Eating Without Being Hungry

Buttrflichiki21

I've played the yo-yo game with my weight my whole life and now that I'm trying to start having a family, I know it is super important to be at a healthy weight. I find myself eating just for the sake of eating at night. I will be full and still feel the need to eat something - usually unhealthy. I've always had issues with overeating but I feel it's at an all time worse for me. Any advice on how to break it? Thanks in advance!

nowine4me

Gum and hot tea are my go-to’s to avoid mindless snacking. I also brush my teeth teeth and go to bed at 9, which has certainly helped my early ,orning workouts.

becomingbeautifultoday

Drink a whole bunch of water. If you’re not hungry, but you’re reaching for food anyway, fill the rest of your tummy with water so you’re not even thinking about food. Or, keep your hands busy. Write, or colour, or do a puzzle, or play games. It’s much harder to stuff your face when your hands are preoccupied. You should only need to keep this up for a few nights before you start the break the habit.

LAWoman72

I love eating at night. Ahhh, relaxation and a nice warm bite (or cold one...ice cream...mmmm....) I make sure I have calories remaining at the end of the day just for this purpose.

Undoubtedly it is psychological, unhealthy, un"mindful" and probably connected to my mother in some way, and you should never, ever use food as a treat or a reward and blah, blah, and it totally works for me so I am good with ALL of that.

Make calorie room to have something fab at night. Every night, if that's what you want. JMO. But dang, life is hard enough. Munching out just to munch out should not be a cardinal sin and if it is within your calorie goals, shouldn't make you gain just because it's happening at night.

apullum

I save calories for an evening snack. It's almost always chocolate. Whatever your snack is, weigh out a portion equivalent to the calories you've saved, enjoy it, and put the rest away. You can also buy individually wrapped portions of things like candy or chips if it's hard to put away the rest of the bag. You might have your snack with a low-calorie drink if you still want something to munch on.

rekite2000

I craft sometimes. (Keeps my hands busy). Trust me- it isn’t anything cool or sellable, but it helps a lot.

I will eat frozen veggies- hand mouth thing. It is cold and crunchy so I do not eat a lot of them. Frozen peas are better than most expect. My kids prefer them that way.

kimny72

Buttrflichiki21 wrote: »

I've played the yo-yo game with my weight my whole life and now that I'm trying to start having a family, I know it is super important to be at a healthy weight. I find myself eating just for the sake of eating at night. I will be full and still feel the need to eat something - usually unhealthy. I've always had issues with overeating but I feel it's at an all time worse for me. Any advice on how to break it? Thanks in advance!

Log it before you eat it. Look at what it will do to your numbers, and then make a conscious decision to eat it or not.

I try to save 100-200 calories for a night time snack. When that doesn't work, I'll have a 40 cal Dove dark chocolate Promise with a cup of mint tea. Or in the summer a Coke Zero.

blambo61

Might try getting your calories in later in the day and start eating at lunch or later. Then you can eat at night and possibly not eat too many calories.

PokeyBug

I like to munch on raw veggies at night. That way, even if I am only eating for the sake of eating, the calories are negligible.

kommodevaran

The need to eat when you're not hungry, is a psychological need, not a physiological need. But it feels just as intense, or maybe even stronger, and they are connected.
It may be that you're undereating - too few calories, or too little of one or more nutrients, or both.
It may be that you're eating enough calories and enough to fill your stomach, but not enough of all the nutrition you need.
It may be that you're eating perfectly healthy, but feel that you're missing out on some flavor, or feel resentment of having to restrict your intake.
It may be that you're demonizing foods you like, and thus want it more, and when you feel that you shouldn't eat it at all, which is almost impossible (because you like it and have access), you feel like you've violated your rules, and then to hell with all the rules.
It may be that you've established a habit of eating certain things at certain times, linked eating with certain other activities, like reading or watching TV.
It may be that you're bored or lonely, upset or sad, and eat to ease emotions.
You have to figure out what is going on and then figure out how to handle that.

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I'm a night time eater, I don't hide from it.

I just don't eat until 1-2pm so that I can have all my calories later in the day.

cbelc2

I eat dinner then clean up the kitchen. If I want something after dinner other than water or green tea I have to re-set the table and eat it there with knife and fork with no electronics, no TV. Then I have to clean up the kitchen again. Popcorn lost its appeal really fast.

crazykatlady820

I get at least half my calories in the evening and try to save some up for that time too. I also remind myself that I can eat at maintenance for the day if I just can't shake that feeling, and sometimes I do just that.

cheryldumais

I too save some calories for evening but one thing I have noticed is that if I am snacking alot it usually means I'm not getting enough protein in my meals so I will try the next day to increase protein and fat and reduce the carbs a bit.

