Overeating after dinner!

anitakulick

I'm 68 and working full time. I love my work but I get home around 7:00 p.m. By the time I do some chores, I end up eating dinner at 8:30, and from there it's all downhill. I have no problem staying on target all day - but those after dinner hours are my downfall. It seems like this is a no brainer. I know all I have to do is stop eating, but I'm tired and don't feel like doing anything other than read or watch television and snack. And snack. When I was younger it was a little easier to lose the weight. But not now. Plus I have some health issues which restrict my ability to exercise vigorously (I do the stationary bike but not at high speeds) and the medication caused me to gain about 10 pounds due to water retention which helped to start me on this path.

Dilvish

Water. About 20 minutes after you eat, drink 2 or 3 cups of water. Also try to make your evening meal with less sodium and less sugars (carbs). Many foods, especially carb rich foods at dinner (potatoes, rice, pasta, bread) make you crave more later.

amy19355

I know exactly what you’re talking about! I added some beer to that nightly boredom mix and all of a sudden there’s a mess of un-fitness to fix!!

I’ve rearranged my daily calories intake so that I eat most of my calories before I get home. Because i work hard all day at the office, I ascribe to the idea of “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper”. I apply that idea by eating big hearty breakfasts (sometimes in two eating events a few hours apart), and packing a lunch bag with a decent sized lunch and an afternoon snack.

For dinner, I find that volume eating large piles of vegetables provides me with a mental feel-good-about-my-choices, and, an important satisfy-the-wanna-chew beast that lurks inside me.

Truthfully, it was really tough the first week or so to get all the calories consumed in that shorter window of time, but, every day there was a noticeable benefit to energy or sleep patterns, that made it easier to keep doing.

I get some pretty good satisfaction from the “have a glass of water instead” trick also, to turn off the eat-from-boredom pangs.

Good luck to you, and good fitness to us all!
Amyfb

Maxxitt

I also found re-arranging calories to be helpful. I ate about half my daily calories before I got home, including a very late afternoon high protein snack, and then planned half my calories for my evening meal, which was satisfying. Then I took up knitting while watching TV to keep my hands busy. I don't knit much any more but the evening snack pattern was effectively broken.

Copper_Boom

I normally brush my teeth and floss shortly after dinner. Curbs any impulse to snack, because having to floss my teeth again is way too much hassle.

kittybenn

I like the water idea. I usually have a diet drink (ginger ale or Coke) and/or herbal tea. There's something about a hot tea that kinda signals my brain that it's almost time for bed. Flossing and brushing your teeth also helps.

Finafoshizzle93

I’m on a similar schedule, usually don’t get home until 8pm after work and the gym. I’ve found brushing my teeth after eating really helps.

musicfan68

How about changing your routine after work? Instead of doing chores right after work, eat, then do chores. That will keep your mind off of eating.

MikePTY

There's nothing inherently wrong with eating or snacking late. You just have to account for it. I'd recommend trying to reduce each of your previous meals a bit so you have calories left for a snack after dinner.

PennyP312

Sugar free minty gum is my go-to. It signals my brain that I’m done eating for the night. I’ve been doing it for years and it really stops me from snacking.

Running2Fit

I brush my teeth after dinner. It's just a way of getting myself in the mentality that I'm done eating for the day. And if I'm really craving a snack later I make myself a cup of tea which usually helps since I'm not usually actually hungry, just bored.

Danp

You sound similar to me. No matter how much I eat during the day I'm always REALLY hungry at night.

I decided to make my life easier by just work with my natural tendency toward nocturnal eating and moved the vast majority of my calorie consumption (75%-80%) to dinner.

Coffee and maybe a light breakfast (piece of toast or yogurt) - 10%-15% of daily calories
Skip lunch (never really hungry during the day anyway)
maybe a light snack in the afternoon - 10% of daily calories

Then I have all those calories left over so that I can eat when I'm hungry and have enough left over to indulge my sweet-tooth with some desert.

Gotta find what works and make it work.

brenn24179

I use to be like that but made up my mind to not eat at night. I drink water and tell myself the scales will look good in the morning, it is just a bad habit.

wenrob

There’s nothing wrong with eating at night or after dinner. Mindlessly eating without accounting for it is what will cause the problem. My advice would be to redistribute your calories so you have room to munch later if that’s what you want to do. And account for it. If you’re not logging these little snack sprees doing so might be enough to curb your behavior. I have a snack every single night. I log it when I’m logging my breakfast so that’s it accounted for and I don’t have to figure out how I’m going to work it into my day later.