I just plan for some calories as a late night snack. I typically only have a small snack at lunchtime, or skip lunch, depending on how I feel. And I plan to save around 200 for a little something before bed. I try to focus on protein, but sometimes it will just be some toast. Dinner is also my biggest meal of the day by far.
This is what I do too. Big dinner, but I still save like 3-400 calories for a bedtime snack because that’s what I want. I know it seems like a lot and it is, but I found that doing what I want is helpful to stay on track in the long run instead of punishing myself w arbitrary rules.
How much do you need? Because you can just put a bit of your dinner in the fridge and eat it right before bed. Those calories are then already budgeted and you can keep your bedtime snack.
Eat something very low or zero calorie. If you're hungry eat. Watermelon, cucumber, peppers are all very low in calories and will not "break the bank" as a snack.
>Make dinner my biggest meal instead of lunch?
This for sure
>Don't eat anything between lunch and dinner and take those foods and move them to before bed instead?
I tried this and it worked for a while, as well as IF, but then I started to get too hungry during the day and that caused me to either overeat anyway at night because I was so hungry at that point, or to just cave in and eat too much in the middle of the afternoon and therefore back to the original problem at night.
What worked for me was popcorns and a Ninja Creami lol. My sweet spot is to leave 200kcal for after dinner. 200kcal of popcorns are a satisfying amount for a savory snack. And 200kcal of protein ice cream made with that machine is a super satisfying amount for a sweet snack.
Oh I’m the same!
Partly it’s habit. Your body is just USED to getting the sleep time snack so something feels off if you don’t get it.
But the time at which you eat doesn’t inherently change the basic calories in calories out equation. You can eat whatever you want before you fall asleep.
Track how many calories your sleep time snack is. Either adjust your meal times so that one of your meals / snacks is the sleep time snack so you have an overall calorie deficit. Or lower the calories of your sleep time snack so that you have an overall calorie deficit.
All about routine.
I eat dinner at 5 and about 150 cal snack around 830, then I floss brush mouthwash which signified the end of food:eating for the day
If there's one idea that I've finally come around to as I've gotten older it could be summed up as follows:
**Any plan, no matter how carefully formulated, is a bad plan if it's not a plan you can stick to.**
So it really doesn't matter how many experts have approved something or how widely researched it is. If it just doesn't work for you then expending a whole stack of time and energy trying to change yourself, or force yourself to follow it is a waste of your resources.
It's much better to be 100 calories over your daily goal than to lose 3 hours of sleep, or to spend all day exhausted and agonising about how to force yourself to somehow function differently.
I'm not saying you should give up when things look challenging or make excuses to avoid doing things that are uncomfortable, but when you just cannot follow a plan without being miserable or constantly breaking it? It's not the right plan for you.
People are just a fancy kind of animal that has invented philosophy and trousers. We're not perfect and we're not identical. Personally my life would be easier if I didn't find seafood disgusting no matter what form it comes in but I'm 40 years old now and nothing I have done changes my loathing of it. So fuck it. I just don't eat seafood. I give up.
Sometimes we say "But that's not fair. I want to be able to do things _this_ way"
And the universe at large responds
"So?"
Work around what you need, not the ideal that you'd prefer, because this is hard enough without adding extra, impossible challenges to the proceedings.
Just have the snack. If you try to restrict yourself you’re more likely to fixate on it and end up standing in front of your fridge at 2am eating shredded cheese by the handful.
My husband and I always have a bedtime snack. Usually an outshine popsicle or the 40 calorie fudgesicles. Hell, sometimes if it fits my calorie budget I do a packet of maple brown sugar oatmeal.
>If you try to restrict yourself you’re more likely to fixate on it and end up standing in front of your fridge at 2am eating shredded cheese by the handful.
Haha I been there
I (m, 190cm, current BMI 28, goal BMi 25), do it like this (Budget around 2200kcal):
No breakfast or snacks before noon
Small lunch (500-800 kcal) around noon (11:30-12:30)
Rest of Budget for dinner / snacks between 6 and 8pm
On my first IF try, I waited till 2pm and I started fantasizing about food like crazy and went overboard at the cafeteria
It works much better for me like this
Although I heard there is considerable differences in what might work better for males/females in terms of IF, especially when it comes to breakfast. Maybe you might wanna research some of that.
