
say to themselves, "Gee, I'm kind of hungry, but it's the wrong time
to eat so I'll just have to stay hungry." Neither do they say, "I'm
not really hungry, but there's still all this food left on my plate so
I'd better eat it." Developing the ability to recognize hunger and
eat only until it's satisfied is so important for us. I think we
jeopardize that ability when we deny hunger, just as we do when we
ignore fullness and continue eating.

Chris
262/154/ (145-150)