Late night snacking a problem for you?

sarndorman

Here are some tips to prevent yourself from late night snacking:

• brush your teeth
• do a short workout until you no longer feel hunger
• read a book
• look at photos that motivate you to be a fitter, healthier versio of yourself, and remind yourself that late night snacking is never a good idea
• take a shower
• look back at your log and remember all the calories, sugars, and sodium you have already taken in that day
• drink a glass of water
• if you MUST snack on something: fruit fruit fruit -- bananas and apples especially.

Kim55555

Good topic.

I had a problem with late night snacking. What helped me was to switch my tablet time from first thing in the morning on an empty stomach to taking them at bed time. So I find that is motivation enough for me sticking to just dinner and no after dinner snacking. Yey, it's worked a treat.

Mondoweft

I allocate calories for dessert. I am always going to snack at night, so I make it work.

tbilly20

If late night snacking is your problem, find out why. Cravings are your body's way of telling you something.

Are you worried about something else in your life? Sometimes we get restless when worried. That can lead to eating in order to self-sooth.

Are you eating enough calories for dinner? Dieting is about being at a caloric deficit. You are basically trying to starve yourself. If nights are hardest, switch around your calorie intake at dinner so that you can eat more and feel full.

Is your body craving a certain thing? Our bodies are complex. Yes a calorie in sugar is the same as a calorie in fat, but if you aren't getting enough sugar, or fat , or salt, your body is going to let you know! If you always crave sweets at midnight, try eating a small bowl of frosted cereal before you go to bed. This way you can choose the calories before the craving hits.

abatonfan

Somewhat. I simply allocate 150-300 calories for my bedtime snack. I'm in the middle of losing the "last few pounds" (I want to see how I look 5-10 pounds lighter before I determine where I want to maintain), so I have my calorie goal set to maintenance and leave 0-250 calories leftover as my daily deficit. If I'm not satisfied after my bedtime snack, I might use 100 calories from my deficit for an additional yogurt/pudding/hot chocolate. Some nights are going to be hungrier nights, while other nights are going to be spent with little appetite -I noticed that they balance out, so it's not going to be the end of the world if I have to cut into my deficit a few days a week for that additional snack.

Honestly, snacking isn't the devil. If you're hungry (and have the calories for it), eat. If you're not hungry, don't eat. If you're constantly super hungry around a certain time (and don't have the calories for a snack), then reassess your food choices and meal timing to see if there's places where you can save the calories for that snack.

vivmom2014

Why only bananas and apples?

I save calories for night snacking. Problem solved.

kissedbythesunshine

I have a problem with night time snacking. I have started saving calories specifically for that.

frankiesgirlie

vivmom2014 wrote: »

Why only bananas and apples?

I save calories for night snacking. Problem solved.

THIS^^^^^

Shells918

My problem with nighttime snacking is that I feel like it just lies in my stomach. Even if I have the calories saved from heavy exercise and eat an apple, it seems to derail me. I'm going to make tea my nighttime ritual to fill me up and

arditarose

An apple or banana has as many calories as the chocolate I pre-log in my day.

RetroPolkaDot

When I have enough calories I have a snack at around 8pm any later and I can get heartburn. if I don't have enough calories set aside then I drink tea. I finding more and more that I am not actually hungry at night. For me night time snacking seems to be both a habit and a mindless activity. I am finding other ways to fill the void. Knitting is good because it's hard to nibble on things when you have needles and yarn.

starwhisperer6

night snacking is one of my favorite me times! I save calories and usually have dark chocolate hersey kisses and coffee while I read or what Netflix. Somehow an apple with my coffee sounds like much less fun... and my Netflix without a snack sounds like a total downer.

mkakids

I too save calories for late night snacks....generally 50-75% of my calories are consumed between 5pm and whenever I go to bed. Tonight I plan on having cold stone ice cream around 9am (while watching a movie in bed). I have the calories set aside (usually my night snacks are much more reasonable. ....around 300cals), but I had a very high calorie burn day today (ran a half marathon ), so I'm going to indulge!

PaulaWallaDingDong

Late night snacking isn't a problem at all for me. I thoroughly enjoy it!

Strawblackcat

I usually save my breakfast calories to eat at night. Eating in the morning makes me feel sick, and I tend to get hungrier later at night. Works for me.

robertw486

The only problem I have is often my late nights turn into early mornings. So I don't know if I should log it today or tomorrow. But I often have several hundred calories in hand to eat at 10 PM or so. Sometimes enough that I can have some peanut butter and chocolate, still hit my loss goal, and have zero guilt or concern.

alittlelife14

I like smart pop 100 calorie popcorn, a serving of a half cup of oatmeal with a half cup frozen mixed berries with some sugar free syrup mixed in, or nonfat fage with a fourth of a cup of fiber one cereal mixed in.

