need advice

mommawannalose30

hello, what do you do at the end of the day when you've finished dinner, counted all your calories and you just have the urge to eat something... it could be good or bad but it will make you go over your limit of calories.. any tips or advice on how to handle that?

DeguelloTex

Don't do it.

WBB55

eat an apple. go over your limit today. but look at what you could have done differently today to either (1) eat foods that left you fuller longer or (2) save 100-200 calories for an evening snack, and then adjust how you eat tomorrow so you don't go overbudget on calories.

ManiacalLaugh

I look for something extremely low on calories - so if it's going to push me over, it does as little damage as possible. Examples include: some green beans (40 calories), a packet of miso soup (30 calories), or, if you need something sweet, a frozen fruit bar (50 calories), or fudge bar (60 calories).

Dariasen

It depends on how much over my limit. If it's <200 I just subtract it from the next day's amount. If it an insane amount I have to decide if the food craving is more important than my goals.

EvanKeel

In that situation, I think that instead of spending the time snacking on calories that would put me over my goal, I would see if there are changes I could make in my food selection or meal timing that might ease hunger issues in the evening.

Alternatively, plain fresh (or frozen) strawberries are amazingly low calorie.

mommyrunning

Distract yourself for a bit to see if you are actually hungry. You can try drinking water, going for a walk, watching TV, etc. If you are still hungry after about 30 minutes then you may need the calories. Sometimes we miscalculate what we ate through out the day or burned more than expected and our bodies need a little more. Start with a small snack though that isn't too high calorie. Sometimes if I am close to going to bed I will just go to sleep if I am not starving. If you do eat you can exercise a bit to make up for it or try to come in slightly under calories the next day.

SconnieCat

Dariasen wrote: »

It depends on how much over my limit. If it's <200 I just subtract it from the next day's amount. If it an insane amount I have to decide if the food craving is more important than my goals.

Yeah this is pretty much what I do.

And if I end up nomming on something, I try not to feel too guilty. I log it and move on. It's just one day in a series of many, many more.

lynn1982

Depends - if by "urge" you mean hunger, then I eat something healthy and/or low cal. If by "urge" you mean boredom, then I have a cup of herbal tea.

SueInAz

I usually like to eat something at night between dinner and bedtime so I plan for it. I leave myself 150 calories or so for my nighttime snack.

If you haven't planned for those calories you have a few options, some of which have already been outlined above:

1. If you are actually hungry you could eat something and either write it off (it shouldn't put you over maintenance calories so it wouldn't actually cause you to gain weight, just to lose a little less for that one day) or subtract those calories from tomorrow. Of course, you'll probably just perpetuate the problem if you have less to eat tomorrow as a result.
2. If you aren't actually hungry ask yourself why you want to eat. Are you bored? Doing something (watching TV) which habitually you would eat while doing before you decided to lose weight? Can you talk yourself out of the urge?
3. You could find something to do which would make it impossible to eat. A craft which requires clean hands, playing a game on your phone, cleaning, a short bout of calisthenics, etc.
4. Some people find that a large glass of water and brushing their teeth helps to reduce or eliminate the urge to snack at night.
5. Go to bed early.

mommawannalose30

These are all great and thanks everyone, I'll start by distracting myself and waiting and deciding if I am really hungry or just bored.

tulips_and_tea

mommawannalose30 wrote: »

These are all great and thanks everyone, I'll start by distracting myself and waiting and deciding if I am really hungry or just bored.

Good! Because 9 times out of 10 it is due to habit and not hunger at all.

davidmanfred

I will brush my teeth and floss. It sets my mind to a bed time routine and makes my taste buds stated.

Kalikel

When it did happen, I just sucked it up, let myself be hungry and waited for it to pass. Hunger comes in waves. People have all kinds of ideas on what you can do to make the hunger pass in 20-30 minutes, but the truth is that it is going to pass no matter what you do or don't do.

Now, I eat so that I'm not really hungry at night. But, it's okay to be hungry sometimes when you're losing weight.

If you feel weak, tired or dizzy, you need to eat more. If you're just hungry, don't fret. It'll pass.

benjaminhk

I drink a lot of water or a little bit of tea.

iLoveMyPitbull1225

I try to just go to bed hungry if its late, but if I MUST, sugar free jello pudding cups or a low fat string cheese are good low cal options.

MlleKelly

I make myself some green tea or drink a lot of water. A lot of times, dehydration will make you feel like you're hungry.

shank35l

mommawannalose30 wrote: »

hello, what do you do at the end of the day when you've finished dinner, counted all your calories and you just have the urge to eat something... it could be good or bad but it will make you go over your limit of calories.. any tips or advice on how to handle that?

Flutter kicks

TeaBea

WBB55 wrote: »

eat an apple. go over your limit today. but look at what you could have done differently today to either (1) eat foods that left you fuller longer or (2) save 100-200 calories for an evening snack, and then adjust how you eat tomorrow so you don't go overbudget on calories.

This^

A.) Eat something nominal. Chalk it up to experience. Plan better tomorrow.

B.) Go for a walk - earn 100 more calories. Then log the exercise and your snack.

namelesshere

Go take a walk. By the time you come back, you probably are not hungry anymore. If you are, you have earned the extra calories for your snack.