Sleep Eating

[AmandaMichele]

Alright, I have read the blog and browsed the book and I have a question for the experts. I sleep eat. I have since I was a teenager. I do not deprive myself, I do not eat junk, and I do not ever remember eating until I wake up and see the evidence. It is a little scary to know I do things I am not concsious of, but it is more troublesome that I wake up full and tired and ususally not feeling well. Recently, I woke up with muffin wrappers on my bedside. I do not buy muffins, so I looked around to see where they even came from. They were left over from when I had comapny many months prior, and had since molded. I ate moldy white flour! You can imagine how wonderful I felt for the next few days. My doctor wanted to do a series of brain scans and a sleep study but first I am here asking for help.

Does anyone have any idea on what causes this, or what can prevent it?

[chumley]

I have heard of this before, so you're definitely not alone (if I recall correctly it is related to night terrors). There was an episode of This American Life that featured a man that would do insane things while asleep, for instance he jumped through a hotel window. He talks about having to tie himself up in a sleeping bag at night. Sorry I can't pin down which episode it was for you, but poking around Google should give yous some clues.

Apart from the medical attention you're seeking, I would suggest trying to lock things up so your sleep-self might get thwarted or storing cheat-day only food not at your home if your living situation allows this (i.e. I have a husband and kids so I'm always around non-diet food), along with getting rid of anything past due (I'm guilty of this too, but having eaten moldy muffins will probably be a good motivator).