How do I stop post dinner snacking???

madambra01

I cannot seem to get out of this habit and it screws up all the good eating I did during the day!!! Help!!!

jan110144

When I pland my food for the day, I "save" calories for an evening snack ... usually a container of low-fat Greek yogurt or a piece of fruit

Rocknut53

I was having that problem for quite a few months and started putting back on the pounds I worked so hard to get rid of. I just had to face reality and tell myself "no more" or you're going to be right back where you started, 60 pounds heavier and feeling miserable because of it. The thought of yet again resizing my wedding ring, going back on meds and feeling miserable, having no clothes to wear, not to mention facing people who were so supportive of me during my weight loss, and feeling guilty because I did reward myself with not one, but two trips to Maui to celebrate my success is enough to back away from the snacks.

Lounmoun

I have always just planned a snack that fits my calorie goal. I prelog my whole day so know I have enough calories for the snack.

makkimakki2018

Go and do hygenic things for a good hour then go straight to bed.

keelyhiggi

Wish i knew. I lost 50 pounds. Hit my goal and in the last week or so have started eating at night and gained back 5 pounds:( need to stop now before I sabotage myself!!

ITUSGirl51

I’m the same. I’ve lost 75 lbs caused by night time over snacking. I am going to be very stubborn about gaining it back. Some things I do 1) leave about 150-250 calories for a dessert after dinner. It could be cereal or an ice cream bar, or some yogurt with berries and a couple of tablespoons of granola 2) if that’s eaten and I’m still wanting to eat, I chew sugar free gum 3) if both things are eaten and I’m stilll wanting to eat, I drink a cup of decaf coffee with sweet and low and a tablespoon of half and half. That fills me up to get over the snacky feeling. It’s really a bad habit to help us feel better after a long stressful day. It takes real effort to not soothe with food, but each morning I wake up without doing it is a huge victory.

kami3006

I also prelog evening calories. I like food on my stomach when I sleep.

73CL350

Definitely cut back more during the day and save some cals for an evening treat.

kimny72

I save calories for an evening snack. If I don't manage to, I'll have mint tea and a square of good quality dark chocolate. If my calories are gone and I get snacky, I brush my teeth and use mouthwash, works most of the time!

gallicinvasion

I have the same problem. This is what I like to do:

When I grocery shop, I buy my favorite delicious snacks (dark chocolate bark, hippeas cheese puffs, cheddar rice cake minis, flavored popcorn, mini cookies, etc) and as soon as I get home, I weight them, split them into 100 or 200 calorie bags, and put them in my snack bowl.

I plan my breakfast, lunch, and dinner so I have a good 300-400 calories to work with after dinner. (This means a 100 calorie breakfast and a 300-400 calorie lunch, with a dinner of 500-700 calories usually.)

Then after dinner when I inevitably want something salty, or something sweet, or something crunchy, I pick 1 or 2 of the snack bags! I log them immediately (making sure I don't take more bags than I have calories for), close out my food diary for the day, and I eat them slowly and savor them while watching TV or a movie.

I definitely try to brush my teeth or drink water right afterwards to make sure my taste-buds don't convince me to take more snack bags.

Running2Fit

I don’t keep snack food in the house and I brush my teeth after dinner.

But nighttime snacking is the worst thing ever. If you are really struggling with not eating after dinner then save some calories for a healthy post dinner snack.

TeaBea

Are you eating in front of the T.V.? This was the worst habit for me. Mindless eating, I could plow thru half a bag of chips easily. Instead I get a big glass of ice water (lemon or lime wedges are nice). Then I find something (anything) that is a little bit of a distraction - crosswords, solitaire, adult coloring book, knitting....anything to keep my hands busy.

Copper_Boom

After dinner, I will floss / brush my teeth. That keeps me from snacking because it would be a nuisance to have to floss again before bed.

elisa123gal

Plan 100 calorie snack that you can eat at night. weigh yourself..or try on your tight clothes. Brush your teeth. I find diffusing peppermint oil in my essential oil diffuser kills my appetite.

jan110144

Lounmoun wrote: »

I have always just planned a snack that fits my calorie goal. I prelog my whole day so know I have enough calories for the snack.

That is exactly what I do. It works very well for me too.

MikePTY

There is nothing wrong with having a post dinner snack in itself. Sometimes I even have two dinners. Just make sure you budget the calories for it, and try to have it be something healthy.

lemonita12

These are great ideas, I have the same issue, thanks everyone!

RredSonja

Prelogging helps a lot.

Saving the chocolate protein shake or fruit for an after dinner snack helps.

Having a cut-off time for eating helps too - brush and floss your teeth at your cut-off time so eating would cause you to have to do it again before bed

hroderick

i don't sleep well hungry or like to eat in the morning, so i have 100s of healthy snack calories before bed. most of my eating is done between noon and 8pm

countcurt

madambra01 wrote: »

I cannot seem to get out of this habit and it screws up all the good eating I did during the day!!! Help!!!

