not gonna let 'em catch the midnight snacker

June 7, 2022 7:49 PM

I have a midnight snack problem. I've had it for years. I need help to stop.

My midnight snack cravings occur no matter how much I have eaten during the day. Whether it's a light meal day or Thanksgiving dinner, I always get hungry at night.

The problem is, I have no self control when the midnight snack urge comes. I just start snacking on everything. Leftovers. Cheese and crackers. Nuts. Cereal. I'm trying to lose weight right now and I can't be doing this anymore.

Any suggestions for ways to curb midnight cravings or conversely, one miracle midnight snack that will sate me enough that I don't much on a little bit of everything?

posted by nayantara to Health & Fitness (29 answers total)

Have you tried zero-calorie hydration drinks? I'm thinking of things like Perfect Lemon (which comes in multiple flavors, not just lemon) and Bai? These won't satisfy your salt+fat craving, but they have strong flavors and are sweetened with erythritol, which makes them plenty sweet.
posted by Winnie the Proust at 7:55 PM on June 7, 2022

Is it an option not to be up so late?
posted by pyro979 at 8:07 PM on June 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Popcorn. Not the microwave kind, but the bagged kind. I'm partial to sea salt Boom Chicka Pop, but really any bagged ready-to-eat popcorn that's not heavily flavored will do. A couple handfuls will fill you up, and it's not super unhealthy - I wouldn't go so far as to call it "healthy", but it's decently not-terrible (especially in relation to, say, cheese and crackers) as long as you go with the "couple handfuls" theory and don't power through a bag in one sitting.

Either that or a handful of cashews, if you can eat nuts, which is also a good satisfying filling snack.
posted by pdb at 8:07 PM on June 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

Perhaps what you need is to plan a routine for when you ultimately get up at midnight. Something quiet, that you can do alone, like tea with a favourite biscuit - not just whatever you can get your hands on?

Or, possibly one step better than that would be to have a project that you enjoy doing with your hands - and avoid the kitchen all together? Choose the amount of time you are already spending up and in the kitchen and allow for a hobby that occupies your hands and one that you could easily pick up and put down again. This past winter, I discovered macrame - which fills this niche for me!

If you must consume something, perhaps you could create a separate "tea caddy" type of location that allows you to boil water and only consume what is in that location, rather than entering the kitchen at all.

I may be misunderstanding this, as I go to bed earlier, but if you are awake right up until midnight, then I would suggest having your last meal 3 hours before you generally go to bed. 2 hours before at the latest, if 3 hours still has you feeling hungry. Also, be sure that meal has an adequate amount of protein and no simple or processed carbs - have carbohydrates, certainly, but nothing with sugar, no sweets... for carbs choose vegetables over bread or baked goods.

Lastly, do not be afraid to eat fats! Fat is what makes a person feel satiated!
posted by itsflyable at 8:12 PM on June 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

The only way I could handle this is to be very firm about it - just no food between 10 pm and 6 am. Nothing except water. You know that you are not really hungry since you will still feel the urge after a big day of overeating. You will not starve if you just wait until breakfast. You just need to convince your brain that those snack signals are a false alarm and do not need to be given any attention. My guess is that if you make up your mind and commit to zero snacks, there will be a couple of very uncomfortable nights (and a lot of water) and then your body will catch on and it will get easier fairly quickly.

That said, for some people, a healthy snack before bed can help them sleep through the night. But we are talking about a planned snack (probably high protein) before bed - but I would still recommend doing that in addition to the firm no midnight snacking rule. Sometimes black and white rigid thinking is your friend.
posted by metahawk at 8:15 PM on June 7, 2022 [6 favorites]

Sugar free jello
posted by kinddieserzeit at 8:26 PM on June 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Berries

Carrot and celery sticks

A banana

A very small amount of cheese
posted by kinddieserzeit at 8:33 PM on June 7, 2022

When do you eat dinner? I’ve never been a midnight snacker but I usually eat dinner between 8-9pm so I’m still full when I go to bed at 11 or so. Of course late dinners mean I enjoy afternoon snacking but that can be controlled (somewhat) with walks and other time fillers.
posted by jabes at 8:34 PM on June 7, 2022 [1 favorite]

Prepare snacks early in the day when you have more energy. Put leftovers in the freezer if you can. Limit the amount of chips and low-nutrition foods in the house. Save some of your food budget or however you think of it for midnight. When you eat food may influence weight, but what you eat should be high nutrition. Do portion control; put a generous portion in a sandwich bag. Put any other portions someplace inconvenient. All nutrition articles will show fresh fruit & veg., but canned or frozen veg and fruit in low or no sugar are easy. Make the nutritious options easier than high-fat, high-carb comfort food.

