How do I stop eating snacks after 6pm?
Replies
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pst...why do guys keep arguing with Nack guy? We went through this yesterday.0
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I have a BAD habit....I get this feeling of wanting a snack in the evening after 6ish. I eat a balance dinner and throughout the day I manage what I eat. What can I do to help to control this?
It's 5 o'clock somewhere0 -
There are two seperate issues here that are getting confused.
1) Calories are calories, regardless of when in the day you eat them. If your body burns more calories than you consume, you will lose weight - whether you space your eating out into 20 small incraments or eat it all at one time immediately before bed. This math is fundamental to the concept of counting your calories.
2) The reason the calories before bed myth has continued for so long, is there is an argument to be made that a diet is more likely to be SUSTAINABLE if you are eating your calories earlier in the day, rather than before bed. The reason is that when you eat earlier in the day (as opposed to before bed), you will feel satiated (or full) for a higher percentage of your waking hours. Conversely, if you eat more calories before bed (and fewer throughout the day) you will be hungrier throughout the day and more satiated while asleep (when feeling satiated does not even give you any benefit). A lifestyle is more sustainable if you are not always feeling hungry, so it is easy to see why the eating calories early in the day myth continues.
A "diet" is more sustainable if it fits your lifestyle & preferences. Not eating at night makes me cranky, makes me have more trouble sleeping than usual, and makes me 200% more miserable in the morning. I am perfectly "satiated" during the day having oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, maybe a salad or soup or something for lunch. I'm ravenously hungry at night-regardless of what I eat during the day. Fighting that leads to a whole lotta binging at night. Planning for it makes it fit my life and very easily maintainable.
I realize I'm an n=1 non-peer reviewed study and all, but I'm not seeing any other evidene to support that what I'm doing is "bad."0 -
If you snack every night just build it into you daily calorie budget. Have a glass of water with the snack and you should be set.
PS. It's okay to snack after 6 PM as long as it's not 3-4 scoops of ice cream with toppings
What's wrong with half a tub of ice cream with toppings before bed? Assuming it's in your calories, of course.
A lot of things, 1) It's dairy which is for fattening baby mammals 2) The sugar, which is the root cause of the obesity epidemic 3) The insulin fairy only comes out at night and will store it all as fat
Ohhhhhhh!! Forgot about those.f*cking fairies.
Still
you! 0 -
If you snack every night just build it into you daily calorie budget. Have a glass of water with the snack and you should be set.
PS. It's okay to snack after 6 PM as long as it's not 3-4 scoops of ice cream with toppings
What's wrong with half a tub of ice cream with toppings before bed? Assuming it's in your calories, of course.
A lot of things, 1) It's dairy which is for fattening baby mammals 2) The sugar, which is the root cause of the obesity epidemic 3) The insulin fairy only comes out at night and will store it all as fat
Ohhhhhhh!! Forgot about those.f*cking fairies.
Still you!
*smooooches*0 -
There are two seperate issues here that are getting confused.
1) Calories are calories, regardless of when in the day you eat them. If your body burns more calories than you consume, you will lose weight - whether you space your eating out into 20 small incraments or eat it all at one time immediately before bed. This math is fundamental to the concept of counting your calories.
2) The reason the calories before bed myth has continued for so long, is there is an argument to be made that a diet is more likely to be SUSTAINABLE if you are eating your calories earlier in the day, rather than before bed. The reason is that when you eat earlier in the day (as opposed to before bed), you will feel satiated (or full) for a higher percentage of your waking hours. Conversely, if you eat more calories before bed (and fewer throughout the day) you will be hungrier throughout the day and more satiated while asleep (when feeling satiated does not even give you any benefit). A lifestyle is more sustainable if you are not always feeling hungry, so it is easy to see why the eating calories early in the day myth continues.
