Late night cravings

leahn0102

Help!! I do so good all day long, but close to bedtime those sweet cravings start. And before you say have just a little, I'm not disciplined enough. I have a little, then a little more and so on. On top of that it's past my 'no food after xx time'. What can I do to help cope with the cravings?

punkrockgoth

1. Are you eating enough during the day?
2. Food after xx time will not make you gain weight. Eating more calories than you expend makes you gain weight, timing is irrelevant.
3. Are there any alternatives you can enjoy? For example, I found that leaving enough room in my calorie budget for a sweet treat has been helpful. I like a dessert flavoured Greek yogurt or some frozen cherries.
4. How long is it between your last meal and bedtime. I find if I eat supper at 5 and expect to go to bed at 10, then I get hungry around 7 or 8. If I eat my afternoon snack later in the afternoon and push my supper back to around 6, then I don't get ravenous before bed.
5. If you're adjusting to a calorie deficit, hunger will be worse for a little while. It usually calms down in a few days, assuming you're eating fairly healthfully.

I'm sure others will chime in with what's worked for them. It's really trial and error to see what works best for you.

lissadecker

Personally, I resigned myself to the fact that I am going to want to eat something in the evenings and I save up some calories for it. I try to mostly eat good things. I have some yogurt, a chocolate protein shake or some protein fluff if I am craving sweet. If it is salty that I am after then I go with trail mix or nuts, often with a little chocolate. I just make sure that I stay within my calorie goals for the day.

If you really want to try to go without, then what works for me on days when I have no extra calories left is to do an activity. TV and reading tend to lead me to mindless munching. So instead I started playing video games, coloring, drawing, painting, doing puzzles...anything that keeps my brain busy so I'm not thinking about food and keeps my hands busy so it's not easy to snack. If you can find an activity that is relaxing and that you can "lose" yourself in for a while then you might find that you don't even think about snacking.