SteamPug

I like to drink peppermint tea in the evenings in place of snacking. It’s a nice warm treat that’s kinder on my teeth than sugary/acidic drinks and snacks

LivingtheLeanDream

Save calories so you can still enjoy eating at night time.

Alot of the time my night time eating happened because I was bored so keeping busy helps - I got into sketching and painting and now I hardly think of snacking. I also sip a lot of water/tea.

Watching TV especially foodie programmes makes me want to snack too so I only watch them early evening, shortly after dinner so I wont feel tempted to eat.

Ask yourself is it true hunger, usually its just a notion/habit of wanting to eat.

ninerbuff

blambo61 wrote: »

Might try getting your calories in later in the day and start eating at lunch or later. Then you can eat at night and possibly not eat too many calories.

This. It's why I don't eat breakfast in the morning...........................because I'm still fine from the night before.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Need2Exerc1se

I like to eat at night so that's when I consume most of my calories. That might help you if the only time you have this problem is at night.

toxikon

Here are some strategies that work for me:

- Don't keep "snacky" food in the house (the most "snacky" items in my kitchen are carrots, celery, cheese)
- Brush, floss and mouthwash after dinner
- Sip on hot tea (I love the flavored teas from David's Tea!)
- Save some extra calories for the evening by skipping breakfast

chestinator

I always have my coffee and cake (or sweet treat) at some stage in the day and this keeps me on the straight and narrow. Also as someone above said, plan your meals in advance if possible, modify/balance it out on MFP and stick to it. If you have a sweet/savory tooth then anything else just wont cut it. Build it into your macros and rest easy

Mr_Healthy_Habits

Quick and dirty:

- Just go to bed and get some extra sleep
- A jolly rancher or two

Realistically:

You have to make peace with just being you, comfortable in your own skin, and okay with doing nothing, you don't need to fill yourself with anything because you are already whole, learn to embrace that empty part of you as a natural part of you and just be with it until you have accepted it as part of you

hesn92

I brush my teeth, floss and use mouthwash earlier in the evening. Im not going to eat anything once my teeth are nice and clean

theowlbox

I agree with everyone, but might add this: save some calories and ritualized your pm snacks. Eat dinner. Clean up. Do whatever chores. Then reward yourself with a cup of something warm like tea or hot cocoa and a small snack. The idea being, you finish your dinner, linger over a a cup of tea or water, Clean, etc. So from dinner you have waited about an hour. Then snack then to bed within an hour or two. If you're up late, it makes sense that it's time for 4th meal. Perhaps try embracing the end of evening snack, and also saving calories by using timing to support your goals. Once you get it under control, you can tweak and figure it out, but it helps to feel like it's under control when you try to change a habit. Good luck to you!!

AnnPT77

It's gonna sound crazy, but consider joining in on this challenge:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10521320/10-a-day-800g-veggie-fruit-challenge-participants-check-in

If you read the full thread, you'll see how it made (some) round one participants over-satiated before they even hit their deficit calorie goal. Worth a try, and kinda fun!

JeromeBarry1

It is not the case the we crave missing nutrients, else we'd crave vegetables.

There may be something learned about parrots and people eating certain muds, but that's not your problem and I needn't speculate on them.

The habitual eating is psychological, learned, and habitual. It's not except in extremely rare cases physiological and if it is physiological you've been diagnosed long before now.

I have the same problem, OP. Some days I do great staying in my budget, some days I don't. I have detected a common thread. In my case, and it is my case, not necessarily yours, an early day excess of carbs and deficit of protein sends me ravening for more carbs. That's still not physiological. It's a learned behavior from my careless years of muy gordo obesity.

Try to pay attention to your days and your macros. Do you detect a common thread in your 'bad' days?


And to add, perhaps having a 50-calorie peppermint candy cane to slowly suck on can tame my ravening beast. It worked once recently.

kenyonhaff

* Hot beverages
* Sugar free gum
* Go for a 10 minute walk... it's amazing how 10 minutes can re-set your mind.
* Do one chore in the house
* Sugar free jello cups (like 15 calories a cup)
* Flavored water
* Text something friendly or nice to a friend/family member/co-worker
* Do a 5 or 10 minute strength workout
* Pay attention to your dog/cat/rabbit/chinchilla/bird
* Do a Suduko