1. Stop labeling eating 'good'. Because then there must be 'bad' eating. So, on top of making choices that aren't beneficial to your weight loss, you then have to beat yourself up for being naughty.
2. Take a good look at your daytime eating. Are you eating too much at night because you're not eating enough during the day? Or you're eating enough but not of things that keep you satisfied? Or are you eating too much and not leaving yourself enough calories to satisfy evening hunger? Or none of the above?
3. If you find yourself much more able to attend to your tracking and keep eating in check earlier in the day, you may want to consider changing your 'tracking' day to start at 6 pm. This may be particularly helpful if you tend to hoard calories early in the day because you're worried about running out. I know that it is much easier for me to hold firm on a decision not to eat something earlier in my tracking day.
4. As has been pointed out by at least one other poster, it's possible to make things worse by not having a snack and then trying to sleep while hungry. This never ends well. I have this particular trait which only means I know I need to have a snack before going to bed unless I had a late dinner. So you'll need to figure out if this applies to you.

madambra01

Thank you everyone, I am trying the idea of saving calories for night snacking and I really love the idea of portioning out snacks in baggies and having them ready !!! Wish me luck!!!

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jo_nz

Other than some of the previous suggestions, I keep my hands busy - I do a few different handcrafts, and wouldn't want to get food on my projects. (makes me feel like my TV time is semi-productive too)
Or sometimes I paint my nails - nail polish and food don't go so well together.

erjones11

My night time snacks are my most important meal. I always save calories for it and usually too many. I usually eat a very low calorie breakfast and lunch. Then a bigger dinner and snacks throughout the night. My way works for me.

madambra01 wrote: »

Thank you everyone, I am trying the idea of saving calories for night snacking and I really love the idea of portioning out snacks in baggies and having them ready !!! Wish me luck!!!

Healthydiner65

I think that’s a problem a lot of us have. There’s no magic solution. I save calories for the evening snack or two. Always half cup ice cream for calcium and either popcorn or cheese and crackers. Hot chocolate is good and few calorie.

lightenup2016

countcurt wrote: »

madambra01 wrote: »

I cannot seem to get out of this habit and it screws up all the good eating I did during the day!!! Help!!!

1. Stop labeling eating 'good'. Because then there must be 'bad' eating. So, on top of making choices that aren't beneficial to your weight loss, you then have to beat yourself up for being naughty.
2. Take a good look at your daytime eating. Are you eating too much at night because you're not eating enough during the day? Or you're eating enough but not of things that keep you satisfied? Or are you eating too much and not leaving yourself enough calories to satisfy evening hunger? Or none of the above?
3. If you find yourself much more able to attend to your tracking and keep eating in check earlier in the day, you may want to consider changing your 'tracking' day to start at 6 pm. This may be particularly helpful if you tend to hoard calories early in the day because you're worried about running out. I know that it is much easier for me to hold firm on a decision not to eat something earlier in my tracking day.
4. As has been pointed out by at least one other poster, it's possible to make things worse by not having a snack and then trying to sleep while hungry. This never ends well. I have this particular trait which only means I know I need to have a snack before going to bed unless I had a late dinner. So you'll need to figure out if this applies to you.

I’m intrigued by this idea. Have you done this yourself and found it helpful? I’m trying to wrap my head around how that would work.

_aenyeweddien_

the only thing that works for me is keeping myself busy lol....

If I feel like I'm going to give in, I usually have some vanilla coke zero, I know it's not healthy but if it's gonna stop me from munching extra 500kcal, then it's a lesser of two evils

Panini911

I plan for an after dinner snack. It's part of my daily overall calories, I ensure to leave 100 calories at least for a snack before bed.

MDProctor

I've started having a protein shake and going to bed shortly after. Does a great job stabilizing BS overnight and I wake up earlier. Sort of a win-win for me.

countcurt

lightenup2016 wrote: »

I’m intrigued by this idea. Have you done this yourself and found it helpful? I’m trying to wrap my head around how that would work.

Back when tracking was all done on paper, this was a little easier. I did WW and was a 'points hoarder'. So whatever the end of my day was found me with lots of points. Which I sometimes would use recklessly. The difference for me in reframing the day being that I had much more structured activity in the afternoon (read: fewer opportunities for mindless overeating), so I could wind down before the next 'day' started.

On MFP, all you would need to do is set an 'artificial' time after which everything gets tracked on the following day's log. I would advise only that one pick a consistent time so that there are fewer opportunities for gaming.


I would also add that I'm Jewish and it's also possible that because many of our observances and celebrations begin and end at sundown this paradigm was very easy for me to internalize.