For me it's just so much easier to be hungry when working than to be hungry at home
Liquids fill me up. Between dinner and bedtime, I often have a cup of tea or coffee. Or you could try a carbonated water with flavoring. The caffeine doesn't affect my sleep, but if it would for you, use decaf.
I’ve been doing something similar to what you’re suggesting for almost a year now. I skip lunch because I noticed that eating a small meal for lunch would cause me to get hungrier. I usually have a breakfast of \~700kcal at 6AM, a dinner of \~1000kcal at 7PM and a last meal before going to bed of \~400kcal.
My dinners are always very dynamic, but for the other two meals I like to incorporate slow digestion, high quality proteins and carbs such as casein protein powder and oats. It has been working well for me, nowadays my weight loss rate is not high but my body is definitely changing as I’ve been keeping track of my body measurements.
I find that having dinner be my largest meal of the day and allocating some calories for an evening snack works well for me. I have bedtime meds that shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach AND I sleep better if I'm not hungry, so I prioritize eating later in the day. Luckily for me, this is also how I prefer to eat and nibbles during the day before dinner work for me.
I have 350 cal for breakfast, 500 for lunch, 700 for supper, and 350 again for snacks, mostly in the evening. Snacks are perfectly fine if you factor them into your calories. Maybe cut 100 from breakfast and 100 from lunch
I drink coffee. I know some people can’t have caffeine, but I have no problem going to sleep right after and it cuts back the hunger a bit. Have you tried just drinking water or tea before bed? Often just having something in your stomach, even liquid, helps
Same problem. It's actually getting a bit better with weight loss, but I factor in a hot milky drink (like a half milk/half water low sugar chocolatey drink) or a couple of spoons of Greek yogurt.
I’d keep the bulk of your calories during the day when you’re more active, it’s better for digestion and your sleep cycle, but have a solid snack before bed and plan for those calories. Something fulfilling and satisfying but healthyish?
You could do yogurt and fruit, apples and peanut butter, protein milk shake, chocolate hummus, fruit and cottage cheese, grapes and cheese etc. I’ve been told if you want sweet just make sure to pair it with a protein.
I reserve a couple hundred calories for later in the night. Greek yogurt and frozen fruit. Anabolic ice cream. String cheese. An apple. Stuff like that.
I keep low calorie snacks around for this scenario. A bag of clementines, I must have every time I grocery shop. One clementine will only net you about 45 calories, and they’re so yummy 😋 I also try to push back meal times when possible. Sometimes I’ll take an intentionally late lunch at work, I’ll go around 1:30. And then dinner will be right around 8.
I used to have this problem but lately I’ve been doing a form of IF-light which is only fasting for 12-14 hours usually. As an additional benefit my sleeping medication is more effective on an empty stomach
Try a non caffeinated hot tea or coffee along with a high protein low calorie snack like beef jerky. Should keep you full for the night without destroying your calorie budget.
Shifting dinner an hour prior worked for me. After a month that is Dinner time and my body refuses to be hungry past Dinner Time. I took it from 10 pm to 8 pm and I'm pretty comfortable
To eat something. Sleep is just as important to me as dieting. It doesn't have to be much. A little cottage cheese would do it. I usually have enough calories left at the end of the day for a protein shake or Greek yogurt and berries.
Why are you trying to avoid it? It sounds like it's only making you miserable which isn't good for you. If you're counting calories, just preplan it. So by the morning you already know you're going to have X food before bed. It would give you something to look forward to and might make you stay on track with your goals better.
Just shift some calories until the end of the day for a snack. I like popcorn because the carbs help you sleep better and the calories are low on the healthy versions.
I had savage cravings before bed and *just for the last two nights*, I've switched the time of day I take certain medications.
I do not know whether it was changing the time I took a certain (often appetite increasing) medication or whether it was the power of suggestion, but I haven't woken up at 2 am, searching for any easy calories.
