Really struggling overeating at night

sharonlep

Help!
I can easily plan my food properly..often the night before so it's all thought out each day. I don't mind logging food so don't find it a problem.
I eat well for breakfast and lunch.
I know I struggle from about 4pm onwards so I often try to incorporate a snack around 4pm to stop me being too hungry before we eat around 7-8pm.
I'm trying 1700 calories with a minimum of 10k steps so I'm not at all starving myself!
So I think I'm trying everything possible but, I'm a sugar addict and really struggling not to binge from 4pm onwards.
Could be hormonal. 52 years old. premenopause.
I can be good for 3 to 4 days but then totally blow all my good efforts for another 3 to 4 days. It's like something out of control and I can't think of anything else to try.
I've always been greedy for sweet stuff but it's getting worse so I don't know whether I've just got no control whatsoever, need to think of something else, or get medical help.
Anyone else had this block?

quiksylver296

I save a lot of calories for evening by pushing breakfast back til about 9:30 or 10:00, and keeping it and lunch around 300 calories each. Then I have about 1000-1100 calories for dinner and dessert.

Vune

Do you have nighttime habits, like watching TV, that make mindlessly eating an easier habit? Can you find something else to do with your hands?

Like the poster above, I usually save the majority of my calories for later in the day. I love sweets, too, so I eat piles of fruit.

zeejane4

Can you move your supper up a bit so you're not eating so late?

I'm a mindless night time grazer and it's one of the first things I had to address back when I started my weight loss phase. Over a period of a couple months I slowly started cutting back on what time I was eating at night. Started out by no longer eating after 10pm. After a couple weeks I moved this to 9:30, then 9, then 8 etc. I no longer eat after 7pm anymore on a regular basis. It's a habit now and I don't even think about eating at night anymore.

If eating later at night is a problem for you then perhaps adjusting your eating window would be helpful?

sandymram

I have a light snack at 3 or 4 (hard boiled egg for example) dinner around 6 (no more than 400 calories) and a snack before bed. Rice cake, almond butter, banana, cinnamon and a glass of almond milk. If I don’t eat my snack I wake up in the middle of the night hungry and can’t sleep. But it’s filling enough that I don’t need to eat after that. But it’s a treat and I enjoy it. Naturally sweet, fat helps me too! When I was eating like halo top or popcorn with some chocolate chips for dessert it wasn’t filling me up, so I ended up eating more after.

Personally I’ve cut out white flour and processed snack foods (cereal, cake, cookies) because I never was satisfied with just one. I wanted the whole tray or whole box. It’s easier for me to not include them in any amount in my diet. I would spend all day trying to figure out how I could eat them, so i would skip dinner, or something unhealthy like that, just to eat snack foods later. It was unhealthy and mentally exhausting.

brenn24179

I drink tea or water at night, it helps.

HoneyBadger302

I find I am MUCH better off eating dinner sooner. Basically, I walk in the door from work and either eat or get dinner going if I'm cooking that night. I can't wait too long to eat or I will overeat. A snack doesn't seem to cut it for me, more of a volume eater type.

Then, I try to avoid buying or keeping "snack" foods around the house, especially if it's something I struggle to control my portions with (for example, for me, chips and salsa is a big one that I will overeat). If I have been craving something like that, I will basically plan it as a big meal one day, and let myself "binge" on it, but I plan accordingly. This isn't frequent (once every few months), so I'm not worried about it from a health perspective.

Mind you, most things I can control my portions on pretty well, but that one is definitely a problem area, so I just don't keep it around the house. Ice cream, on the other hand, a small amount I find very satisfying, and keeping it around is actually good as once I've eaten dinner, if I want a little, I can have some and I won't feel the need to eat the whole container lol.

Perhaps you can find some alternatives that will help satisfy your cravings while finding them more "controllable?" Perhaps something "sweet" that you're not very fond of (example, I have some "super sour" sweet tarts in my house - they give me something sweet, but I really don't want more than a few in any one sitting)? Changing around meal times to fit with what your body wants?

egbert2016

This is all very good advice. The only suggestion I can add is to brush your teeth after dinner. Sometimes, that clean minty feeling is enough to remind me that eating time has ended for the day.

