Case Study Late Night Eating

Eat only when hungry and do not over eat. Overeating is one of the main problems people have when trying to maintain a healthy weight. If a person eats in moderation, he or she can enjoy any type of food, even sweets as long as it is in portioned size. Eating when hungry and stopping

Eating small, frequent meals, instead of 3 large meals, eat five or six small meals. Avoid foods that make you feel worse. But, do not stop eating whole food groups. Eating a well-balance diet from all food groups is recommended.

It has been proven there is often a link between obesity and depression yet it is not sure exactly what that link is. (15) Are people depressed because they are overweight or are they overweight due to their depression? People suffering mood disorders often lack motivation, this may include their motivation to eat well or have a care for their general wellbeing and simply educating or informing them will not help to fix it. People will often use food as a coping mechanism to deal with anxieties or issues in their life. (16). Mood-disorder led over-eating can stem from toxic environments, such as bad eating in the home which isn’t only psychological but intertwines with our environmental factors. Night Eating Syndrome (NES) is a recognized mental disorder by the DSM-IV. NES has been studied and showed participants who suffered from it showed significant amounts of weight gain, or if they were trying to lose weight by dieting throughout the day did not lose weight either.

“In most healthy people morning awakening is associated with a burst of cortisol secretion: the cortisol awakening response” (Clow). This increases the metabolic activity to normal levels to prepare the body for the new day. For this reason most people will report that on days that they have breakfast and day that they don’t they will still get hungry at the same time for lunch. The hunger experienced early in the morning is also a form of conditioning that we have learned through years of eating at an early hour. Now while breakfast food is delicious it can be a rather caloric meal early in the day that sets the average person back in their net caloric intake. With the addition of lunch, dinner and other meals it is largely possible that people that do not exercise will go over their daily caloric necessity.

I normally eat out during lunch, because I am either at school or work and it is convenient. I usually do not think of whether or not I am cooking the right foods that have a good amount of protein at dinnertime, and rely on fast-food chains. Since, I am over on my protein intake I am not worried about having to rely on fast-food to get the appropriate amount my body needs.

If I do change my problem with late night eating, I will lose weight in the areas I have been trying to lose. I also will be able to sleep better due to not sleeping on a full stomach. Changing my late night eating problem has been something that my family members have noticed for a while and advised me to change it, but I am hesitant because it makes me relax at night. However, if I do not change this behavior, I will continue to gain weight and I will be used to eating late my whole life. As a result, I will not be happy with my body image and become self-conscious, as this was a problem I had to face as a teenager.

To combat these cravings I switched to eating a massive bowl of Goats Yogurt at night. To sweeten the yogurt, I would blend in as many berries as I could. Blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries became my new late night treat. I would eat as much as I wanted - anything to stop those cravings.

Binge eating disorder (BED) is a “severe, life-threatening and treatable eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food (often very quickly and to the point of discomfort); a feeling of a loss of control during the binge; experiencing shame, distress, or guilt afterwards; and not regularly using unhealthy compensatory measures (purging) to counter the binge eating” (NEDA 1). This disorder effects people of all genders, races, and ages. This disorder also happens to be the most common eating disorder among the people of the United States. Often times people get this disorder mixed up with another eating disorder called Bulimia. The difference is that with bulimia people purge after every meal they eat (by means of vomiting, excessive exercising or with the use of laxatives). But people with BED usually do not do unhealthy things, such as purging. Instead they feel guilty about the amount of food they ate and will not eat for an extended period of time, which can cause more binges to occur.

Never go more than five hours without eating a zone-favorable meal or snack. Eat within one hour of waking and have a snack before workouts and before bedtime.

A second diagnosis for Kathie is Mild Binge Eating Disorder (BED) (F50.8). BED is characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating in which the client eats a large amount of food in a two-hour period that most people would consume in a similar situation. There is sense of lack of control over the eating. The binge episodes one to three times a week for three months. The client must meet three of the five criteria listed in the DSM-V for BED which include eating more rapidly than normal, feeling uncomfortably full after binge eating (BE), eating when not hungry, feeling embarrassed, and feeling guilty, disgusted, or depressed after the binge eating episode. Additionally, there is a feeling of marked distress over the binge eating episode. There are no compensatory behaviors such as vomiting, using laxatives, medications or excessive exercise (APA, 2013). Kathie has been secretly struggling with an eating disorder (ED) for the last six months. She has meets 3 of the 5 criteria listed in the DSM-V including eating excessively until she feels uncomfortably full. After binge eating, she feels ashamed and helpless, which makes her more depressed. She feels a loss of control over her eating. She eats alone and feels guilty after binge

Binge eating disorder, also known as BED or compulsive overeating, is a serious disorder that is characterized by a recurrent, irresistible urge to overindulge or binge on food even when you are painfully full. We reveal how and why it becomes a problem, and what you can do about it.

To treat an eating disorder and recovering from one can take a long time. To treat a disorder usually involves monitoring a individuals physical health and helping them deal with psychological problem. It is important for friends and family to be there for the individual and help them believe they can get better with time and support from the loved ones. Examples of treatment could be cognitive behaviour therapy also known as CBT, another method is interpersonal psychotherapy, dietary counselling and also medication.

It’s better to avoid eating late at night because your metabolism naturally slows down in the evening, so make sure to eat a hearty breakfast to keep it high throughout the day. 

Dine during mid-weeks: Quit dining out during weekends if possible. Many restaurants offer mid-week offers to enable customers dine on slower nights usually

Food service director Karen Rubin said, if you don’t eat foods for long hours, the brain thinks that you are going to starve, as a result the body consumes more cholesterol and fat for storing energy.