"binging" after dinner

jtintx

I need help! And I mean this in all seriousness. Yesterday after dinner I ate 5 cups of Special K Red Berries cereal with Almond milk and then I had 3, yes 3, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The night before, after dinner, I had 4 cups of cereal and then ate 7 rice cakes with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray and cinnamon/sugar on top. I could go on and on about my after dinner binging. It's not like I'm still hungry...I'm not. I need some help. Who can I turn to? I don't have a bunch of money to go see a specialist but I can't keep doing this to myself. I'm having to workout like mad just to keep my head above water. I need some real-life suggestions that I can sustain for the long haul. I finish dinner with a 500 calorie deficit and then I wipe it out in no time and end up with a 500-900 calorie surplus. I'm so frustrated right now I almost just feel like saying the hell with it....

abbie72003

try going for a walk after dinner, clean the house, something to keep your brain occupied and off of food. I have this problem in the mid afternoon after work and try really hard to keep myself busy so I don't binge before dinner. Hope it helps. Please don't give up, you have come so far!

japruzze

Try walking away from the kitchen! Find something to do where food isn't involved. There isn't anything I (or anyone else) can say to help you. You need to help yourself. Either you want to get healthy or you don't. Its up to you! Sorry but it seemed like some tough love was needed here. :grumble:

jtintx

It's not that I don't want to be healthy. I've been at this since Feb. of 2009. It's taken me 3 years to lose 47 pounds. That's because it's always 2 steps forward 1 step back. If I could just control this after dinner eating I'd have this problem solved.

Edited to add: I used to eat Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches and Baked Lays but then decided to quit buying them. Now I'm overeating on regular food, ie. cereal and sandwiches. It's like some switch is thrown and I just have to eat...something...anything. It's just so frustrating!!

elsinora

One thing that i found that really helped is honestly just not buying lots of food at one time and Not having snacky stuff in the house ie stuff you can pick on.... Like rice cakes and spread etc After having the minimum for a while really helps

ashiggins

First of all, don't feel like you're alone in the habit---I also binge after supper and one of my weaknesses, like yours, is cereal. I can mindlessly eat half a box and I'm not even hungry (since I just ate dinner!). I'm still working on it, but maybe try brushing your teeth and drinking a couple big glasses of water after dinner. What works best for me is simply not having foods around the apartment that I will snack on--if there's not cereal there then I won't eat it! Good luck--I hope you are able to beat it!

TheDrBuchanan

You say you finish dinner with a 500 calorie deficit.... that means 500 calories below what MFP says you should have for the day? Assuming yes, here are some suggestions:

- Have a 100 calorie snack 30-60min before your normal dinnertime, and move your dinnertime 60-90min later at night. That would mean less time for eating between dinner and bedtime, which may equate to less eating.

- Eat more for dinner. Eat all but 1-200 of your daily calories and pre-plan a 1-200 calorie bedtime snack. If you take out your bedtime snack while cleaning up from dinner, and know that that is all you are allowed to have, perhaps you will be more inclined to stick within those predetermined limits. Even entering your snack into MFP before consuming it may help strengthen your resolve to not add anything else.

- I have not looked at your diary, but perhaps if you cut 50-100 calories from each meal during the day, you will build up enough reserve to have a larger bedtime 'snack' (which would actually be looking more like supper now). In this way, you could eat more satisfying foods for your snack, instead of light 'snacky' foods and this may equate to less calories needed to make you feel satisfied.

- Don't watch TV after dinner. Not sure if you do or not, but the more sedentary you are after dinner, the more likely you are to feel the need for snacks. Save your workouts/cleaning/billpaying/etc for after dinner to keep your mind distracted.

Hope you find a solution that works for you!

Felidae_1981

So you say you have 500-600 cals left after dinner? Eat more dinner?

Also, try to stay busy. I am a total "in front of the tv snacker" and need to keep myself busy to not wander into the kitchen and find something (and yes, there are things to be found).

You can do this. Call a friend and gossip, get on Facebook and gossip, go for a walk - just around the block/house, whatever helps me ;PP

lrd2010

Are you actually hungry when you're binging? Or is it just boredom?

deadstarsunburn

The closer you are to goal you should lower the goal loss per week, I would say it's safe to drop it to .5 pounds a week you're probably genuinally still hunger.

NatalieBrooke88

Dont keep the temptations in your house!

For example, I decided to buy a bag of chocolate after Valentines Day (Hey, it was on sale!). Now, everytime I walk into the kitchen I am beyond tempted. I cant buy bags of chocolate anymore.