Focus on nutritional value and good mouthfeel. Carrots and hummus, celery and peanut butter, red pepper strips and some sour cream dip, apple and peanut butter, canned pineapple and cottage cheese, berries and yogurt, walnuts and a couple dried apricots, sliced cucumbers dressed with a little vinegar, a dash of soy sauce, salt, pepper. Make banana and milk smoothies, freeze them for a midnight treat. Would you be happy with salad? Mixed greens, croutons, walnuts, lightly dressed, or homemade coleslaw lightly dressed - salad takes a little longer to eat, and tends to make me feel like I've eaten. You can make an easy salad of canned black beans, a can of corn, drained, and a can's worth of salsa. Add cilantro and/or lime juice if you have it. Sometimes I feel the need for something salty and crunchy - corn chips as a conveyance for guacamole and good salsa. Make some roasted chickpeas. Have a bran or corn muffin, ideally homemade without gobs of sugar. Cheese with some wholegrain crackers is a good option.

Sometimes at the end of the day, I do a nutrition check and count vegetables. I'll have pickled beets, salad, leftover vegetables, if I feel like there's a deficit. Even a microwaved baked white or sweet potato with butter.
posted by theora55 at 8:43 PM on June 7, 2022

First, nuts will fill you up, fast, and they're small and discretely countable. Also fairly nutritious, and they have fat for satiety but it's good fat. Peanuts are also good for this.

Second, if you try to stop midnight snacking cold turkey, you will end up staying awake all night for a few nights. So, here's what I suggest (although I admit I haven't tried it):

Get a set of 7-10 small containers, maybe 1/3 - 1/2 cup size, with lids that seal.

For this example, I'm going to pretend you have 10 containers.

Literally count the number of nuts you put into each container, starting with a generous number (or weight) of nuts for day 1 -- enough so that you know you won't be suffering, but so that you can actually easily eat all of them in one night snack. For the second container, put the _same_ number or weight of nuts. If it were me and pistachios, I might use 15. No suffering here. BUT you will have to eat all of them.

For the third container, decrease the quantity by one nut or half a nut or whatever is a small enough decrease that you will not miss it, you won't be hungry. We are playing the long game here!

4th container, maybe the same number as container 3, maybe 1/2 or 1 nut fewer. Your eyes will tell you what is too big of a decrease for you personally to treat it as almost an inconsequential change.

I think you can see where I'm going here. Fill all your containers with gradually decreasing quantities. You do not have to get to zero nuts by day 10, just a smaller amount than on day 1.

Label each container with a date.

On the day you have eaten all but one or two of the containers (so, if you have 10 containers, this would be day 8 or 9), you'll have a bunch of empty containers that you can fill with still smaller amounts for the next set of days.

Eventually you'll get down to 1 nut, then (I'm serious) 1/2 nut.

Then you will have to face the prospect of giving up your 1/2 nut per night habit, and it should be easier.


I haven't tried this with nuts and midnight snacking. I did use this method to wean myself off of caffeine using gradually decreasing measures of loose tea, and it worked really well. I didn't feel deprived, or drowsy, or headachy from caffeine withdrawal. I'm betting it will work for this too.
posted by amtho at 8:45 PM on June 7, 2022

Are you craving savory flavors? Is your mouth/brain bored and craving sensory stimulation or do you feel hunger in your stomach? Sometimes I eat a teaspoon of tabasco sauce to satisfy my urge for flavor when I'm not actually hungry. (When I was in junior high, my parents once found a bottle of Lawrys seasoned salt hidden underneath my pillow.....).

Something less outrageous and more grown-up would be a non-alcoholic bloody mary inspired beverage, spicy V8 plus tabasco plus whatever else and then add a celery stick for the crunch.
posted by spamandkimchi at 8:52 PM on June 7, 2022 [4 favorites]

If you can’t kick the snack habit, I recommend flavored sunflower seeds in the shell. It takes a lot of effort to shell them, and they’re super flavorful while you’re doing that so it feels like you’re eating the whole time but then it takes like 10 seconds to eat a single sunflower seed instead of two handfuls of chips or whatever easier-to-access snack you’re used to. Plus there are lots of tasty flavors like ranch, Old Bay, BBQ etc that scratch the salty snack itch.
posted by music for skeletons at 9:44 PM on June 7, 2022

Best answer: I’ve found hot chocolate or hot (herbal or decaf) tea with milk to be a good solution to the late night snack urge. A warm beverage feels more satiating than water, the milk gives it some calories but not a ton, and you can use sugar free instant hot chocolate packets if you really want to cut the calories or sugar. It’s a little out of season right now, but maybe worth a try anyway!
posted by MadamM at 10:11 PM on June 7, 2022 [2 favorites]

I make sure to have drinks on hand that I really like, nice and cold in the fridge if that's how you like them. When I feel the snack craving, I finish a drink first and see if that curbs/satiates it. If you're aiming to avoid drinking calories, that could be flavored seltzers, light fruit juices, etc. I also keep Fairlife nutrition protein shakes in my fridge because I find them really tasty, satisfying, and filling - not calorie free, but a good trade-off at 150 kcal/30g protein.