A "diet" is more sustainable if it fits your lifestyle & preferences. Not eating at night makes me cranky, makes me have more trouble sleeping than usual, and makes me 200% more miserable in the morning. I am perfectly "satiated" during the day having oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, maybe a salad or soup or something for lunch. I'm ravenously hungry at night-regardless of what I eat during the day. Fighting that leads to a whole lotta binging at night. Planning for it makes it fit my life and very easily maintainable.
I realize I'm an n=1 non-peer reviewed study and all, but I'm not seeing any other evidene to support that what I'm doing is "bad."
Notice I said in #2, "there is an argument to be made", not that it is a fact or true for everyone. My point is that, for some people, eating more calories earlier in the day allows them to feel satiated for more of their waking day. For these people, it is easier to stick to a plan that involves not eating at night - specifially because it allows them to eat more calories during the day.0 -
Brush your teeth. Everything tastes like *kitten* afterwards.
What flavor toothpaste do you use? Starfish flavor?0 -
There are two seperate issues here that are getting confused.
1) Calories are calories, regardless of when in the day you eat them. If your body burns more calories than you consume, you will lose weight - whether you space your eating out into 20 small incraments or eat it all at one time immediately before bed. This math is fundamental to the concept of counting your calories.
2) The reason the calories before bed myth has continued for so long, is there is an argument to be made that a diet is more likely to be SUSTAINABLE if you are eating your calories earlier in the day, rather than before bed. The reason is that when you eat earlier in the day (as opposed to before bed), you will feel satiated (or full) for a higher percentage of your waking hours. Conversely, if you eat more calories before bed (and fewer throughout the day) you will be hungrier throughout the day and more satiated while asleep (when feeling satiated does not even give you any benefit). A lifestyle is more sustainable if you are not always feeling hungry, so it is easy to see why the eating calories early in the day myth continues.
A "diet" is more sustainable if it fits your lifestyle & preferences. Not eating at night makes me cranky, makes me have more trouble sleeping than usual, and makes me 200% more miserable in the morning. I am perfectly "satiated" during the day having oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, maybe a salad or soup or something for lunch. I'm ravenously hungry at night-regardless of what I eat during the day. Fighting that leads to a whole lotta binging at night. Planning for it makes it fit my life and very easily maintainable.
I realize I'm an n=1 non-peer reviewed study and all, but I'm not seeing any other evidene to support that what I'm doing is "bad."
Also, of course it is not bad what you are doing (see #1). Any adherence to your calorie plan will result in you achieving your goals - which is the whole point! I was merely trying to explain rationally why I think the "no calories after 6pm" myth has persisted for all these years. For certain people it works, although not for the reasons they think it is working. The reason it works is because it allows them to adhere to their total daily calorie plan, not because night calories are evil.0 -
Brush your teeth. Everything tastes like *kitten* afterwards.
What flavor toothpaste do you use? Starfish flavor?
EWWWW! I'm a Crest gal.0 -
I have a BAD habit....I get this feeling of wanting a snack in the evening after 6ish. I eat a balance dinner and throughout the day I manage what I eat. What can I do to help to control this?
I eat dinner every night @ 8:30 pm and always have a snack afterwards. I make sure I budget 100 - 150 calories for said snack. It's never hindered my progress. So if you like a snack before bed just make sure it fits into your calorie budget for the day.0 -
Allot for it0
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It's not a myth. Calories are energy. If you provide your body with energy you body needs to use that energy to burn it off.
If you eat before you go to bed without exercising, then that energy isn't utilised.
Good snacks for the evening are clear chicken soups / broths.
So, how quickly do you think the body converts food into energy? Do you think it just passes through the back of your throat and turns into majik energy pellets?0 -
What's wrong with eating after 6? I hate going to bed hungry. It doesn't matter when you eat as long as you stick to your calorie goal. The whole "eating right before bed is bad thing" is a myth.
its not a myth if you eat crap before bed.
Not a myth if you eat most of your calories before bed.
