sticking to your diet, in the evening

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santd
santd Posts: 234 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Who goes all day sticking to their diet, and eating healthy, then in the evening, you turn into a different person and find it hard to stick to your diet ! Once you get to your daily total, do you panic, are you still hungry ? What do you do to cope with hunger.
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  • tsikkz
    tsikkz Posts: 404 Member
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    If I want to eat I put white strips on, it makes me beautiful in more ways than one
  • a_stronger_me13
    a_stronger_me13 Posts: 812 Member
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    I rearrange my meals so that I allow for the most food when I tend to be the most hungry considering meal timing and frequency are pretty well preferential. I'm usually hungriest in the evenings and rarely hungry in the mornings when I wake up so I move what would typically be my breakfast calories in with my dinner calories and I reduce the chances of overeating in the evenings.
  • astronomicals
    astronomicals Posts: 1,537 Member
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    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc
  • lesley964
    lesley964 Posts: 18 Member
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    evenings are my danger times too!! I built my snacks into my plan so that I still have a "treat" at night, eg salted popcorn, cheese and crackers with strawberries, doritos and salsa. So my calories are split almost into 4 meals rather than 3. I don't seem to get cravings this time round but I have a supply of Atkins endulge bars just in case.
  • MyJourney1960
    MyJourney1960 Posts: 1,133 Member
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    Who goes all day sticking to their diet, and eating healthy, then in the evening, you turn into a different person and find it hard to stick to your diet ! Once you get to your daily total, do you panic, are you still hungry ? What do you do to cope with hunger.
    I'm not "hungry" at night. I just *want to eat* and that's a different story (if i'm *really* hungry then i will eat something like another piece of chicken but it's usually not real hunger at that hour).

    so what I decided to do a while back is break this habit and i have hopefully, fingers crossed, succeeded. you can either save some calories for evening snacking or do what i did and that is to try and *not* snack at night. when i feel that i am starting to hunt for food, i pre-log my snack (that usually helps) and/or do something to keep myhands occupied so i physically *can't* snack (mani, pluck my eyebrows, iron). take a look at what you are doing while snacking - is it sitting in front of the tv/computer? then maybe change that habit - I've tried cleaning my house, straightening up the kitchen, laundry, etc instead of just plopping down. it worked for me - both pre-logging my snack and doing something else to occupy my hands/time.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    Me too - it has been a big problem. I have tried things like banning myself from the kitchen (sort of worked) but my biggest problem was '1' bottle of beer. So I swapped the beer for tea and a biscuit that fitted in my diet and that helped. I have also tried upping my protein in the evening and that helps. If I feel it starting up, I have also nipped it in the bud by having a proper sandwich. This then takes away the desire for me to have the packet of crisps, the chocolate bar, the biscuits, the cheese, the sweet stuff........ You have to work out what your trigger is and deal with the trigger rather than the symptom. Good luck - it is not easy!
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 632 Member
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    I'm not "hungry" at night. I just *want to eat* and that's a different story (if i'm *really* hungry then i will eat something like another piece of chicken but it's usually not real hunger at that hour).

    ^This. I'm never actually hungry after my daily calories, I just want to eat (or want sugar). There are a few things that help me control this..

    1) Limit idle time. For me, I snack when I'm sitting aorund doing nothing or watch TV in the evening. So I always work out in the evening as this limits the time available to make bad choices. I don't usually have the same idle-time problem earlier in the day so works for me.

    2) Drink nice teas. I don't like "tea" tea but I adore fruit teas. Apple/Bluberry, Cranberry/Raspberry, Forrest Fruits, Orange.... They are sweet and warm which means they really hit the spot now that it's starting to get cold. At about 4kcal per mug they are easily affordable (and I'd rather go over by 5 kcal for tea than 200 kcal for a piece of chocolate if it came down to it)

    It's all about establishing new habits where you're just a person who don't snack in the evening, you're the person who goes for walk or whatever. Good luck :smile:
  • MzzFaith
    MzzFaith Posts: 337 Member
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    Water gets me full, replace that midnight snack with raisins, almonds, baked chips, celery, granola bars works for me. Some ppl are different & body have to adjust to different foods.
  • Ithina1
    Ithina1 Posts: 93 Member
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    That is so me sometimes. The evenings can be killer.

    When I have trouble sticking to my diet consistently, I'll fast for a day. It helps me realize when I'm full quicker for a while.

    I eat a lot out of boredom. I try to fill that time with something else, like going to the gym, that doesn't allow me to eat. I saw a previous post mention white strips. Anything of the sort will cure boredom "hunger."