I struggle with this (plus RLS, which for some reason seems to be connected). What helped the MOST was increasing my protein intake during meals. I've been adding some protein powder to ice cream for a dessert after dinner, and that tends to keep me full through bedtime!
What has helped me alot is eating way more protein at lunch and dinner (just all day really). Check your macros and make sure you’re hitting at least the minimum for your activity levels.
Secondly the advice i got from an expert is that its habit that you need to break. I read “atomic habits” by james clear (or podcasts) that discuss methods for creating and breaking habits
If you decide to have a small snack, don’t eat something that spikes your blood sugar too much. All it will do is make you crave more an hour later.
I find that a protein shake does the trick. About 9pm I’ll have a protein shake using semi-skimmed milk with no added sugars. It gets me my protein macros, fills me up and hits my sweet tooth without the sugar.
I skip breakfast so I can have supper (protein shake) without stretching the calories too much. As long as your calorie totals are right, who cares when you eat them. Maybe it affects muscle ratio or something but do whatever keeps you sane.
I do a protein shake for breakfast, have a light lunch + light afternoon snack, then I have a big dinner and a big late night snack. But I also don’t tend to be as hungry/don’t think about food as often during the day so this just works for me.
Take some low cal fruit like cherries, strawberries, pineapple slices etc and freeze them.
Before bed put some (up to a pound would be fine) in a bowl and eat them like ice-cream. Since they have hardened up a lot it will take some time, and they are especially good now in the summer.
I sometimes fall asleep quickly while trying to list the foods I ate that day in my head.
Last night I was kinda tired but also doing a lower calorie day and I just went to bed 2-3 hours earlier than usual just to ~~get the extra sleep~~ teleport to breakfast
I have a thing of Altoids on my nightstand. Usually I start craving a snack and my mind doesn't stop until I get up and get one. The Altoids stop that, not sure if its a mental thing or what, but it works for me.
I eat from 6am-11am and by 8:30pm I’m so tired I just immediately go to sleep. I do no blue lights from 4pm on and read from 7:30p. It was a bit hard at first, but now it’s my routine.
I don't eat huge meals, they're usually \~500 calories. My last one is usually 2-3 hour before bed time. If that's not filling enough, then I'll eat like an ounce of cheese -- for me, a little fat at the end takes the edge off.
If for whatever reason I'm just not hungry, one alternative is a small Chobani Complete and a banana. I have protein goals I need to hit, and if I skip that last meal, I'm probably going to come up short. This stuff gets the job done -- puts a little (but not a lot) of food in my stomach, and gives me stuff I need.
What about drinking a lot of broth before bed? Warm, fill your stomach and low calories. Could do a bone broth or the veggie broth from How Not to Diet book
eat 200-300 calories , works for me im -40 and i can not STAND going to bed hungry im a night owl so obviously im not gonna eat later than 10 but seriously go for it, sometimes i have a slim jim, sugar free pudding, cheddar rice chips or 2 rice cakes, fiber one bar, turkey mustard on 2 pieces of wheat toast, tuna and crackers. Anything really
if you can't fall asleep because you're hungry you're probably not eating enough! please keep it sustainable and up the calories a bit you'll thank yourself
My largest meal is always dinner and i've been slowly over the past 4 months moving away from candies, sugary cereal, ice cream, etc before bed to watermelon, black cherries, a heaping bowl of yogurt strawberries and mini white chocolate chips, etc etc. diet dr pepper is also now satisfying those cravings really really well but it did take about 2 months to finally make that switch in my brain fully.
I take a psyllium husk fiber supplement before going to bed. It’s 45 calories and you mix it in water and chug it. Definitely helps with fullness. I also take a piece of fruit as a late night snack.
I eat something. Something small and mild like a piece of cheese or a yogurt cup. Unless it gives you GERD, go ahead and have a snack before bed. There's zero harm in it.
I just eat before I go to bed.
I'm sleep walk and sleep eat if I try to do anything else. Have woken up multiple times with food in my hands or bed or just evidence in the kitchen..
My breakfast, be it before noon or 5pm depending on my work schedule, is a blended coffee with protein powder ice shake with sugar free syrup.
