Eating, eating & more eating!

Marthy101

In the past, I've had great willpower/ motivation/ determination / Sense about eating healthy. I once restricted myself to 1,000 calories a day successfully!!! Not that that is a good idea. Now I'm over a couple hundred(?) Every Day- even with 'credit' for exercise! A few months ago I could stay on track- even with ignoring the extra calories MFP said I could have for working out!
I've gained at least a couple of lbs back, and my once semi- flat stomach is puffy! Ugh.
Oh- my problem, mostly, is eating too much at night!! I've been allowing myself 1 smallish dessert at night, but lately it's not enough!! I think I NEED something sweet before bed! I even get up out of bed in the night to snack!!! Even that used to 'work', because I kept it small (sweet rice cakes, cocoa almonds, etc). Now the 'just 1 more bite' urge is irresistible! 1, of course, leading to several.!
I know I'm not hungry at the time, that I've already had way too much, and that I'm undoing my hard work, and I still don't care!!
I know I should just go back to sleep, stop at 1 rice cake, have tea or veggies, but I feel like I Can't!!! Too lazy to do any kind of prep or waiting- like heating the water, waiting for tea to steep. Heating up my roasted veggies sounds gross. Bleh- sweets NOW! I've even stopped buying semi- healthy faves like chocolate peanut butter and cocoa roast almonds, as I can never just have 1 sensible serving!!!! Cereal, etc substitutes.
I know a lot of people "need" to snack late, but probably not this bad!!!
Anyone successfully dealt with this???

Cortneyrenee04

I do the same thing. I'm hungry at night, so I try to save calories for all that or do extra exercise the next day.

You might be legitimately hungry if you're on about 1200 calories and exercising. If you want to stop snacking, have some extra dinner or something. Stay hydrated too. I stopped snacking at night for a while, but I missed it too much. We just have to stay in control of that's how we want to eat

ThatBassoonChick

My trick is to brush my teeth. Once I do that, I know I'm done eating for the day. I often do this about an hour before I want to go to bed which stops the need for a late night snack. First off, 1,000 calories doesn't sound like much! If you're exercising too, you need to take in more. We burn more calories in a day than we think. When I log my exercise, I'm not logging every single move I make. I know I'm fairly active around the house but I choose to not log every movement so that when I do go over, I can say, well you did a lot of housework today so it's alright.

If you're having trouble with the "one last bite" thing, put whatever you're snacking on in a bowl and put the package away, eat only what's in the bowl. Not having the bag of whatever you're eating (for me it's often chips) by you stops you from eating more. And as @Cortneyrenee04 said, stay hydrated! It helps so much to keep me on track. The days that i go over in calories are often the days that I'm not drinking enough water. (also if water is too bland for you, I recommend getting something like Crystal Light or Mio that flavors the water without adding many calories or sugar)

Marthy101

Thanks, ladies! I'm tryyyying for a 1400 calorie goal + exercise almost every day. I've been good about exercise, at least.
I started off the day already 550 calories 'behind'! I had a bunch of sweet cereal at midnight last night. I'd already maxed out Sunday calories, so I counted it on today's!!!

Ninkyou

Pre-log your food and stick to it.

Try weighing out your food beforehand instead of serving yourself at the table and getting another spoonful from the serving bowl. Things like that.

Lizzy622

What changed? It sounds like you have some outside stress you need to address. If you aren't dealing with any changes like work, moving, someone ill then you may need to look at your own physical well being. When my thyroid medication is off I tend to get tired and eat more. It may also be as simple as hormone changes as we age.

Marthy101

Good points! Ugh- I suspect the hormone theory may be correct! No fair! It's hard enough as it is! Thx

AddieOverhaul

I try to save at least 200 calories for after dinner. Then if I feel the need to have snack I can, and if not then I just have extra deficit!

KingsGirl4

If you can open your diary that would be helpful. How is your dinner look? Make sure you have a good combination of fat, fiber, and protein. That will make you full and satisfied. Also get rid of all the treats. Get them out of the house so it is physically not possible to eat them. 1 or 2 nights of depriving yourself the treats will break that habit.

panda4153

Hi I have the same thing, I love to eat sweets at night, and feel a "need" for them not just a want. One thing that helps me is a glass of chocolate milk. I go with 2% the fat and protein in it helps me feel satiated and the chocolate kills my sweet tooth. I have started to set aside calories for this and I drink it before bed. It seems to do the trick for me.

fitlife80

panda4153 wrote: »

Hi I have the same thing, I love to eat sweets at night, and feel a "need" for them not just a want. One thing that helps me is a glass of chocolate milk. I go with 2% the fat and protein in it helps me feel satiated and the chocolate kills my sweet tooth. I have started to set aside calories for this and I drink it before bed. It seems to do the trick for me.

This is so helpful! I am definitely going to do this... Thanks!

Marthy101

Mmmmm... Chocolate milk! Haven't had that in forever. Hmmm... I often crave crunchy-ness as well as sweet, though. The cocoa roast almonds were ideal. I'd weigh out a reasonable portion- yum. It became too easy to keep tossing back more and more handfuls...I had to quit buying them!