I seriously need help with my night eating problem
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Nancela
Posts: 78 Member
I have tried everything to stop my night eating habit. My husband and I eat dinner and watch shows together. As soon as he leaves to watch his own shows and I watch mine, I have a ridiculous urge to eat something. I just can't stop myself. Any helpful ideas?
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Replies
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Stop yourself. Just tonight. For this one day, no food after dinner. No food in front of the TV.
The second rule is actually a great one to practice regularly. Just sit down with your food and water, no TV, no phone, nothing to read, no conversation. Focus on the tastes and textures of your food. Put your fork down between bites. This is the polar opposite of eating in front of the TV and will help you build the will power to avoid mindless eating.
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Assuming you have already eaten your daily calories, then it's just a behavioral habit.
Those pathways get laid down in your brain and you just feel like that is what you have to do.
I had to change up all of my routines, and one of them is not eating after dinner. I eat about 4 hours before bedtime, and that is my last food for the day. Yeah, I had to break that same habit. Push your dinner back a little later OR leave a couple hundred calories for that snack. Alternately you could change what you snack on. Pick carrots and cucumbers with hummus instead of cookies and chips.
You can stop, but it is difficult to break a long-ingrained habit.
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Different point of view: I love my after-dinner snack/dessert. I plan for one every night. To do this, I plan my meals so I have enough calories for my dessert. I usually have about 200-300 calories left to have ice cream, or candy. I weigh it out, log it, and enjoy the heck out of it.12
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Is your night eating taking you over your calorie allowance for the day?
@cmriverside makes some good points, you could also try something that distracts you from eating whilst watching tv, I often do my ironing or exercise whilst watching tv. A lot of people recommend knitting too.1 -
I have tried everything to stop my night eating habit. My husband and I eat dinner and watch shows together. As soon as he leaves to watch his own shows and I watch mine, I have a ridiculous urge to eat something. I just can't stop myself. Any helpful ideas?
I save calories for a night time snack. It's usually something with a good deal of volume, so it's a decent portion size. Low fat popcorn is great. I pop it in a microwave bowl with just a bit of oil.....so the toppings stick.
Re: eating in front of the TV - Don't. I get a big glass of ice water, throw in a citrus wedge (if I want fancy) and then find something to do with my hands. Just a little bit of distraction like an adult coloring book, solitaire, or crochet will keep your mind off food.2 -
Evening snacking is an ingrained habit for you. Make it work.3
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I think you're responding emotionally here.
My guess would be your husband leaving to watch his own shows prompts you to feel lonely, or abandoned, or have a loss of connection or something. Putting food in your stomach to ease that empty feeling is how you try to stifle that feeling.
My suggestions?
* Suggest at least once a week to not retreat to separate rooms to watch TV. Do something else together. I'd suggest not with a screen.
* That seems like a lot of TV/movie/etc. viewing time. Do you really know how much time? Could you spend some of that time doing something more active, productive, or differently? A lot of passive TV viewing tends to be linked with behaviors that support obesity.
* Nothing exactly wrong with eating in front of the TV - as long as it fits in with your CICO plan. But of course munching emotionally gets hard to control.4 -
Thanks for the suggestions. I think that my husband leaving either brings on a lonely feeling OR I just don't want to eat in front of him. Not sure. I think I will try leaving the kitchen clean-up until he leaves. Maybe that will break the tendency to eat. I also will make sure to leave calories for a night snack just in case. The problem is, something shuts off in my brain at a certain time and I just eat anyway. Thanks everyone. I will try everything you have mentioned. I am also definitely open to more suggestions.3
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Fix yourself some nice flavored non caffeine tea! I like ginger!2
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Micowave popcorn and make calorie allowance for it!1
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Thinking about the abandonment issue I don't think that is true. I actually look forward to him leaving so I can watch my own shoes and have my little party. That is bad. We PVR everything so I just ff the commercials. Yikes! I really do have a problem.0
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Thanks for the suggestions. I think that my husband leaving either brings on a lonely feeling OR I just don't want to eat in front of him. Not sure. I think I will try leaving the kitchen clean-up until he leaves. Maybe that will break the tendency to eat. I also will make sure to leave calories for a night snack just in case. The problem is, something shuts off in my brain at a certain time and I just eat anyway. Thanks everyone. I will try everything you have mentioned. I am also definitely open to more suggestions.
I found this to be true for me, too.
Someone who is a teacher on here mentioned that insulin production peaks around 10PM. I don't know if that's true, but I know I have to go to bed by 9PM if I want to avoid night-eating. I don't like to go to bed within three hours of eating because it seems I wake back up a couple hours later. So I have my last food a minimum of three hours before bed. If I plan to go to bed around the same time every night, I know when I have to eat.
I plan my meals so I have all the food I need. Any emotions don't get fed.
If hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the solution. Or so I try to remember.
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I have tried everything to stop my night eating habit. My husband and I eat dinner and watch shows together. As soon as he leaves to watch his own shows and I watch mine, I have a ridiculous urge to eat something. I just can't stop myself. Any helpful ideas?
Hi, I posted here. I have the same problem. Perhaps we can support each other because unless someone has this, they do not understand it. I get a lot of advice but most of it I have already tried. Message me if you want to fight this together!
