Midnight Munchies

I seem to have a problem lately. This is not the first time I have experienced it, but it has definitely been a while. I am pretty sure I should be ashamed of this, but I will explain why I am not.

At least 2-3 times a week in the last few weeks I find myself in the kitchen, eating, at ungodly hours of the night. It is not that I get the munchies, walk downstairs and finish a carton of ice cream. This is much worse. I wake up out of a dead sleep come 2am and find myself downstairs with whichever kitchen utensil I find most accessible eating bite after bite of one leftover or another.

The reason I am not as ashamed as perhaps I should be is that although I am aware of the fact that I am awake, I have little to no control over my actions. Essentially I am sleep-eating. This is no excuse for this odd behavior, but I at least feel better about the fact that my actions slightly resemble and out of body experience. One minute I am sitting straight up in bed with my eyes perched towards the door, my hand clamoring for the blankets that suffocate me through the night, the next minute my hand is going for a scoop of spanish rice, a bite of chili, or my mouth going for a rice cake smothered in peanut butter.

My only explanation for this odd behavior is that I have been making great strides to modify some of my eating habits. I am not necessarily eating that much less during the day, but definitely trying to limit how late my snacking goes into the night. Lately my last nibble or munch has come no later than 9pm. That is late for some I know, but it is realistic for me considering I am always hungry. Anyways, I have gone to bed a little more hungry than normal since trying to modify my diet, therefore I am beginning to question if I am getting enough calories in throughout the day. I am working out at least 3-4 times a week on top of everything, so is that to blame also? Or is this one of those cruel tricks your body plays on you to sabotage any new routine you are trying to establish?

My plan for the next 2 days is to eat something a little later in the day than I have been in hopes that my body does not "need" any more nutrients throughout the night. Then I will scale back again to see if my body will adjust.

If sleep-eating is the result of a lack of nutrients or calories, then I wonder what sleep-walking is the result of. Lack of exercise? Boredom? Oh, the mysteries of life.