Bed-Time Snackers, not enough food during the day?

What do you munch on? do you feel bad about it or find it's like any other snack?

Try as i might, i can't seem to quit snacking before bed. I've tried hot tea, brushing my teeth early etc. Sometimes I know it's out of habit, sometimes i'm genuinely hungry, but either way if i don't i won't be able to sleep. I haven't gained any weight from it really, but since i'd like to lose 7-10lbs i feel it might be interfering.

today before bed i had 3/4 a cup of green peas, 3 handfuls of kashi honey puffed cereal, a banana with tablespoon of peanut butter, and a small homemade pinapple-banana muffin. On their own they're all pretty healthy snacks, but together..that's a lot of food!

During the day for breakfast i had whole grain toast with peanut butter and a handful of dried cranberries, for lunch a big greek salad with olives, tomatoes, peppers,red onions, some feta, olive oil and red wine vinegar, and another slice of plain toast. Dinner was, maybe 3/4 cup chili and some naan bread. Then a handful of strawberries.

Did i eat a healthy amount of food today? should i not worry about what i eat before bed?

i guess i should add that in the past i've lost weight unhealthily, so i suppose the fact that i WANT to eat more at night is weirdly positive..

You'll have to count the calories for a day or two as a spot check.  You can't guess whether you're eating too much or too little, although that menu sounds incredibly lightweight, even with the later snacks.  Use the CC calculator to work out how many cals you need to maintain your weight and deduct only about 500 as your weight-loss intake target.  1400-1500 isn't a bad starting point.

Next step.... plan your day in advance using the CC food log.  Working out what you intend to eat beforehand means you can plan all your meals and snacks, including a late-night snack if that's what you enjoy.  Best of luck

The first thing you should check is to make sure your eating enough. Then, like Gi Jane said, plan your meals for the day the night before and include a nice snack for before bedtime. And, dont worry that eating so late will effect your weight loss. I always have a snack, usually cereal or oatmeal about 30 mins before bedtime and I have continued to lose a significant amount of weight.

i'm recovering from an eating disorder, and i always have a bed-time snack. i'm always worried that i'll go over my calorie-allowance by the end of the day, so i usually end up eating too light during the day, and end up with 600 calories left over after dinner. -_- 

i honestly just eat whatever i feel like i've lacked throughout my day. if i haven't eaten enough fruits or vegetables, i'll make a fruit or veggie salad. if i haven't gotten enough fiber or calcium, i'll have cereal with milk, or yogurt. and sometimes i even treat myself to some orville redenbacher smartpop and some light hot chocolate.

i don't really feel bad about it, because i know i need those calories.

Opeacho..  I've been suffering from the same problem for a while.  However, I've found two ways with which to cope:

1.  Fill your stomach full of low calorie food (vegetables) at night before you try to sleep.  A full stomach usually allows me to fall asleep, even if it is only full of carrots.

2.  Sleeping pills.  I try not to use them too often.  They also balance out my massive coffee consumption, used to get through work.

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Good luck!

My nutritionist in college told me that I should be eating half my calories before noon.  I found if I didn't eat enough _earlier_ in the day, then I would be hungry the _end_ of the day.

Now I have a decent breakfast, and make a habit of eating more for lunch than for dinner.  I have a piece of fruit about an hour after dinner.  I haven't had the munchies before bed or during the night.

I don't know if this helps.

hi I am a late night eater, have been all my life... so I have around 150-160 calories to eat by night, I eat a bowl of oatmeal.... 

1 cup skimmed milk

1/2 cup oatmeal 

that hits the spot is low cal. 

tc !