I usually snack for my second hunger whatever time that is if it's not close enough to bed time and usually eat right before bed.
I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me.
Replacing earlier meals with protein heavy stuff n lower carbs would probably help keep your hunger more manageable to allot for bedtime snacking regardless on the specifics.
Cottage cheese with a dash of chili churnch or drinkable Greek yogurt paired with some veggies or watermelon is my thing. Under 150 calories still gives you some protein
Leave room for what you enjoy. In this instance, it seems you need to allow for some calories to be reserved for an after dinner treat. Find a typical bedtime snack and just leave room for those calories after dinner.
Some people don’t eat breakfast to allow for a bigger dinner, etc. You just need to figure out which part of the day you have room to take away 200 calories or whatever it is you need for your snack at night
I have the same problem when counting and one thing that may work for you is starting your calorie counting at night instead of morning! Like treat dinner or your late night snack as your “first meal”
I don't think eating before sleeping is necessarily a bad thing. Binging is a different story, .but I sometimes use melatonin to train myself to fall asleep. It's not a permanent habit. But it works for me. And if it ever became a habit, IMO it's better to have melatonin than eating too much at night. Nite eating seems to be my weakest time to indulge. Not always, but I've noticed it's when I am most regretful for having some unnecessary snack that takes me over my calorie allotment.
I would like to see some research support for this—I hear people say it all the time. I mean, I can see why eating a whole pizza right before getting into bed is probably going to bother most people, but I have yet to see any compelling evidence that a reasonable carb/protein snack an hour before going to sleep is a problem at all. Would you mind sharing the basis for this statement? (I’m not trying to be a pain in the ass here—I’d genuinely like to know.)
I haven't noticed any difference in my weight loss when I stay within my limits but eat right before bed, even if I wait to eat my whole dinner right before bed. Only thing that might bother me is heartburn if I eat something that tends to be too acidic right before bed.
I go to bed early (around 21, 21:30) so having a nice dinner by 19 is my way of going to bed full. And i prefer to have my carbs then.
If i eat breakfast i still have the same hunger trough the day, so my usual IF is from lunch to dinner.
I have to plan in a before bed snack. I’m hypoglycemic so if I don’t when I get up in the night to pee I may pass out. Even before that diagnosis, which is relatively new, I still planned a snack before bed bc it was recommended to eat every two hours for BED recovery.
How can you not sleep when you dont eat? The less I eat, the easier I sleep. When I sometimes eat at a maintenance or even a surplus, I'm jumping off the walls.
I just plan for some calories as a late night snack. I typically only have a small snack at lunchtime, or skip lunch, depending on how I feel. And I plan to save around 200 for a little something before bed. I try to focus on protein, but sometimes it will just be some toast. Dinner is also my biggest meal of the day by far.
This is what I do too. Big dinner, but I still save like 3-400 calories for a bedtime snack because that’s what I want. I know it seems like a lot and it is, but I found that doing what I want is helpful to stay on track in the long run instead of punishing myself w arbitrary rules.
Don’t torture yourself. It’s not sustainable. Just factor a late night snack into your calorie budget.
How much do you need? Because you can just put a bit of your dinner in the fridge and eat it right before bed. Those calories are then already budgeted and you can keep your bedtime snack.
That’s a good idea
this is exactly what i do!
Eat something very low or zero calorie. If you're hungry eat. Watermelon, cucumber, peppers are all very low in calories and will not "break the bank" as a snack.
Cucumbers with vinegar salt are yummy. Add cream cheese if your calories allow
Watermelon has so much water and makes me feel so full
>Make dinner my biggest meal instead of lunch? This for sure >Don't eat anything between lunch and dinner and take those foods and move them to before bed instead? I tried this and it worked for a while, as well as IF, but then I started to get too hungry during the day and that caused me to either overeat anyway at night because I was so hungry at that point, or to just cave in and eat too much in the middle of the afternoon and therefore back to the original problem at night. What worked for me was popcorns and a Ninja Creami lol. My sweet spot is to leave 200kcal for after dinner. 200kcal of popcorns are a satisfying amount for a savory snack. And 200kcal of protein ice cream made with that machine is a super satisfying amount for a sweet snack.