If that doesn't satisfy, I'll usually go for one portion of a high-reward treat, like a square of a fancy chocolate bar, OR a bigger portion of a filling but healthy snack, like celery and light ranch dip.

I also make sure to 1. Take one portion at a time rather than the whole bag/container. 2. Walk away from the kitchen and eat the snack elsewhere, that way if I want more I have to make the conscious decision to go back into the kitchen. It's really easy to eat half a bag of shredded cheese while standing in front of the fridge. It's more effort and keeps your eating 'present' if you take a small portion, walk away, walk back, refill, etc.
posted by rachaelfaith at 10:12 PM on June 7, 2022

If the pattern is that you just lose all sense of perspective/judgment or connection to your feelings of hunger at that hour, I would also say maybe try not to start at all? Like, be asleep, or brush your teeth earlier and be in bed reading, some different environment where "foooood?" doesn't cross your mind.
posted by Lady Li at 11:16 PM on June 7, 2022 [3 favorites]

I used to require a sandwich every night around 10:30 or my day was not complete. That had to end when I got married... my wife - different culture, different rules - basically led me to stop eating after 8 pm. It was tough at first, but after a few years it is natural for me. It gives my body the time to let digestion do its work. I often go to bed hankering for something to eat first but I channel it into dreaming about breakfast.

You need to address the embrace of "I have no control" as an excuse. I used to fast for the singular purpose of learning to control myself by controling my experience of wanting food. But you can't expect to fix the problem by subbing one nightime snack for a different nightime snack.
posted by zaelic at 1:58 AM on June 8, 2022 [3 favorites]

My partner has similar issues and he's found brushing his teeth 30mins or so after our last official snack or dessert gives him a strong incentive not to snack further after I've gone to bed (our sleep cycles are somewhat asynchronous).
posted by terretu at 2:01 AM on June 8, 2022 [10 favorites]

Two scenarios:

If I am up late and start to feel peckish again and know I will go to bed soon I generally just ignore feeling peckish. I may have some water or tea but after a few minutes the feeling goes away again. That even works if I get hungry again/my tummy rumbles. My rationale here is that my body is about to go to sleep and is supposed to do all kinds of other stuff when asleep, not digest food. I used to have a housemate who would use that as cue to eat a full meal because she couldn't go to sleep feeling peckish or mildly hungry. So my approach may not work for everybody.

If I am up late and know I won't go to bed for a few hrs I'll just eat. Especially, if I had dinner several hrs ago. At that point you're simply hungry again and eating at that point won't interfere with sleep if sleep is a few hrs away still.
posted by koahiatamadl at 2:08 AM on June 8, 2022

I am much better able to control my late evening eating tendencies when I intermittent fast, strictly limiting all food intake to 6 hours 1200 - 1800, at least 4 days a week.

What I've read about the effects of fasting on recalibrating dietary hormone release / response away from the developed world baseline of near constant digestion / satiation tallies with my experience ; after just a few days I suddenly start to feel able to separate the bodily sensation of "I am hungry" from "I want to eat".

The externalised schedule then acts as a reinforcement, and somehow I just find it much, much easier to override that more "true" hunger feeling.

I still sometimes feel that hunger at bedtime ; I almost never feel it in the morning until the last hour or so before breaking my fast.

YMMV of course ; please read around if you want to try this, the specific schedule of fasting that works can differ a lot for different people ; an 8 rather than 6 hour eating window is often recommended for female people.
posted by protorp at 3:05 AM on June 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

It can help to brush your teeth right after dinner. The effect of toothpaste on flavour, plus the inconvenience of having to rebrush, can make you pause long enough for the craving to pass. If it's been a while and there's no more toothpaste taste to contend with, try flossing when you want to snack.
posted by Morpeth at 3:21 AM on June 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

I agree with all of this excellent advice. I am sure you will find out which techniques work for you.

One further thing that helps me, is logging my food to count calories. This helps me cut down snacking in general, both because it makes me confront what I’ve actually eaten, and because logging is a real chore. The combination discourages grazing.

What you’re looking for here is to break a habit, which will take time. Every nightly battle you fight and win will push you towards freedom, so don’t give up the process if it “doesn’t work” on night 2; the perseverance, and as much consistency as you can manage, is what builds a new habit. It’s normal to feel withdrawal symptoms, as the battle is more mental than physical.

I still have the occasional snack at night, but it’s now usually when I’m actually hungry — and it’s kept me awake — rather than simply through routine as has been true at times in the past.

