How to Cut Snacking After Dinner!?

CSARdiver

Love the recommendation to brush your teeth after dinner - that's a sure habit breaker.

We recently moved from the suburbs to a very rural setting where internet went from high speed cable to satellite. At first the kids hated this as their routine was to watch something. While we were camping in the new home while packing/unpacking I introduced the kids to charades. The kids enjoyed this so much it became a nightly routine and they can't wait to act out their favorite scenes.

Now we still have snacks during this time, but it is drastically reduced. Another poster mentioned in a different thread that they started reading more than watching TV and noting the difficulty in snacking while reading. Clearly one tactic is to engage our brains and distract us from mindlessly snacking.

jaydutchie

I don’t think that having a snack after dinner is a bad thing. It’s that I’m eating when I know that I’m not hungry—just out of habit. So I’d like to listen to my body more and what it needs

Unknown

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Danp

jaydutchie wrote: »

I don’t think that having a snack after dinner is a bad thing. It’s that I’m eating when I know that I’m not hungry—just out of habit. So I’d like to listen to my body more and what it needs

Fair enough. You have to do what you feel is right for you.

For what it's worth thought, there's also nothing at all wrong with eating for pleasure. Food, eating, taste. It's all a sensory experience which can be enjoyed for the experience alone, rather than just to achieve nutrition and sustenance.

If you're in the habit of having a late night snack is it perhaps because you enjoy your late night snack? If that's the case and, as mentioned previously it's not having a negative effect why deprive yourself that enjoyment?

RedAbilty

Drinking any kind of herbal tea! not only do they taste great they lower your appetite and helps make you feel full.

midlomel1971

A mug of hot tea keeps me occupied if I'm going something like watching TV. Normally after dinner and all of my mom chores, I go to the gym, so I'm pretty occupied.

AnnPT77

Danp wrote: »

jaydutchie wrote: »

I don’t think that having a snack after dinner is a bad thing. It’s that I’m eating when I know that I’m not hungry—just out of habit. So I’d like to listen to my body more and what it needs

Fair enough. You have to do what you feel is right for you.

For what it's worth thought, there's also nothing at all wrong with eating for pleasure. Food, eating, taste. It's all a sensory experience which can be enjoyed for the experience alone, rather than just to achieve nutrition and sustenance.

If you're in the habit of having a late night snack is it perhaps because you enjoy your late night snack? If that's the case and, as mentioned previously it's not having a negative effect why deprive yourself that enjoyment?

I'm not really sure why someone disagreed with this post (which it's their right to do, of course) . . . but if the reason involves thinking that eating should not be pleasurable, that makes me very sad for them.

Best to eat the right amount, and proper overall nutrition is a really good idea as well, but there's no reason IMO to avoid pleasure: Jeesh.

If pleasure and social connection are not part of one's eating balance, I think the odds of regain are increased, for many of us.

I agree with Dan, if someone enjoys evening snacks (and experiences no negative side effects like exceeding calorie goal, causing heartburn, impairing sleep, etc.), then pleasure is a perfectly good reason to budget some calories for evening snacks.

But if OP wants to stop snacking in the evening, for any reason or no reason, that's fine, too. (And I made "how" suggestions in a earlier post on the thread, so won't repeat them here.)