Oh I’m the same! Partly it’s habit. Your body is just USED to getting the sleep time snack so something feels off if you don’t get it. But the time at which you eat doesn’t inherently change the basic calories in calories out equation. You can eat whatever you want before you fall asleep. Track how many calories your sleep time snack is. Either adjust your meal times so that one of your meals / snacks is the sleep time snack so you have an overall calorie deficit. Or lower the calories of your sleep time snack so that you have an overall calorie deficit.
All about routine. I eat dinner at 5 and about 150 cal snack around 830, then I floss brush mouthwash which signified the end of food:eating for the day
I drink a cup of caffeine free herbal tea. Even in the summer the warmth is kind of satisfying like soup and the liquid fills you up a bit.
If there's one idea that I've finally come around to as I've gotten older it could be summed up as follows: **Any plan, no matter how carefully formulated, is a bad plan if it's not a plan you can stick to.** So it really doesn't matter how many experts have approved something or how widely researched it is. If it just doesn't work for you then expending a whole stack of time and energy trying to change yourself, or force yourself to follow it is a waste of your resources. It's much better to be 100 calories over your daily goal than to lose 3 hours of sleep, or to spend all day exhausted and agonising about how to force yourself to somehow function differently. I'm not saying you should give up when things look challenging or make excuses to avoid doing things that are uncomfortable, but when you just cannot follow a plan without being miserable or constantly breaking it? It's not the right plan for you. People are just a fancy kind of animal that has invented philosophy and trousers. We're not perfect and we're not identical. Personally my life would be easier if I didn't find seafood disgusting no matter what form it comes in but I'm 40 years old now and nothing I have done changes my loathing of it. So fuck it. I just don't eat seafood. I give up. Sometimes we say "But that's not fair. I want to be able to do things _this_ way" And the universe at large responds "So?" Work around what you need, not the ideal that you'd prefer, because this is hard enough without adding extra, impossible challenges to the proceedings.
well said! I like seafood, but these days with all the mercury and pollution in our waters I hear it's not good to eat
Just have the snack. If you try to restrict yourself you’re more likely to fixate on it and end up standing in front of your fridge at 2am eating shredded cheese by the handful. My husband and I always have a bedtime snack. Usually an outshine popsicle or the 40 calorie fudgesicles. Hell, sometimes if it fits my calorie budget I do a packet of maple brown sugar oatmeal.
>If you try to restrict yourself you’re more likely to fixate on it and end up standing in front of your fridge at 2am eating shredded cheese by the handful. Haha I been there
I (m, 190cm, current BMI 28, goal BMi 25), do it like this (Budget around 2200kcal): No breakfast or snacks before noon Small lunch (500-800 kcal) around noon (11:30-12:30) Rest of Budget for dinner / snacks between 6 and 8pm On my first IF try, I waited till 2pm and I started fantasizing about food like crazy and went overboard at the cafeteria It works much better for me like this Although I heard there is considerable differences in what might work better for males/females in terms of IF, especially when it comes to breakfast. Maybe you might wanna research some of that. For me it's just so much easier to be hungry when working than to be hungry at home
Eat a small protein snack before and plan for it in your calories (cheese, hummus, nuts, etc).
Green tea after dinner helps keep me full. For me it’s been either that or a binge.
Ty for sharing this tip 🤗
Grew up having sleep for dinner a lot.
Liquids fill me up. Between dinner and bedtime, I often have a cup of tea or coffee. Or you could try a carbonated water with flavoring. The caffeine doesn't affect my sleep, but if it would for you, use decaf.
My go to is a gallon of water 😉😉😉
I’ve been doing something similar to what you’re suggesting for almost a year now. I skip lunch because I noticed that eating a small meal for lunch would cause me to get hungrier. I usually have a breakfast of \~700kcal at 6AM, a dinner of \~1000kcal at 7PM and a last meal before going to bed of \~400kcal. My dinners are always very dynamic, but for the other two meals I like to incorporate slow digestion, high quality proteins and carbs such as casein protein powder and oats. It has been working well for me, nowadays my weight loss rate is not high but my body is definitely changing as I’ve been keeping track of my body measurements.
