Late night Eating

What is up with me waking up at 3 am or 4 am and just wanting to head to the kitchen and eat? I'm not hungry. I'm not bored. I'm not celebrating anything. Why do I feel the need to comfort myself in the middle of the night with needless eating? I laid in bed Saturday night and thought of going to the cupboard and grabbing some cookies. I stared at the ceiling for half an hour talking myself out of it, and I did NOT succumb. But I have "sleep eaten" plenty of times in the past, and may do so again. WHY, god, WHY? I don't understand. I used to be afraid of the dark when I was little...[HELL, I had a night light into my teens, what am I saying?] Is food taking place of the night light? Is that my comfort? Rob and I have incompatible sleeping styles, and often sleep in separate quarters...could it be loneliness? It's a strange phenomenon. I'm stoked that I was able to talk myself out of it , and hope I continue to do so. I mean, if I have the food points coming, fine, whatever I'll have a snack once in a while and not flog myself over it. But I'd like to figure out what triggers that and how I can change the need to comfort myself with food in the wee small hours of the morning.

I googled "eating in the middle of the night" and found that there's a name for my late night food dilemma- it's actually called Night Eating Syndrome. This is a great article about it!



I eat too little during the day and too much in the evening. I know Oprah swears by her rule to not eat after 7:30 p.m. or somesuch...Should I gradually start gearing my food intake toward that goal?

I have a looooooooooong way to go spiritually and emotionally in many areas of my existence. As I wrote before, the mechanics of not eating or taking drugs or drinking and working exercise into my day has been rather easy. It's not difficult for me to just say no. Having lost weight first, it was that much easier to get sober. Behavior modification? Not a problem. But I have done very little in regard to developing my spirituality. I haven't worked at deeply examining my emotions and trying to heal. I know it doesn't make me a bad person, I just feel the desire to take myself, my evolution to another, deeper level. I guess I'll just stay open.