Insomnia & Hunger

hi there!

I've never been much of sleeper to begin with, but lately I've only been able to stay asleep for about 4-5 hours, and I wake up on this creepy autopilot that looks something like wake, make coffee, make oatmeal, eat, drink, look at clock and realize I'm going to be away for at least another 18 hours (I'm working late into the evenings right now).

Normally, I'm ok with this, but over the past couple of days when I wake up it literally feels like I can't eat enough. This morning, for example, I had almost a full cup of oats (dry measure), and then I opened the peanut butter jar.... and closed it 4 tablespoons later.

Now I'm at about 700 cal. and it's only 6:30am. I know that when I don't get enough sleep my fatigue manifests as hunger, but I've never been able to go back to sleep once I'm up. Does anyone have experience with this? What do you do? Should I just go on with my day and head to the gym or try and sleep? Any night owls out or new parents out there (you've got my full respect, by the way!) who might be willing to offer some advice?

Being awake is not equivlent to being productive.... but sleeping just seems like it will throw my sysytem off more in the long run (plus, I don't really want to sleep on such a big breakfast!).

Thanks, and good morning!

I've suffered with insomnia on and off for many years, since I was 7 (14 years now).  It was so bad from the ages of 12 - 16 that I would only sleep an average of 2 hours a week.

This last year I've been getting a lot more sleep, which helps a lot, but I still don't like to sleep.  I'm a night owl on top of it.  When I do get more sleep though, I feel less hungry and lose weight much easier.

I'd say try to get more sleep.  If you're having a hard time, try taking some valerian root or over-the-counter sleeping medicine.  You're going to function better when you get more than 5 hours of sleep a night, so even though I hate suggesting medication, it might be an option.

Hello there,  I am another insomniac!

Insomnia and lack of sleep DEFINITLY causes increased hunger or eating….


I say hunger Or eating - because a lot of the time lack of sleep does not make me feel HUNGRY -  but,  it is rather the PAIN and discomfort felt due to lack of sleep,  that makes me want to eat to TAKE MY MIND OFF the pain….

Do you get the saw eye  thing - after a night of no sleep -  or after several nights of only 4  = 5 hours sleep -   do your eyes feel really heavy and awful?


Well - for me, it is the feelings associated with insomnia, as I described above, that make me eat.   It is common for any unpleasant experience to cause people to want to use food to distract themselves from the problem.

Physiologically, I have read that the ghrelin ( cannot be bothered looking up spelling sorry)  ,   which is the HUGER hormone - INCREASES with less sleep.

There are also all kinds of other reasons  - which you can just GOOGLE


What has helped me stop over eating when I suffer insomnia?

Well, I know that insomnia inevitably leads to me wanting to eat for comfort - therefore,  I eat  a small snack JUST before I go to sleep…

Normally, it is not recommended that people eat JUST before bed, because digesting food while trying to sleep can hinder sleep and does not give your body a rest over night from digesting….

However, it works for me - because, if I know I have had a small snack  late at night JUST before sleeping -  than I am less inclined to want to have a huge breakfast or over eat -  because I know that I have only just eaten recently.

It’s a psychological method  - that is why it works for me.

Or -  do you like the taste of raw salad vegetables?

Another method that works for me, is to have unlimited supplies of raw salad vegetables  (or, you could use COOKED veggies)  

When I feel like eating due to boredom or insomnia, and NOT because I am genuinely hungry,- I will allow myself to snack on raw low calorie vegetables -   I love their taste - they do not add calories ( only like 100 for a huge plate full),  therefore I can satisfy my urges to “ munch”   without adding unnecessary calories.


So - I have suffered wanting to over eat due to insomnia REALLY BADLY -  and those two methods have really helped me to over come a very bad problem!

I do this, also, and if I let myself I will eat until I can't move (I love food; cooking, eating, menu planning, recipe creating, grocery shopping are my favorite things to do in the entire world). I wake up at night and my first impulse is to head straight for the kitchen. My favorite wake-up snacks are deli meats wrapped in cheese (I no longer keep deli meat in the apartment) and cashews (not handfuls but entire packages, I now buy them in single serving packages).

Instead of trying to fight the urge to eat, I allow myself to eat a little something, like fruit or yogurt. Then, before I allow myself to eat more, I do one or all or any combination of the following.

1. I go to the gym for an hour (at about 3 in the morning) and do some sort of cardio.

2. I'll do light calisthentics, body weight exercises (push-ups, lunges, stretching) around my apartment or I'll clean or find other ways to keep myself busy, reading, sewing, drawing, staring at the internet.

3. Sometimes a nice hot cup of tea fills me up a little.

4. I'll bake, healthy-ish things. I don't buy a lot of junk food. Instead, I make it myself. Foods I cook at home have less 'filler' ingredients and pack more punch per calorie, so if I am going to eat, I'll feel sated sooner. Also, doing any sort of kneading, rolling, punching, and cleaning up the mess when your done burns calories.

Ultimately, I find exercising is the best thing for me, because if I do decide to eat, at least I have a bit of a deficit already, so I won't blow my calories for the day, entirely. 

Several good ideas here that I just wanted to add my thumbs up to.

1. Veggies are a great way to fill up if you are always hungry.  I eat a lot of carrots, and when they get plain or tiring, I eat them with some salsa (I love mexican food, but of course that doesn't work for a calorie counter many times.)

2. EXERCISE- As was stated earlier, just some light calisthenics or jogging can really help out.  As hormones are released, one can feel much happier and at ease before sleep.

3. If you are having to stay up long periods of time, I'm going to guess that you may have a stressful or anxious life due to work.  This can be an expensive option, but consider seeing a counselor.  The top two suggestions here will be much less likely to work if you have ongoing anxiety about the state of your personal or professional life.  I went through some severe issues revolving around a relationship that ended about 3 months ago, and I was absolutely busting my butt in the workout room and I couldn't sleep in my own bed to save my life.  Had to sleep on the couch every night for a month until I got to a place with a counselor where I could control my anxiety and go to sleep.

Good luck on your sleeping habits, 10, and let us know if this stuff works for you or if you find another solution.  This problem is one that many people have, and I know that we would all benefit from any advice you could give once you tackle the problem.

JTG

Thanks guys! Here's an update. I ate oatmeal at 5am, peanut butter, and then and entire box of maple brown sugar mini wheats. Suffice to say, I didn't make it to the gym before work (where I am now, frankly, hoping to God I don't crap my pants!).tmi

Thanks again for all the advice fellow vampires!

Haha, I love the tmi update.

I definitely have the same problem, and have had some REALLY bad mornings the last few months.

I've been doing well the past 2 weeks though, and I'm really proud of myself, so here are some tips!

- drink 1-2 cups of warm water, broth, or tea first thing (to fill you up and curb your appetite)
- eat your breakfast slowly (oats/oatmeal are a good choice though)
- if you're tired and not busy during the day, don't eat to get over it.  lie down for a bit and just rest.  Even though it's not the same thing as sleep, I'd rather give my mind and body a break than consume unnecessary calories that I'll regret later.
- don't restrict -->always leads to a binge for me
- more protein for breakfast?  eggs, lean meat, etc.

I hope these are helpful!  And I hope I can keep this good behavior up, too.  I hate it when I eat too much for bfast and feel crummy for the rest of the day...