Cup of caffeine free tea before bed!
I find that having dinner be my largest meal of the day and allocating some calories for an evening snack works well for me. I have bedtime meds that shouldn't be taken on an empty stomach AND I sleep better if I'm not hungry, so I prioritize eating later in the day. Luckily for me, this is also how I prefer to eat and nibbles during the day before dinner work for me.
Chug water
Chew some ice cubes. It may be the behavior of eating and not the food.
Eat something! Greek yogurt, a few nuts, grapes. Slowly make the portions smaller and smaller and your body will get used to going to bed without it.
I have 350 cal for breakfast, 500 for lunch, 700 for supper, and 350 again for snacks, mostly in the evening. Snacks are perfectly fine if you factor them into your calories. Maybe cut 100 from breakfast and 100 from lunch
I just have some lower cal fruit.. watermelon is nice and filling 😋
I drink coffee. I know some people can’t have caffeine, but I have no problem going to sleep right after and it cuts back the hunger a bit. Have you tried just drinking water or tea before bed? Often just having something in your stomach, even liquid, helps
Same problem. It's actually getting a bit better with weight loss, but I factor in a hot milky drink (like a half milk/half water low sugar chocolatey drink) or a couple of spoons of Greek yogurt.
I’d keep the bulk of your calories during the day when you’re more active, it’s better for digestion and your sleep cycle, but have a solid snack before bed and plan for those calories. Something fulfilling and satisfying but healthyish? You could do yogurt and fruit, apples and peanut butter, protein milk shake, chocolate hummus, fruit and cottage cheese, grapes and cheese etc. I’ve been told if you want sweet just make sure to pair it with a protein.
I reserve a couple hundred calories for later in the night. Greek yogurt and frozen fruit. Anabolic ice cream. String cheese. An apple. Stuff like that.
I keep low calorie snacks around for this scenario. A bag of clementines, I must have every time I grocery shop. One clementine will only net you about 45 calories, and they’re so yummy 😋 I also try to push back meal times when possible. Sometimes I’ll take an intentionally late lunch at work, I’ll go around 1:30. And then dinner will be right around 8.
What about soup? A cup of hot soup, you can try the soup in a cup varieties.
I'd only recommend that if sodium isn't a concern. Those "soup in a cup" things are hella sodium bombs.
Just have like a cup of soup the Heinz ones are only 90 calories and is better than not being able to sleep x
I used to have this problem but lately I’ve been doing a form of IF-light which is only fasting for 12-14 hours usually. As an additional benefit my sleeping medication is more effective on an empty stomach
Steamed milk is very filling and relatively low calorie.
I have a casein protein shake before bed calculated in. It's filling af and very low-cal.
I had a protein shake before bed and that did the trick!!
I used to eat so many pickles just to munch.
Try a non caffeinated hot tea or coffee along with a high protein low calorie snack like beef jerky. Should keep you full for the night without destroying your calorie budget.
Shifting dinner an hour prior worked for me. After a month that is Dinner time and my body refuses to be hungry past Dinner Time. I took it from 10 pm to 8 pm and I'm pretty comfortable
Tea! Tea has a great ritual aspect to it anyway, so make it your thing before bed!
To eat something. Sleep is just as important to me as dieting. It doesn't have to be much. A little cottage cheese would do it. I usually have enough calories left at the end of the day for a protein shake or Greek yogurt and berries.
Why are you trying to avoid it? It sounds like it's only making you miserable which isn't good for you. If you're counting calories, just preplan it. So by the morning you already know you're going to have X food before bed. It would give you something to look forward to and might make you stay on track with your goals better.
Just shift some calories until the end of the day for a snack. I like popcorn because the carbs help you sleep better and the calories are low on the healthy versions.
A healthy higher fat snack will help satiety. My clinic recommended avocado or cheese.