All the best!
posted by breakfast burrito at 3:43 AM on June 8, 2022

Best answer: Are you on any medications? Seroquel did this to me. It would make me ravenously hungry when I took it at night (for sleep). The more carbs, the better. I'm assuming this isn't the case since it sounds like this has been a long time issue, but just wanted to throw it out there.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:02 AM on June 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

I can’t go to bed even the slightest bit hungry, so I’ve readjusted my afternoon and evening mealtimes. On days when I’m not exercising after work, I eat a substantial snack when I get home at 5:30, probably around 350 calories (usually nuts plus a fruit or vegetable) and then a real dinner around 9, probably around 600-700 calories. On days I exercise after work, I eat a small meal at 3 (450 calories, usually a sandwich) and then a small meal around 9 (450 calories, typically a smoothie and nuts.)

In general, though, I track my calories and am super active, so I both need the calories and fall asleep pretty promptly at 10. How’s your sleep in general? Are you waking up to snack? Do you feel rested? I wonder if by improving your sleep you might improve the snacking.
posted by punchtothehead at 4:36 AM on June 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Your very tired brain is trying to compensate for being tired by getting you to increase the amount of circulating nutrients and raise your blood sugar so it can still function. This snacking is a symptom of fatigue. The problem is when your brain is experiencing such a shortage of blood sugar and nutrition that it won't let you sleep until you are fed... and then probably no longer needs to sleep because it has been perked up with the food.

I would go with very, very high carb nutrition dense food - something like sweetened porridge will provide bulk to fill your stomach and raise your blood sugar. Cereal is traditional for middle of the night meals. Baked potatoes might also work. I would experiment with avoiding protein to see if that helps you sleep. Protein and fat can keep you awake. I would figure out how much you need to eat at night so your stomach and tired brain are appeased so that you can sleep, and then subtract that amount of food from your day time intake.

If you are awake at night because you work night shift you are going to have to eat while staying awake - but if your metabolism is adjusting to that properly you are going to feel too wired to really want to eat as much in the day time. Instead of bacon and eggs and toast for a hearty sensible breakfast, see if you actually do fine on coffee and boiled eggs. See if you can manage with rabbit food for your day time snacks and lunch without experiencing discomfort. Skip dinner altogether if evening is your most productive time and work right through, and then go with a big filling bulky one-thirty AM evening meal and a two-forty-five bedtime.

Also try if warm skim milk works as a late night meal. You can add a bit of hot chocolate powder, or try a cream soup made with milk, as long as it is not too high protein.
posted by Jane the Brown at 5:20 AM on June 8, 2022

You need to decide if you want to continue snacking but on different food or stop completely.

If you want to stop completely, I would consider changing all the other variables that happen when you eat at night. This is how I tricked myself into stopping smoking--I just changed the conditions that were in place when I did smoke.

Are you watching tv? Then turn it off and do something that requires two hands (knit, read a book, do a crossword).

Are you getting out of bed and going to the kitchen? Create a new ritual of "closing" the kitchen at night. Wipe counters with a new type of cleaner, sweep floors; anything to indicate the kitchen is now closed.

Force yourself to have your last snack earlier so it's not deprivation, it's replacement. Eat those pretzels and other snacks at 8, then close the kitchen for the night. When midnight hits, remind yourself you already had the snack and the kitchen is closed until morning.

In any case, it's going to take a lot of effort to make this stick and you will end up eating and night, and that's okay. It's a process.
posted by yes I said yes I will Yes at 6:28 AM on June 8, 2022 [1 favorite]

Curious to know what you eat for dinner. Can you add more protein to help you feel full for longer?
posted by Twicketface at 6:38 AM on June 8, 2022

It seems to me like if you constantly had a midnight snack you'd train yourself to get hungry around that time since you're essentially establishing an extra meal into your routine - I know I tend to get hungry around my usual lunch time even if my breakfast was larger than usual for example. So I think instead of something to sate you enough you would want to skip the snacks entirely and eventually you might stop getting hungry around that time.
posted by ToddBurson at 7:31 AM on June 8, 2022

I find hot broth is the thing that helps me when I am snacky but know I don't need to eat. I use Better Than Boullion, but you can use what you like. If I have some instant miso soup in the house (with dehydrated tofu-- I love it!!) that works just fine, as well. For me, it is the salty that knocks out the snacky.
posted by oflinkey at 8:41 AM on June 8, 2022 [2 favorites]

This was me. I politely disagree with these snack suggestions. I find that once I allow one snack, it opens the floodgates and I need more snacks.

The only thing that worked for me was allowing myself to snack on weekends, but not weekdays. On weekdays, I drink tea to fill myself up without snacking. Don't even make snacking an option.

After the first few sucky hungry days, it's not so bad. Maybe go to bed earlier the first few days you try this to help you stick to it.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 7:24 PM on June 8, 2022 [1 favorite]