Late night cravings are a killer :-(

katief2142

Late night cravings is one of my biggest diet killers! It's day 16 on my weight loss story, and most days have gone decent. Today was amazing actually, I ate healthy and my wife and I exercised extra. I was feeling great all day, but then night comes and my vodka and salty snack craving sneaks up on me :-(
I know it takes 21 to 30 days to change eatting habits, but I can't wait for the day I don't crave bad food or liquor anymore!

TavistockToad

Save some calories for your evening snack/alcohol

katief2142

I do. I've been under my calorie goal every day except one. And that day I only went over by 25 calories. But I still want to not have the cravings

kommodevaran

You're supposed to hit your calorie target, not go under. Eating too little is a guarantee to get intolerable cravings. Eating poorly, or feeling deprived, is also setting yourself up for intolerable cravings. But even with the best and most delicious diet, you will always have cravings. Learn to accept them and act responsibly on them.

Sticking to something for an arbitrary number of days doesn't make it a habit. A behavior has to feel reasonable, and ideally replace another, more difficult habit, in order to become a habit. Cravings don't go away, they become stronger when you feel restricted. You have to limit your food intake to lose weight. But you can't cut too much. If you don't find the balance soon, you can end up with rebound overeating (or drinking).

88olds

Is there anything else that has appeal as a snack? I studied treats/snacks pretty thoroughly when I started and ended up eating some sort of low fat/sugar/carb ice cream almost every evening. All measured and counted. It was worth forgoing other stuff and I could eat it under control.

Tired from the gym, hungry from eating below target, a drink? Nuts, pretzels, chips? I’d be in trouble.

And if you’re trying to break a habit, it helps to try to fill the void. Hard to fight something with nothing.

amgreenwell

Try to put your snacks and alcohol into your calorie count. If not, drink a GIANT glass of water when the cravings hit and keep drinking it until it goes away. You'll change as your cravings change. We only crave what we eat. Weird, but true.

helene4

I'd probably cut out the alcohol and have more snacks at the end of the night lol
But that's me, alcohol makes me want to indulge more

I noticed over time many of my cravings went away, especially after I cut refined sugar, high glycemic carbs and dairy out of my life. I had some set backs of course, but eventually got into the groove of things. Without my blood sugar flying around I feel so much better and the cravings disappeared for the most part

Good luck!

KateBoss7521

Try keeping the tempting food/liquor out of your house for a few weeks. That’s what I had to do and it really helped. If you know there’s a big bag of chips sitting in the cupboard, it’s much harder to resist the temptation. Don’t totally deprive yourself though either, because it makes it harder to avoid going ham when you get your hands on those foods. I just buy a single serve bag of chips and work it into my food plan. Then you can indulge without any guilt

ZodFit

Serving of peanut butter helps me at night. Save a snack for the evening and some water

katief2142

Thanks everyone!

opalastrophel

I started paying more attention to fiber and vitamins/minerals and I find I snack more when I'm deficient in something.

I also like to meal plan a day or two in advance - if I can't fit something into my day, I just schedule it for later. It's nice to always have a banana muffin or a hot cocoa or something to look forward to.

Last resort, my diary (it's open) has a float meal; if I eat three more cookies than I can afford for example, rather than going over and feeling like I failed the day, I just log one or two over a few subsequent days and eat around it.