Late Night Snacks

I am sure this has been done before but…Everynight about 2 to 4 hours before I go to bed I get very hungry and I am wondering what everyone else eats at that time. I have been eating Peanut Butter Sandwiches and I don’t think that is a very good late night snack becuase I am trying to lose weight. Just looking for ideas. Thanks.

I always heard that some cheese and milk would be a very good late night snack, because their protein is able to stop protein breakdown, but furthermore will enhance proteine synthesis during the night!

Hope this helps, but I’m curious about other answers too!

playgrounder

I make a pudding by mixing protein powder with a small amount of water. After mixing thoroughly, I add a tablespoon or so of all natural peanut butter (love the chunky!).

Yeah, it sounds pretty gross, but give it a shot. Tastes like dessert, and gives you a good blast of slow-digesting protein and fat before bedtime.

Cottage cheese & mixed nuts (not mixed together). Satisfies the hunger w/out the carbs.

Stick to mainly P+F meals during that time, especially if you are wanting to lose weight. Nuts, cottage cheese, eggs, chicken on a spinach salad, cheese sticks, Low-Carb Grow!, etc.

You could eat the Peanut Butter with a spoon and a Grow! shake if you’re peanut crazy.

RIT Jared

Why don’t you just throw down some protein shakes? once you get used to it, goign without is difficult as you wake up in the middle of the night hungry as hell.

cottage cheese and pineapples or peaches with a glass of milk does it for me

Cottege cheese, mixed with almond, or peanut butter, one scoop of a mixed (not just whey) protein powder, along with 1pk of Splenda, helps me get through the night.

K

Beef Jerky Nuggets, by Jack’s Links rules the universe.

I use half a cup of cottage cheese, a scoop of grow and some mixed nuts blended together. You should be eating 2 to 4 hours before you go to bed anyway.

Cottage cheese is definately the best choice because of the casein (slow digesting) protein, unless you are taking ZMA, because calcium messes up the absorption of that.

got some cheese today, can’t wait to try it out.

protein shake + bunch of cheese :slight_smile:

I’m a definite advocate for the all-cheese diet. It’s sort of my own spin-off on the Atkins craze. Tastes great and does wonders for the gastrointestinal system.

RIT Jared

Low fat cottage cheese, but also yogurt or some kind of milk product.
Nuts (usually almonds) are great and a piece of fruit (often a green aple)for a low GI Carb along with the protein.

Splkst~
Great question…and great input from everyone!!

I agree that those Jack Links beef jerky nuggets are the best! The pepper and teriyaki flavors rule!! If one is avoiding too much sodium, though, this is not the snack for you…

I avoid carbs before bedtime as this would add some unwanted (fat) padding in all the wrong places.

Suggestions:
-Keep lots of hard boiled eggs in the fridge. Eat only the whites at bedtime. Or a fluffy omelette made entirely of egg whites.
-Fat free cottage cheese. Don’t gag, but I top 1/2 cup of this with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar at bedtime…it really hits the spot if I’m craving a sandwich or ice cream or such. Midday, I may add a tablespoon of fruit only preserves.
-Cold, leftover animal flesh cut in strips/cubes/medallions: Chicken breast, grilled lobster, lean steak or pork.
-Sashimi- raw tuna.
-Protein shake made with water and blended with ice only…with cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla extract, extra artifical sweetener added.
-Sometimes: a spoonful of almond butter with a huge glass of iced green tea.

Good Luck!!

Love and Aloha,
Chinadoll :slight_smile:

From the T-Mag article FOODS THAT MAKE YOU LOOK GOOD NEKKID:

"…cottage cheese is a great source of casein, one of the best proteins for bodybuilders.

Casein gets props because of its slow digestion and absorption rates. A snack involving cottage cheese will provide a steady, slow paced release of amino acids into the bloodstream. Cottage cheese is also low in carbs. Combine that with its slow digesting protein and it makes an ideal bedtime snack to help prevent any possible nighttime catabolism (muscle wasting caused by an eight hour fast.)

You’ll want to stick to the fat free kind and avoid the creamed varieties because of their “bad” fat content. Sure, the fat free kind is a little bitter, but if you use it as a base for other foods like we do, then that doesn’t matter much. Besides, if you can bang out high rep squats or inject yourself with steroids, you can certainly eat cottage cheese, ya big wuss!"

Might want to be careful with the yogurt and milk before bed. Some of the more recent Berardi stuff has mentioned the insulin index of these products, which is a measure of the body’s insulin response to food. It’s usually similar to the GI, but in some cases like milk and yogurt, you get a big insulin spike, more like you were eating white bread or potatoes! Which is definately no good before bed, even if the casein is. I like yogurt and kefir for the probiotics but now I’ve confined them to my PPWO meal.

Unfortunately I’ve seen no numbers for the II of cottage cheese, although Berardi continues to make it one of his protein recommendations so maybe it’s better. Maybe being a solid food moderates the insulin release?

At any rate I think cottage cheese goes really well with chopped walnuts. I use the full-fat stuff though- sorry but life is too short to gag on lowfat dairy nastiness, especially in my P+F meals.

Cheese is also great- and no lactose, just protein and fat.

Sometimes if I’m feeling really indulgent I’ll gnaw on a hunk of pepperoni or other hard sausage.

Nick

Cottage cheese and an apple.

bosco, great tip. The peanut butter and protein powder with some cinnamon was delicious. Thanks.

personally i?ve tried mixing cottage cheese with some protein powder and turned out to taste pretty good , but sad to say i wish i had access to some Grow! both Classic and Low-Carb but it aint available here in Sweden.