How to stop eating after dinner!

Health_Lady

Hi! How do you stop eating after dinner. Is there a signal you have for your body to know feeding time is over. I generally eat dinner before going off to my nanny job in the evenings but when I am out at another person's house the food just tempts me. Is there a way for me to not eat while nannying. I like to give my body a rest between dinner and breakfast- roughly 15-16 hours of no food. I find that I feel better and actually sleep better at night.

How can I realistically stop eating and drinking after dinner?

Thanks!

elainemorris1982

I drink cups of hot water if I start to get hunger pangs. Helps me

magerum

Just plan for it. I like to eat in the evening so I allocate 50% of my calories for after dinner.

BeachIron

I like drinking beer in bed over a plate of loaded nachos, but if you're trying to quit I'd say either plan for a later dinner or just stop eating.

Health_Lady

Great tip about the hot water, thank you! Tea could be a good idea too

jenjen828

This may sound silly, but here is my go to list.

1. Brush teeth when you are done eating. This kind of signals me that mealtime is over.
2. If I still want to munch I have done sugarless gum.
3. Plenty of water--drink instead of eat.
4. Find something else to do. My go to when I am preoccupied with food at night is reading or a real good movie.
5. Drink some hot tea. Sometimes that will settle me down if it is just nervous or boredom eating.
6. Bring a healthy snack. That way if you just have to have something, you can grab your healthy snack.

Hope this helps.

brewtul

My suggestion is to have a lot of healthy snacks ready to go. That means cut up celery and baby carrots and such. If you have dirty celery in a vegetable draw you will never eat it. Put it on the top shelf of the fridge at eye level so it's the first thing you see when you open the door. Put the cheese and snacks in the vegetable crisper (the place where food goes to die) so they won't visually tempt you. Basically you can't eat too much fresh fruit and vegetables so have some favorites ready to go at all times.

Moonbeem11

I can't so I don't. I get hungry about every 3 hours and I can't sleep when I'm hungry. I actually sleep better if I eat - take last night, I was trying to sleep until about 2am. Couldnt, got up had some yogurt with a banana, and soon after I went to bed. When I'm eating withing my range I lose weight no matter when I eat it as long as the totals add up right.

generallyme2

I drink herbal mint tea and try to keep busy- do yoga, write, read a book, paint nails. I also go to bed a bit earlier so I don't have to deal with the 'nighttime munchies' lol.

BUT the best thing I found for me is to push the 'Complete This Entry' button on my food log. Seriously, once that's done it's a mental cue to me that the kitchen and my belly is closed! It's working so far

JRSchumaker

*Why* are you eating after dinner?

If you're generally hungry, you should eat something. A healthy snack is fine whenever you need it. If you're eating because you're bored, you need to find something else to do. It's perfectly fine to look at food and tell yourself that you're not hungry and you don't need to eat anything else, and then walk away from it.

FixIngMe13

I agree with the people that say to allow your calories for it. I can't go to bed hungry. I go to bed really late sometimes since I'm a midnight shifter... so on my nights off I tend to stay up much later than your normal shifters. My dinner will be about 6pm... so by midnight I'm hungry! I'd usually hit the bed about 2am then, so I make sure I allow extra calories for that time I know I'm gonna be eating. OR.... sometimes I go to bed even later and just add that food to my next days entry at breakfast since I won't be getting up til after 10am anyhow. Just saying... keep track and it will all work out for you. :flowerforyou:

andresconejo

When im done with my day i usually drink a cup of tea or eat a cup of homemade air poppwd popcorn or also go for a "free calorie" snack like sugar free gelatin

jennifershoo

Brush your teeth.

appygirl84

I brush my teeth. I normally don't like the way anything, but water, tastes after using tooth paste.

pattyci

Good suggestions. I struggle with this problem a lot, so I really appreciate your ideas!

Francl27

Honestly I have a lot of calories left for dinner every day pretty much. So I let myself have a treat if I want one. But then I stop (still with calories left most of the time too).

toutmonpossible

Could you stop eating dinner beforehand and eat at the nanny job?

In addition to the other suggestions, I found that Intermittent Fasting helped. I was on a plan in which I had an eating window every day and I simply did not eat outside of it. Somehow making the commitment helped. You could decide that you would not eat after dinner and would not resume eating again until breakfast or whenever you decided to eat your first meal the next day.

ldrosophila

Seems like your going too long between meals. Why not bring a lunch with you when you are nannying and half way in the shift eat something? Make a mental note that your client's kitchen is off limit and only eat what you bring.

Just_Scott

bump

avskk

Shift your eating schedule -- allow yourself to eat later at night, but push your first meal of the day back proportionally.

lithezebra

I brush my teeth, floss, use a fluoride rinse (which tells you not to eat or drink for at least 30 minutes. I don't want to do the oral hygiene drill all over again.

kburns0709

I usually chew gum, you could try that, especially a minty kind will make you not want to eat anything

heartworth9

I have that issue and have had it for years now. It often is more emotional, a stress response. Tempting to raid someone else's fridge for sure. What is helping me are the following:

1. Drinking enough water throughout the day. It fills me up and sometimes I think I am hungry when my body is craving water.
2. If you eat often enough and add plenty of fruits and vegies, then physically you should feel full after dinner. If you did not eat often enough, your blood sugar will drop. You are working at night which requires energy, so what you do all day long will tell you if you are balanced or not food wise.
3. Yoga is a nice way to experience your body on a deeper level. After a day of exercise, that is all I have energy for at night. It is great for your body and mind, keeps you calm.
4. Notice that hunger can change from day to day. If it is every night something is missing in your regime or it is "emotional eating"

melindasuefritz

eat a bigger dinner--- with large portions of veggies and ice w ater

inthedistrict

Great suggestions, I struggle with nighttime snacking. For the most part it is a habit, not actual hunger because you continue even after feeling full. It takes 21 days to break a habit and myfitnesspal and all of you are helping me to break this one:drinker:

andreals84

So true - nighttime is a struggle. Especially bc I really enjoy 1 or 2 glasses of wine each night so I don't want to brush my teeth and then have wine. Gum also tastes bad w/ wine. I think mine is a habit of eating what I haven't allowed myself to eat during the day while watching tv and "relaxing". If I can resist the temptation and not eat anyting after dinner, I do ok - but once I've had something, I struggle to not binge.

allana1111

I drink herbal mint tea and try to keep busy- do yoga, write, read a book, paint nails. I also go to bed a bit earlier so I don't have to deal with the 'nighttime munchies' lol.

BUT the best thing I found for me is to push the 'Complete This Entry' button on my food log. Seriously, once that's done it's a mental cue to me that the kitchen and my belly is closed! It's working so far

^^^ all of these things help me too

flame_retardant

Workout in the evening if you can. About 2hrs after dinner. That way, once you get back from the workout you will be too exhausted to eat.

For me, Dinner is at around 7pm. After that, I don't eat because I know I will want to go the gym, but I go at around 11pm. So in the middle, if I am craving something sweet, I will have a delicious orange.