Late night eating.

Hello everyone, I ma new to this so please be kind.

I have just about over come bulimia nervosa, I used to take laxative tablets, up to 24 at one time everyday, but I have now been off them for about 5 months now, as I have met a wonderful man who has got me eating again.

I keep a food diary, and from what I can see I eat lower then 2000 calories, but I have a sweet tooth and also a savory tooth when it comes to my favorite meal "Dim Sum".

But I still find it hard not to binge.

I used to in one sitting, eat 2 boxs of chocolates, ice cream, 6 packets of crisps, 4 ham rolls and loads of bread every night, where as now I eat three meals and maybe have a little cake after my meal. It does not seem bad compared to before, but it still gets me down.

I have been at a gym for about 2 months, and burn on average 300- 400 calories on the cross trainer in half an hour then 5 minute cool down.

The problem I have been having now is craving foods at night, and its serious cravings. I will control my food in take during the day. Breakfast- bowl of cereal, soya milk Lunch- maybe cereal again, or small slices of fruit malt loaf Dinner- mainly something healthy snacks- actimel, snack a jack crisps

then by the end of it it will reach 11pm and my stomach will start kicking up a fuss craving really bad food, and sometimes I have to gve into it as it gets me so down.

Is there anything I can do to stop this?

Thank you in advance.

The problem with bulimia is rarely the purgeing, yet thats what so many eating disorder professionals focus on. *sigh.*

Purging is the result of bingeing. Bingeing is the result of restricting. If you can find out why you restrict or are 'careful' with your eating, that might be key.

Good luck!

there are lots of things you can try to help stop that. one is to make sure that you get a lot of high-protein foods into each and every meal and snack. never have a snack that is high-carb, but try to make each one balanced. (look at the "analysis" tool). drinking more water helps some people, or just making a cup of hot tea. try to find some low-calorie "snacks" that satisfy the need to chew on something, like raw veggies, fruits, nuts (in small quantities), that sort of thing. a little oatmeal with skim milk is good for a night time snack. also, there are many things you can do with yogurt or cottage cheese to satisfy your hunger. just try out different things until you find what works for you. if you are just starting, sometimes if you are really used to eating at night, you have to do something like brush your teeth or chew gum, just to keep from eating. like i said, try to find what works for YOU, because everyone is different.

That's a difficult one to overcome, because I have the same problem with eating late at night.  However, I can suggest a few things:

• Plan to eat one snack that you enjoy every night and only eat that, nothing else
• Go to bed earlier so you won't have that craving at 11 p.m.
• Exercise after dinner, it helps me cut my appetite for about two hours after I work out.
• Do something at night like clean your house or flat, or find a hobby to occupy your mind.

arrowhead, keep lots of fresh fruits on hand, and other nutritious snacks.  don't buy the foods you binge on.

I know some say, eat in small amounts, but I disagree. 

I end almost every day with a "sweet tooth" meal.  It's usually Cascade brand fruit-sweetened yogurt (6 oz. cup) and a cup of grapes.  Sometimes, if I still have some dairy calories to spare, I add a frigo swirl cheese stick.  it's my desert for the day, so to speak.  Of, if I can get good fresh sweet cherries, I do half cup grapes and half cup cherries or a cup of cherries.

I also usually have raisins with my hot whole grain cereal, an orange, and a very large apple throughout the day.

I credit the fruit with eradicating my cravings.  I simply don't have them any more. 

Hungry late at night...me too...I snack on jicama or 94% fat free popcorn.  Jicama by the way, is a hard, crunchy white potato looking thing...it's like a fruit I guess.  It's good and you can put lemon on it.  It has like 0 calories so you can eat until your mouth gets tired.

I suffer from bingeing as well. I disagree with people saying its about restriction, because I used to binge without restricting myself. If there was a box of shortbread cookies, Id just eat it all because I love the flavour. Since I started dieting, Ive managed to minimise daytime binges, but Im still working on night time.
One thing that works is only eating low-cal things (aka dill pickles, pieces of sea weed) or drinking lots (diet sodas, herbal teas...) Also get alot of gum. That will keep your mouth busy.
Other solutions include going to bed early, working out at night, doing something that makes it hard to eat (painting, sewing) And a last resort.... Find a really disgusting picture that makes you lose your appetite. I did this one by accident because the vocalist of my favorite band has a habit of making himself bleed and I found a pic that has quite alot of blood in it...
Heres the link if you need it:http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b250/Temirs /Dir%20en%20grey/DirEnGreyKyoNishimura14.jpg

Your taste buds are in your mouth, not in your stomach. You can love the flavour of something by savoring it in your mouth, and you don't need to demolish an entire box of shortbread cookies to get that flavour. If it was simply about the flavour for you, then you could simply take longer to eat one shortbread cookie and be done with it.

And by the way, where restriction is concerned, it isn't always the actual act of restriction. It can also be mental restriction, i.e. having the mental perception that something is off limits.