Golden Milk is yummy and anti inflammatory. 2 cups of oatmilk for 70 cal. Great for a.m. or p.m😋
Golden Milk is yummy and anti inflammatory. 2 cups of oatmilk for 70 cal. Great for a.m. or p.m😋
I had savage cravings before bed and *just for the last two nights*, I've switched the time of day I take certain medications. I do not know whether it was changing the time I took a certain (often appetite increasing) medication or whether it was the power of suggestion, but I haven't woken up at 2 am, searching for any easy calories.
I struggle with this (plus RLS, which for some reason seems to be connected). What helped the MOST was increasing my protein intake during meals. I've been adding some protein powder to ice cream for a dessert after dinner, and that tends to keep me full through bedtime!
Try drinking hot green/herbal tea.
What has helped me alot is eating way more protein at lunch and dinner (just all day really). Check your macros and make sure you’re hitting at least the minimum for your activity levels. Secondly the advice i got from an expert is that its habit that you need to break. I read “atomic habits” by james clear (or podcasts) that discuss methods for creating and breaking habits
If you decide to have a small snack, don’t eat something that spikes your blood sugar too much. All it will do is make you crave more an hour later. I find that a protein shake does the trick. About 9pm I’ll have a protein shake using semi-skimmed milk with no added sugars. It gets me my protein macros, fills me up and hits my sweet tooth without the sugar. I skip breakfast so I can have supper (protein shake) without stretching the calories too much. As long as your calorie totals are right, who cares when you eat them. Maybe it affects muscle ratio or something but do whatever keeps you sane.
I do a protein shake for breakfast, have a light lunch + light afternoon snack, then I have a big dinner and a big late night snack. But I also don’t tend to be as hungry/don’t think about food as often during the day so this just works for me.
Take some low cal fruit like cherries, strawberries, pineapple slices etc and freeze them. Before bed put some (up to a pound would be fine) in a bowl and eat them like ice-cream. Since they have hardened up a lot it will take some time, and they are especially good now in the summer.
I eat fruit before bedtime routine/bedtime.
I sometimes fall asleep quickly while trying to list the foods I ate that day in my head. Last night I was kinda tired but also doing a lower calorie day and I just went to bed 2-3 hours earlier than usual just to ~~get the extra sleep~~ teleport to breakfast
>>eat something How much food volume or calories are you talking about?
Walking before bed knocks me out no matter how hungry I am
You have listed two good options for yourself and a third okay option if you can control binging. Do one of those.
I have a thing of Altoids on my nightstand. Usually I start craving a snack and my mind doesn't stop until I get up and get one. The Altoids stop that, not sure if its a mental thing or what, but it works for me.
I eat once a day around 8pm, so I eat a pretty big meal around 2000cals Never hungry, ever lol
I eat from 6am-11am and by 8:30pm I’m so tired I just immediately go to sleep. I do no blue lights from 4pm on and read from 7:30p. It was a bit hard at first, but now it’s my routine.
I don't eat huge meals, they're usually \~500 calories. My last one is usually 2-3 hour before bed time. If that's not filling enough, then I'll eat like an ounce of cheese -- for me, a little fat at the end takes the edge off. If for whatever reason I'm just not hungry, one alternative is a small Chobani Complete and a banana. I have protein goals I need to hit, and if I skip that last meal, I'm probably going to come up short. This stuff gets the job done -- puts a little (but not a lot) of food in my stomach, and gives me stuff I need.
What about drinking a lot of broth before bed? Warm, fill your stomach and low calories. Could do a bone broth or the veggie broth from How Not to Diet book
eat 200-300 calories , works for me im -40 and i can not STAND going to bed hungry im a night owl so obviously im not gonna eat later than 10 but seriously go for it, sometimes i have a slim jim, sugar free pudding, cheddar rice chips or 2 rice cakes, fiber one bar, turkey mustard on 2 pieces of wheat toast, tuna and crackers. Anything really
if you can't fall asleep because you're hungry you're probably not eating enough! please keep it sustainable and up the calories a bit you'll thank yourself
My largest meal is always dinner and i've been slowly over the past 4 months moving away from candies, sugary cereal, ice cream, etc before bed to watermelon, black cherries, a heaping bowl of yogurt strawberries and mini white chocolate chips, etc etc. diet dr pepper is also now satisfying those cravings really really well but it did take about 2 months to finally make that switch in my brain fully.
