discipline on late night eating.

skippy37

I am new to the sight.I am 53 years old and mother of two boys 18 and 28. Earlier in my life I was thin but since menopause and other life issues I have put on 20 lbs of unwanted fat. Yuck. I have lost 5 lbs. here and there over the last 10 years but never really reached my goal or kept it off. I really want to do this but I seem to lack the discipline. Any ideas would help. Eating at night has become a problems for me. I always get back up after everyone else is asleep. It is because I cant sleep but them I feel entitled and driven to EAT. I have only developed this habit over the last 3 months. Any suggestions would help.

ctraill

I also struggle with this. I've had to empty out my cupboards of all the things I crave (I tend to crave salty things particularly at night) because I would eat it if it was in the house but I'm usually able to shame myself out of driving to a grocery story at midnight to buy a bag of chips (Although I confess, I have done it!).

I think it's just a matter of discipline and removing as much immediate temptation as possible. Good luck!

Jessibear2854

Something that helps me not eat after dinner is to drink hot herbal tea. I have a 40-oz thermos and make tea in that, so it stays hot all evening and I can just pour a cup whenever I'm tempted to munch. I love tea so I usually end up drinking the whole thing and feeling so full that I can't imagine eating anything before bed! Herbal tea counts toward your water intake and is very good for you as long as you don't sweeten it. You might be getting up at night to pee a couple of times though

hecky86

I would suggest snacking on raw almonds 20-22 throughout the day and I find that if I consume alot of protien for dinner, I feel full for the remainder of the evening,And crave much less...Also TONS of water...I know it can get tireing to consume so much water,but just liek anything else it takes getting used to .Good luck on the late night eating and everything else,I also had the same problem and these little tricks deffenitely have made a huge difference.

hotpickles

I agree with the water. It's what has helped me stay away from late night snacking!

L.

NicoleRuth

Thats a great idea! i also struggle with late night eating and i never thought about tea... if i did sweeten it with splenda it wouldnt count towards calories i think, i'm definitely trying that soon!!

jteammom

Wish I had some words of wisdom, but I struggle with the same thing. Reading these other posts, though, makes me realize that I stop drinking my water after dinner. That could be the problem...

barahona

hello MY naMe is peter froM da bronx.> Im new in here but - i been working out ( going to da gym) i Lost 30 Pounds>> At Night - when i was satrTing I was very hungry - but water - water - water helps Alot. & you could give 1 or 2 bits to wat ever U gonna eat then more water -water & water>>. i Hope da could work 4 u...

ashlee954

Wish I had some words of wisdom, but I struggle with the same thing. Reading these other posts, though, makes me realize that I stop drinking my water after dinner. That could be the problem...

I also stop drinking water after dinner. Have to though or I am up every 10 minutes using the restroom when I should be sleeping! I always make sure to drink at least 10 glasses before dinner. My usual intake, however, is 12-15 glasses/day.

Baby_Belles

I tend to do this too, what I've realized is I eat small incredibley healthy portions all day (example: plain oatmeal for breakfast, kiwi and walnuts for lunch, yogurt for snack, large salad for dinner) then I get home and vola everyone else is eating popcorn and reeses and who knows what else and I could just eat and eat.

Last night I took one tiny handful and then I went to bed, wasn't even tired just didn't want to binge. I know thats not super great advice ha sleep whenever you feel the need to eat but it saved me plus the good nights sleep was nice.

My point was is that I ate so well during the day even if I had had a little splurge at night I still wouldve been okay.

skippy37

Wow thanks a lot everyone. I'm glad to see that people do use this post and I am not alone. It seems drinking water or tea is the answer. I am going to try that and I will keep track on my water here on my iphone. then i have to be accountable to myself.

BobbyDaniel

Been there, seen it, done it, got the shirt and still struggle with it. When i get stressed i have two outlets: not sleeping and eating, usually at the same time. I have had a bad habit of late night eating for a really long time, going back to college if not before.
For me i have had to start eating dinner a little later and saving my desert for around 9:00 (i go to bed late) and then making a decision to shut down my food diary at that point and to be honest. So far it has worked for me. And the water drinking mentioned previously also has helped out tremendously.

eglass64

I think everyone struggles with this issue at one time or another, I still do. when I do I try to be as healthy as I can, but most of the time I talk myself out of it. Good Luck.

countjackula

I'm not sure if tea will help (and I don't think you'll want caffeine before you go to bed) but water will definitely help. Another way, if you have problems with late-night snacking, is to arrange your meals so that your dinner has a greater proportion of your protein for the day as the protein will help you feel full longer.

Your body tends to expect food when it's accustomed to getting it; if you get hungry late at night it is probably because your body expects to be fed for snacks. What that also means is as you wean yourself off of the habit of eating late at night you'll find it easier.

- - -

Is the late-night eating actually knocking you over your calorie goals though?

dewdrop

This is the right place to advertise our thread "No more late night snacking". I'm waiting for one of our team members to start the January challenge and hope to see you there . We fix a personal cut-off and then report daily on how well we did the night before.

ETPPaul

in my experience being hungry has cause me to wake up so the goal is to make sure I do not go to bed hungry. In addition to that I think late night snacking is fine in moderation. Ultimately this site is all about calories in and calories out. My suggestion is to find the healthiest snacks you can eat, preferably snacks that might help you burn fat along the way. I do well with a hunk of cheese, gives me good protein and works like a "log on the fire", that usually can get me through the night.

Additionally your issue might be that your not starting your clock early enough, are you eating within 30 minutes to an hour of waking up? As I have learned to live a healthier life starting my metabolism has been a big part of that and it allows me to eat hardy in the mornings and afternoon. In my opinion one of the worst things you can do is to go to bed hungry because of what you said in your original post. So it's possible that your issue is that you aren't eating enough and it is causing cravings in the middle of the night.

dewdrop

This is what I meant:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/146782-january-2011-no-more-junk-late-at-night?page=1#posts-2000026

Feel free to join. Anytime.