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Is there room for any exercise equipment in front of the TV?0
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What helps me is cleaning my teeth immediately after my last meal/snack for the night. I brush and use mouthwash twice a day, then floss once at night and I refuse to do it twice in a row lol
Do you think it would help you (along with the other tips) to clean your teeth just before your shows start?8 -
I actually plan a lite snack after the evening meal, that way I don’t feel deprived or like I’m cheating.2
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Go to bed earlier. I try and not eat anything past 8:30. This is just what I do. Not everyone has to follow it. If I stay up too late, I start thinking about food and what I can eat. I have low calorie snacks and I prelog them ahead of time for night time. Then I close out my food diary for the day. This way I know I am done eating for the day. Sometimes I just tell myself. You get to eat again tomorrow. It isn't like you will never get to eat again.
I am/was notorious for "bad" nighttime eating habits including eating in bed which was a serious issue for me. Too me this sounds like more of a habit you got used to doing. You can break the cycle. Maybe eat low calorie snacks. Try doing something with your hands like a craft or maybe when you get the feeling to eat go for a walk. I do that between meals and after dinner. If you still want something when you come back, then have it. The walk gives you a break to think about what you are doing first.3 -
This is a great question!! So many people struggle with this after supper snacking until late. And watching TV while snacking? What could be better, right?
There are a few things to consider. Do you normally have a stressful day? This could be as simple as chronic lateness to work or getting the kids to school in the morning. Time crunches work more stress than people realize. Emotional stress of being alone can trigger it, but I was told by a doctor that binge eating at night after a stress is over with is a chemical response in your reward systems of the brain. As soon as your husband leaves, all stress of being perfect or whatever it is is gone and now it's time for those reward centers to receive their just desserts. I don't think it is because you are trying to do it behind his back. It's just that you can finally relax when he is gone. Another thing to consider is how much protein and fiber you have in a day. This can go a long way to satiate you.
I have a few secrets I pull out when I start binging at night.
1) Plan for it in calories by skipping breakfast
2) Getting a B complex stress vitamin
3) Mitigate the binge with a sweet drink like hot tea with milk and honey/sugar .It will ultimately cost less calories than food but you will still get your sweet reward that your brain wants.
4) start doing the resistant starch diet. You can eat any diet that you are on but add unmodified potato starch to (Cold water ONLY) water and drink it throughout the day. Up to 3 tablespoons. Don't drink more than one teaspoon at a time. (Some people can have more, but I got a bit of a dull headache when I tried to push too much at once) This brings up your serotonin and does something with your gut bacteria in your large intestine that balances out your sugars and stabilizes your mood and reward centers. After 3 days of this you can't imagine how good you will feel. In 2 weeks you'll be a different person. Also people with alcohol cravings find they don't want alcohol and lose their cravings for it. This works for large sugar Cravings as well. You just don't want it. Or need it. The unmodified potato starch changes your liver over from sugar burning two fat burning due to changes in your gut. I had good results with only 4 teaspoons per day.
I hope something in there helps you or someone else reading this post who also struggles.
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Thinking about the abandonment issue I don't think that is true. I actually look forward to him leaving so I can watch my own shoes and have my little party. That is bad. We PVR everything so I just ff the commercials. Yikes! I really do have a problem.
OMG! This is me! Every night around 9pm my husband goes upstairs to read and go to bed. I go much later. If he's not heading up those stairs by 9:15, I'm like...Go to bed! He just laughs. He knows I'm snacking, he told me he can hear the cabinets opening and bags rustling. LOL. I dont know what it is, I LOVE eating snacks, at night, alone...Just me, my cat and my British mysteries.
Anyway, I usually have enough calories banked to have those snacks'. So its not an issue. But if I don't, I try not to eat too much, or just have some popcorn or something really low cal.
Sometimes, I'll brush my teeth at night way before bed. It does help curb the craving sometimes.
I know its a habit. I know its psychological. I'm not even hungry when I do it. But I'm super close to goal weight. ...and it makes me happy.2 -
LifeWithPie wrote: »Thinking about the abandonment issue I don't think that is true. I actually look forward to him leaving so I can watch my own shoes and have my little party. That is bad. We PVR everything so I just ff the commercials. Yikes! I really do have a problem.
OMG! This is me! Every night around 9pm my husband goes upstairs to read and go to bed. I go much later. If he's not heading up those stairs by 9:15, I'm like...Go to bed! He just laughs. He knows I'm snacking, he told me he can hear the cabinets opening and bags rustling. LOL. I dont know what it is, I LOVE eating snacks, at night, alone...Just me, my cat and my British mysteries.
Anyway, I usually have enough calories banked to have those snacks'. So its not an issue. But if I don't, I try not to eat too much, or just have some popcorn or something really low cal.
Sometimes, I'll brush my teeth at night way before bed. It does help curb the craving sometimes.
I know its a habit. I know its psychological. I'm not even hungry when I do it. But I'm super close to goal weight. ...and it makes me happy.
Guilty as well, a recent phenomenon. Totally psychological and I'm going to blame it on winter...it just won't go away.1
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