MdmAcolyte

Snack on salad? I have this problem, and if I start getting munchy after dinner, I bust out the salad mix, a stick of string cheese, and mustard... (its a 10 calorie dressing that way hahahaha)... its hard to go overboard if you are eating something "not as fun" as cereal...

Martha_VH

I usually have a hot cup of tea to keep from eating. Some times that works and sometimes it doesn't.

Somebody once suggested to me that I do the whole dental hygiene routine. Brush, floss, then rinse out your mouth with Listerine. I have more success when I do this.

Good luck.

jdsimpkins

You say you're not hungry, but you still eat. I think you probably are hungry for something, or you wouldn't be craving that stuff. Perhaps you should look at the variety of foods you take in during the day. You might not be getting all of what you need in some area.

All the advice for doing something to occupy yourself in order to keep your mind away from thinking about your stomache is good advice. But that advice didn't really help me when I was binging. It's because I "wanted" to eat that stuff. I just didn't care because the craving was so great that my smarter healthy self was shut down by my body's desire to eat.

So far what has helped me is coming to the point that I realized if I don't do something about my health I'm going to die like my father did at age 49. I don't want heart operations like he had. I don't want the pain of a heart attack. I don't want to leave my family without me. I'm not ready to leave earth yet. I've got to much stuff to do.

I'm not sure that helped you, but it's what has me pushing past the desires of my body to get to where I want to be. It's a struggle and getting support from friends, family and online buddies has been very helpful. Good luck.

Twins2007

I need help! And I mean this in all seriousness. Yesterday after dinner I ate 5 cups of Special K Red Berries cereal with Almond milk and then I had 3, yes 3, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The night before, after dinner, I had 4 cups of cereal and then ate 7 rice cakes with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray and cinnamon/sugar on top. I could go on and on about my after dinner binging. It's not like I'm still hungry...I'm not. I need some help. Who can I turn to? I don't have a bunch of money to go see a specialist but I can't keep doing this to myself. I'm having to workout like mad just to keep my head above water. I need some real-life suggestions that I can sustain for the long haul. I finish dinner with a 500 calorie deficit and then I wipe it out in no time and end up with a 500-900 calorie surplus. I'm so frustrated right now I almost just feel like saying the hell with it....

WOW.

This could be written by me on many, many, days.

WHat has shed light into this nightmare is to add a tab"emotional/compulsive" eating so I can SEE all the damage I am doing to myself.

My diary is public and I am no longer eating in secrecy during these binges, and this helps me alot for some reason.

Binges are SYMPTOMS of what is wrong...You can do things instead of eating but until you face what is really going on...It wil come back.

Try to read Geneen Roth's books...

Good luck,

E

acschnabel

The biggest thing for me, and this was said a couple of time, is BE ACTIVE. If you don't have anything to do, you'll end up in the kitchen, pantry, etc. As far as "not having snacks in the house", that's tough for me because I have 5 kids and snacks are part of the daily routine for them. (They are all super skinny and underweight). My "binge" time tends to be right when I get home from work as I have eaten little over the course of the day and have a hard time waiting the extra 45 minutes for dinner to be ready!

NoMoreFatTony

I am the same way. I am finding that gum, especially mint flavors, have been helpful. The other thing is getting as far away from the kitchen as possible! I have even considered moving our TV from the living room to an upstairs room! I also have a big sign posted on my refrigerator to remind me why I should not eat.

Sweet_Potato

- Have a 100 calorie snack 30-60min before your normal dinnertime, and move your dinnertime 60-90min later at night. That would mean less time for eating between dinner and bedtime, which may equate to less eating.

Yeah, my guess is that you're eating dinner too early. Usually I eat a small snack a couple hours after lunch, and another when I get home from work. By the time I finish cooking dinner, or my partner gets home and we go out, it's around 8pm. Even though my dinners are not huge I never have the deisre to eat anything afterward.

jmp1031

I go to hot green tea and gum- never without gum! gets you the satisfaction of chewing and has flavor for no (ok 5) calories. also try brushing your teeth, i tend to think about eating more food when i can literally still taste it :ohwell:

ldalbello

I was the same way so I thought I would try to skip breakfast and save the calories for the evening. It's working for me, last 2 nights I went to bed and had calories left over for a change. I find that once I eat breakfast, I am hungry all day long.

Melysa1988

Are you really hungry or could you just be thirsty? Try drinking a cup of water before you eat and a cup after. This really works for me.