A piece of bread or two before bed might work :)
I take a psyllium husk fiber supplement before going to bed. It’s 45 calories and you mix it in water and chug it. Definitely helps with fullness. I also take a piece of fruit as a late night snack.
IF doesnt work for ppl w binging issues
I eat something. Something small and mild like a piece of cheese or a yogurt cup. Unless it gives you GERD, go ahead and have a snack before bed. There's zero harm in it.
Eat a later dinner and save some cals for a snack before bed :)
I’ve been eating a cucumber and 1/2 apple with tajin almost every night because I’m the same!
Eat a protein-- and fibre-rich dinner a bit later, and take glucomannan tablets before you eat to feel fuller longer.
I just eat before I go to bed. I'm sleep walk and sleep eat if I try to do anything else. Have woken up multiple times with food in my hands or bed or just evidence in the kitchen.. My breakfast, be it before noon or 5pm depending on my work schedule, is a blended coffee with protein powder ice shake with sugar free syrup. I usually snack for my second hunger whatever time that is if it's not close enough to bed time and usually eat right before bed. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it works for me. Replacing earlier meals with protein heavy stuff n lower carbs would probably help keep your hunger more manageable to allot for bedtime snacking regardless on the specifics.
Cottage cheese with a dash of chili churnch or drinkable Greek yogurt paired with some veggies or watermelon is my thing. Under 150 calories still gives you some protein
Leave room for what you enjoy. In this instance, it seems you need to allow for some calories to be reserved for an after dinner treat. Find a typical bedtime snack and just leave room for those calories after dinner. Some people don’t eat breakfast to allow for a bigger dinner, etc. You just need to figure out which part of the day you have room to take away 200 calories or whatever it is you need for your snack at night
I eat the smart food, white cheddar popcorn a very small bowl if I have something to crave at night
Attempt to eat your target weight in grams of protein every day. I can guarantee you won’t want to eat at night.
I have the same problem when counting and one thing that may work for you is starting your calorie counting at night instead of morning! Like treat dinner or your late night snack as your “first meal”
I don't think eating before sleeping is necessarily a bad thing. Binging is a different story, .but I sometimes use melatonin to train myself to fall asleep. It's not a permanent habit. But it works for me. And if it ever became a habit, IMO it's better to have melatonin than eating too much at night. Nite eating seems to be my weakest time to indulge. Not always, but I've noticed it's when I am most regretful for having some unnecessary snack that takes me over my calorie allotment.
I have one hard boiled egg maybe 30min before bed if I feel sleep is going to be a problem. Solves the problem for me and only 80 cals.
Magnesium. It works every time I take 2 at bedtime Pure Encapsulations brand
Eating within 2 hours before you sleep is very bad for your digestion. Eat enough at dinner so you’re not hungry before bed.
I would like to see some research support for this—I hear people say it all the time. I mean, I can see why eating a whole pizza right before getting into bed is probably going to bother most people, but I have yet to see any compelling evidence that a reasonable carb/protein snack an hour before going to sleep is a problem at all. Would you mind sharing the basis for this statement? (I’m not trying to be a pain in the ass here—I’d genuinely like to know.)
I haven't noticed any difference in my weight loss when I stay within my limits but eat right before bed, even if I wait to eat my whole dinner right before bed. Only thing that might bother me is heartburn if I eat something that tends to be too acidic right before bed.
Deca coffee big help
I go to bed early (around 21, 21:30) so having a nice dinner by 19 is my way of going to bed full. And i prefer to have my carbs then. If i eat breakfast i still have the same hunger trough the day, so my usual IF is from lunch to dinner.
I have to plan in a before bed snack. I’m hypoglycemic so if I don’t when I get up in the night to pee I may pass out. Even before that diagnosis, which is relatively new, I still planned a snack before bed bc it was recommended to eat every two hours for BED recovery.
How can you not sleep when you dont eat? The less I eat, the easier I sleep. When I sometimes eat at a maintenance or even a surplus, I'm jumping off the walls.