[peachie]

okay it's 12 am and i'm having trouble falling asleep tonight. and i have a problem-i'm SO hungry. and i know a growling stomach won't help me to feel sleepy! but i always hear that you need to stop eating 3 hours before bedtime in order for the food to be digested well. meh. so does anyone have suggestions on what to do/what i should eat? answers now would be appreciated, but if not, this happens to me pretty commonly since i don't sleep as much as i should. so help will be appreciated no matter what!

 

[ynaffit]

I have to eat before bed or the hunger will distract me from sleeping, and I don't seem to have any noticeable digestion problems from it. Unless you notice a problem, I'd think that getting to sleep would outweigh the digestive concerns.

 

[laurie15]

that three hour rule is bogus. it's because people mindlessly tend to eat at that time. if you are really hungry, then eat. calories over the course of the day matter, not what you eat in three hours.

some people can't sleep on a full stomach.

personally, i only can. i eat a huge snack before bed every night and go to bed stuffed. love it.

 

[peachie]

thanks guys! i feel better now about what i chose to eat- a bowl of leftover vegan pasta, hehe. it was a small bowl though. and soo good.

i felt naughty eating that right before bed but you're right, it caused no problems.

 

[Astarte]

The idea behind that rule is a good one -- I know if I do it regularly, I put on weight with a vengeance. If you're actually hungry have something small, and you should be fine.

 

[techwins]

In theory, eating too close to bedtime is "bad" on two different accounts. One, your body goes into shutdown mode while you are sleeping, so those extra calories you ate before you went to sleep are not being burned off by your metabolism as quickly (or possibly at all). Two, calories are sources for energy, which would indicate that eating before bedtime is going to give you an extra boost of energy depending on the amount of calories. That extra boost of energy may result in a more restless night of sleep. At any rate, though, if you're so hungry that you can't sleep, you're better off giving in right away rather than trying to wait it out. I sometimes find myself hungry as I'm trying to sleep, and I usually wind up caving in after an hour of just laying in bed hungry trying to resist.

 

[Pandora]

In the end it only just matters what you eat spread out over the day, if you eat something before bedtime, it's not going to be bad for you calorie intake wise, sure your metabolism slows down during the night, and sleep is meant to restore and clean your system, but eating something light is not going to have a horrible effect on you. And there's the possibility that you'll be less ravenous in the morning.

The best advice I can think of is to listen to your own body, if you are so hungry that you can't sleep... kill that hunger with something.

 

[GhostUser]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandora

In the end it only just matters what you eat spread out over the day, if you eat something before bedtime, it's not going to be bad for you calorie intake wise, sure your metabolism slows down during the night, and sleep is meant to restore and clean your system, but eating something light is not going to have a horrible effect on you. And there's the possibility that you'll be less ravenous in the morning.

The best advice I can think of is to listen to your own body, if you are so hungry that you can't sleep... kill that hunger with something.

good advice pandora