    I plan to eat more in the evenings, so I eat less during the day. I also eat as slow as I can at night so the food lasts longer and I end up consuming less. Common snacks I'll have are mozzarella cheese, frozen gogurt, and Greek yogurt cream cheese. Sometimes if I'm basically out of calories I'll either steam/boil some veggies and/or have some chicken consume.
  • ladycappy
    ladycappy Posts: 12
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    I found i was being good all day (when work was occupying head etc) but then when i relaxed I suddenly thought " i'm hungry" - once thought the rest of the evening is "i'm hungry" - i'm probably not it's just my head but I did the following and it's helped me

    My breakfast was a cholesterol lowering shot / smoothie / 1 weetabix 100ml milk and squidge of honey

    I moved the cereal out of my breakfast and that's what I have at whatever time i think hmm food needed

    so now just have the shot and smoothie for breakfast and have cereal whenever I get the "i'm hungry" thought - could be 3pm in the afternoon or 8pm at night - worked for me

    hope that helps
  • sarsons2
    sarsons2 Posts: 9
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    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc

    skipping breakfast is really BAD advice ! Healthy eating all the way.
  • VoodooAborisha
    VoodooAborisha Posts: 147 Member
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    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc

    skipping breakfast is really BAD advice ! Healthy eating all the way.

    I think it depends on the person. If I eat breakfast, it makes me more hungry - like I am almost immediately desperate for the next meal, and I will be desperately snacking and eat a huge lunch and have no calories left for supper, so I go over my calorie goal for the day. On the other hand, if I skip breakfast, I have more control through the rest of the day, less hunger, less snacking and more moderate portions, and then the best part is when I get to supper, I can get a really full happy belly, and still be within my goal. If I have breakfast, I am going to be hungry and headachy all day. On the other hand, I know some people love/gotta have a substantial breakfast, but I can't do it and stay on my diet.
  • VoodooAborisha
    VoodooAborisha Posts: 147 Member
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    I was listening to a neuroscientist the other day on a radio program who said that our brainwaves go through different states when we are awake, asleep, relaxing, and other cycles throughout the day, and that in the afternoon/evening, our brain waves change into a more relaxed state and we more likely to indulge in overeating, smoking, drinking, etc. and other bad habits, i.e. all the things that we had the willpower to avoid earlier in the day. So it is biologically more difficult to keep to the diet later in the day.
  • nicoleisback
    nicoleisback Posts: 184
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    I am the same, I always go 'pantry diving' about 2-3 hours after dinner. I figured out one of my main problems was I was eating dinner at about 7-9pm, but was staying up to midnight. I found eating dessert (a small bowl of fruit with a bit of yoghurt spooned on top) 3-4 hours after tea instead of straight after dinner stopped this
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc

    skipping breakfast is really BAD advice ! Healthy eating all the way.
    Why? What's not healthy about skipping breakfast? It makes no difference what time or how many meals you eat, as long as you meet your calorie goals.
  • nicoleisback
    nicoleisback Posts: 184
    Options
    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc

    skipping breakfast is really BAD advice ! Healthy eating all the way.

    I think it depends on the person. If I eat breakfast, it makes me more hungry - like I am almost immediately desperate for the next meal, and I will be desperately snacking and eat a huge lunch and have no calories left for supper, so I go over my calorie goal for the day. On the other hand, if I skip breakfast, I have more control through the rest of the day, less hunger, less snacking and more moderate portions, and then the best part is when I get to supper, I can get a really full happy belly, and still be within my goal. If I have breakfast, I am going to be hungry and headachy all day. On the other hand, I know some people love/gotta have a substantial breakfast, but I can't do it and stay on my diet.

    I personally cannot eat solids in the morning, it sits too heavy on my stomach and makes me queasy. A good middle ground is a 'breakfast drink' or a protein shake to give you some relatively low carb energy to start the day
  • featherbrained
    featherbrained Posts: 155 Member
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    skip breakfast, use appetite suppressants, drink green tea, try intermittent fasting, eat more fiber... etc

    skipping breakfast is really BAD advice ! Healthy eating all the way.

    He was being "funny". :)

    The only thing that works for me is to Just Say No. No eating after supper. After a few nights, the habit seems to disappear for me. I'll often have a cup of tea in the evening. I also crochet to keep my hands/mind busy.

    There comes a point where you just have to deny yourself. You're likely "hungry" out of habit. And if you met your calorie and macro goals that day, whatever hunger you think you're feeling will not kill you.

    However, if it works out better for you to do your eating late in the day in order to meet those goals, I see nothing wrong with that, either.
  • skiersteve12345
    skiersteve12345 Posts: 89 Member
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    i just save all my calories til 5pm earliest normally i start eating around 6 or 7pm, weekends can suck but during the week i find it easy to not eat during the day since im busy with work, however i have a physical job and am moving around a lot might be worse if i had a desk job, i always go to sleep full :)
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
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    Weekdays I skip all the eating stuff until the evening, then I stuff my face with whatever I feel like.

    I'm an office drone, not exactly digging dirt and burning energy, no big deal to go most of the day powered by some milk in my breakfast coffee.

    Skipping breakfast bad? Nah, very outdated thinking.

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