Late Night Hunger

I get hungry from about 7:00 PM on and it's a real challenge not to eat in the evenings. My appetite is funny that way. I am hardly ever hungry in the morning but I eat something anyway. Usually some plain yogurt with a banana or sometimes I'll make a smoothie.

Come lunch time, I'm starting to develop an appetite... but even then, I need to eat something light or I get incredibly tired at around 3:00 in the afternoon. I'll usually eat a salad or have some soup for lunch. It's always something on the light side so my blood sugar doesn't plummet.



It's not until around 6-7:00 in the evening that I really start to feel hungry. It starts around 7:00 and builds from there. I'll start off having a light dinner which is usually really good and on the healthy side. Then two hours later I'll feel hungry again. I start off by telling myself not to eat but the sensation of hunger is so overwhelming that I begin to eat. I start off with something small like a couple of tortilla chips or a slice of cheese. The problem is that it doesn't stop there. It just makes me hungry for more so I'll make something like a tortilla with salad and some salsa and cheese inside and eat that. Or maybe I'll take some cold cuts and eat them wrapped around some pickled vegetables and cottage cheese. Maybe I'll eat three of these before I feel full.

I have always been like this. Even in high school, I can remember getting hungry at night. The reality is that often I can't sleep unless I have had something to eat. The hunger is so overpowering that it will keep me awake.

Eating after dinner is the number one eating dysfunction of mine. I'm going to look online to see what I can find out about this. I remember hearing something about it recently in the press. Something about how a lot of people had this problem and I think there was a term for it. The fact is that I did well with not eating past 8:00 in the evening for about 1-1/2 weeks and now it is starting to creep back in again. I play mind games with myself that attempt to validate it. I realize the absurdity of it all but the hunger is so great that all reasoning gets thrown out the window.

I'm writing about this because presently it is the biggest obstacle for me to overcome and I would like to really spend some time addressing this issue.