Danp

When you say "I can be good for 3 to 4 days but then totally blow all my good efforts for another 3 to 4 days" do you mean you deny your sweet tooth cravings but after 3 or 4 days of depriving yourself your resolve runs out and you lose control?

I only ask because that exactly what I've done in the past. I felt I needed to 'cut out' all the 'bad' foods that I really enjoyed. This would work for a few days or sometimes a bit longer but eventually the depriving and denying got to be too much and I'd crack. This would lead to me going overboard. Since I'd given in to temptation, I tended to want to make the most of it while it lasted before I'd have to go back to missing out.

The approach that worked for me to deal with this is to not cut things I like/craved out entirely. Instead I found ways to enjoy them. This is usually achieved by planning them within my calorie target for the day or the week. Sometimes it was just a matter of accepting that if I wanted to have a small sweet treat that it might have a very tiny impact on my weight loss progress that week and being OK with that.

The point was as soon as I stopped making treat forbidden they lost much of their allure, and as soon as I decided to incorporate them into my calorie target where I could I no longer felt the need to over-indulge as I never felt like I was being or going to be deprived of them.

sharonlep

Great advice-thanks!
I think someone hit the nail on the head when they said eat earlier and save a good portion of my calories for late afternoon onwards. I know if I skip my big breakfast (400+ cals) or reduce it considerably I tend to easily stay in my calories and it doesn't bother me too much waiting until 12.30 to eat lunch. That will leave me more cals for the hours that I do seem to need them!
I agree with you danp. I think I'm binging on stuff because I deprive myself of it. Going to try incorporating something sinfully delicious mate afternoon - daily! - to see how that goes.
Brushing teeth. Tea.
I'm going to try them all!!
Thanks

vggb

I used to be like you at night. I also ate dinner around 8pm on a regular basis. I loved sweet desserts of any kind, even a candybar was dessert to me. And baked goods like cookies or pie, I would definitely over eat.

Counting and logging calories with MFP got me accountable. I started planning calories per meal to stay satiated through the day. Then my son moved back in for a while and he insisted on eating around 5pm (one of his weight strategies) so I complied. That was one good move for me for sure!

I purposely stopped buying 'sweets' to keep on hand and replaced that with fresh fruit, which was satisfying for me. I slowly lost the urge to have something sweet at night! Then I slowly lost the habit of eating after dinner too!

I've been doing this since Oct. 2018 and am getting close to my goal weight.

The adjustment to a new eating style took time and patience, but now it's paying off. Good luck to you!

sharonlep

Thanks vggb. Living in France it's hard to eat earlier and I've got so used to 7 to 8pm at the earliest that it will be hard to do, but, I want to give it a go.
I'll start with more 4pm snacks.
Then earlier dinner (if possible!)
Brush teeth and have cup of tea!
Ultimately my final goal would be to not pick after dinner because I struggle with that lasdively but changing my meal balance and times slightly is making me feel more positive.

kimny72

If you're sure you are eating enough calories and a reasonably balanced diet, night time eating is often just a deeply ingrained habit (I speak from experience ). The best way to break a bad habit is replace it with a better one. Brainstorm some quick easy things you can do (other than eat) when the mood strikes - like play a game on your phone, a cat videos YT channel, a quick walk, a crossword, etc. Leave a reminder of that new response somewhere you will typically see it when the mood strikes.

I also find keeping low/no cal beverages nearby all evening really helps, plus brushing my teeth.

Also when you do snack, weigh out the portion, log it, and put the package away FIRST, then go back to your couch or wherever and eat it. Another habit

If you're a reader, the Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is both a fun read and really enlightening.

Lenala13

I tend to get cravings at night as well. What has helped me was to try and replace it with another activity, such as walking after dinner and honestly, just an earlier bed time. I find that if stay up past 10 pm, I frequently get urges to raid the pantry/fridge. Also, I'm a huge fan of tea in the evenings as well.