Karik928

PaulaWallaDingDong wrote: »

Late night snacking isn't a problem at all for me. I thoroughly enjoy it!

lol^^ love it.

SLLRunner

sarndorman wrote: »

Here are some tips to prevent yourself from late night snacking:

• brush your teeth
• do a short workout until you no longer feel hunger
• read a book
• look at photos that motivate you to be a fitter, healthier versio of yourself, and remind yourself that late night snacking is never a good idea
• take a shower
• look back at your log and remember all the calories, sugars, and sodium you have already taken in that day
• drink a glass of water
• if you MUST snack on something: fruit fruit fruit -- bananas and apples especially.

What is wrong with late night snacking? It's neither good nor bad. Eating at any time is neither good nor bad either, it's all about preference.

If I want a late night snack, I work it into my calorie goals. My only restriction is if I eat 2-3 hours prior to bed, I have problems due to acid reflux, so I either don't eat that late or I stay up later. One or the other, but I'm having my late night snack.

Also, eating fruit at night has no bearing on weight loss.

I strongly disagree with looking at photos of other people to motivate myself because then I am comparing myself to other people. I am not other people, I am me. I don't need to compare myself to others.

kshama2001

I normally save a few hundred calories for a pre-bed snack and don't have any problems with digestion.

Last night, pie and ice cream were weighing heavily in my stomach so I did some household chores I'd planned to put off until today and was fine by the time I actually lay down.

Lounmoun

I prelog and plan a snack or two every day/night. Nothing wrong with snacking.
The time you eat or what you eat does not matter for weight loss. The calories do matter. Work a snack into your calories. It doesn't need to be fruit which could contain as much or more calories than an egg, dish of popcorn, or a sandwich.
If you are often reaching for snacks and have eaten an adequate amount of calories then I would suggest looking at if you are getting enough protein, fats, fiber and water. Maybe changing up the type of food you eat during the day would make a difference.

robs_ready

sarndorman wrote: »

Here are some tips to prevent yourself from late night snacking:

• brush your teeth
• do a short workout until you no longer feel hunger
• read a book
• look at photos that motivate you to be a fitter, healthier versio of yourself, and remind yourself that late night snacking is never a good idea
• take a shower
• look back at your log and remember all the calories, sugars, and sodium you have already taken in that day
• drink a glass of water
• if you MUST snack on something: fruit fruit fruit -- bananas and apples especially.

Good topic, my situation is slightly more complex. I actually wake up Inn the middle of the night starving, to the point where I can't sleep until I eat.

The only thing I wouldn't suggest eating at this time is carbs, Apples yes, I would go easy on bananas. I don't know about anyone else, but I have a container of nuts and seeds. But yeah, great topic (Y)

alittlelife14

Why not carbs?

salembambi

i prelog late night snacks always

kshama2001

roblloyd89 wrote: »

sarndorman wrote: »

Here are some tips to prevent yourself from late night snacking:

• brush your teeth
• do a short workout until you no longer feel hunger
• read a book
• look at photos that motivate you to be a fitter, healthier versio of yourself, and remind yourself that late night snacking is never a good idea
• take a shower
• look back at your log and remember all the calories, sugars, and sodium you have already taken in that day
• drink a glass of water
• if you MUST snack on something: fruit fruit fruit -- bananas and apples especially.

Good topic, my situation is slightly more complex. I actually wake up Inn the middle of the night starving, to the point where I can't sleep until I eat.

Are you under eating during the day? What's your weekly weight loss goal set to?

SideSteel

roblloyd89 wrote: »

sarndorman wrote: »

Here are some tips to prevent yourself from late night snacking:

• brush your teeth
• do a short workout until you no longer feel hunger
• read a book
• look at photos that motivate you to be a fitter, healthier versio of yourself, and remind yourself that late night snacking is never a good idea
• take a shower
• look back at your log and remember all the calories, sugars, and sodium you have already taken in that day
• drink a glass of water
• if you MUST snack on something: fruit fruit fruit -- bananas and apples especially.

Good topic, my situation is slightly more complex. I actually wake up Inn the middle of the night starving, to the point where I can't sleep until I eat.

The only thing I wouldn't suggest eating at this time is carbs, Apples yes, I would go easy on bananas. I don't know about anyone else, but I have a container of nuts and seeds. But yeah, great topic (Y)

Why wouldn't you suggest eating carbs at this time?

melonaulait

If I feel really peckish at night, I'm definitely gonna have something whether I have calories left or not. But if I'm at this point, I try to keep it small like something in the 100-200cal range. Sometimes I add it on to the next day's calories if they don't fit in today's...

I'm pretty good at drinking enough water, and I especially like to drink teas at night time, so if I still feel hungry... I could use some snacks.