YEP
Um...still a myth. I eat close to (or over) 1000 calories within the hour before I go to bed (including a healthy dose of crap just before I go to sleep). I don't go over my calories for the day. See ticker for how it's working.
What i'm saying is If you're not spacing out your calorie consumption throughout the day and eating 600-800 empty calories before bed (ie:junk food), you're not doing yourself any favors.
You're also not doing yourself any disservice.0 -
There are two seperate issues here that are getting confused.
1) Calories are calories, regardless of when in the day you eat them. If your body burns more calories than you consume, you will lose weight - whether you space your eating out into 20 small incraments or eat it all at one time immediately before bed. This math is fundamental to the concept of counting your calories.
2) The reason the calories before bed myth has continued for so long, is there is an argument to be made that a diet is more likely to be SUSTAINABLE if you are eating your calories earlier in the day, rather than before bed. The reason is that when you eat earlier in the day (as opposed to before bed), you will feel satiated (or full) for a higher percentage of your waking hours. Conversely, if you eat more calories before bed (and fewer throughout the day) you will be hungrier throughout the day and more satiated while asleep (when feeling satiated does not even give you any benefit). A lifestyle is more sustainable if you are not always feeling hungry, so it is easy to see why the eating calories early in the day myth continues.
A "diet" is more sustainable if it fits your lifestyle & preferences. Not eating at night makes me cranky, makes me have more trouble sleeping than usual, and makes me 200% more miserable in the morning. I am perfectly "satiated" during the day having oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, maybe a salad or soup or something for lunch. I'm ravenously hungry at night-regardless of what I eat during the day. Fighting that leads to a whole lotta binging at night. Planning for it makes it fit my life and very easily maintainable.
I realize I'm an n=1 non-peer reviewed study and all, but I'm not seeing any other evidene to support that what I'm doing is "bad."
Also, of course it is not bad what you are doing (see #1). Any adherence to your calorie plan will result in you achieving your goals - which is the whole point! I was merely trying to explain rationally why I think the "no calories after 6pm" myth has persisted for all these years. For certain people it works, although not for the reasons they think it is working. The reason it works is because it allows them to adhere to their total daily calorie plan, not because night calories are evil.
I think we are in agreement. I think the myth has persisted because of Bob Harper and Dr. Oz (and whoever their counterparts were before Oprah made them famous-not sure if Oprah had anything to do with Dr Oz though).0 -
I eat dinner around 8:30 PM - 9:00PM while I sit on my *kitten* and watch TV, then I go to bed at 10:00. No problems whatsoever and I'm right on track with my weight loss...ya know why? Because I'm eating at a caloric deficit, stay within my calorie and macro goals, and because your metabolism doesn't turn into a pumpkin after 6PM.
My BMR is 1,885...which would average out to around 78.55 calories burned per hour if I was in a friggin' coma. I don't think my metabolic rate cares about what time of day it is.0 -
Different things work for different people.
I also put a limit on how late I will eat – but considering I don’t usually go to bed until 11:30pm. I make mine 8p.m.
There’s a lot of info out there – some say don’t eat after 6, some say it doesn’t matter at all, some say stop eating 2 to 4 hours before bed.
Personally, I think the best thing anyone can do is to listen to your body!
If you are hungry – eat….
That being said, I think we often mistake true hunger for other things – boredom, stress, habit.
When I want to eat something I try to decide if I actually feel hungry and how hungry I feel. I use a scale of 1 to 5 - 5 being I would chew my own hand off, and 1 being I’ll live, it just sounded good. If I’m a 1 to 3 I will try drinking a full 8 ounces of water before I eat, or just doing something else to take my mind off of it – If I’m still hungry then I try the 2 bites rule – just have a few bites of whatever it is you are craving.
How many times do you eat a day?
I try to eat small amounts 6 to 8 times a day.
Water will help you to feel full as well eating a lot of protein…lean meats can make really good snacks.
Good Luck!
Hope you find what works for you!0 -
A "diet" is more sustainable if it fits your lifestyle & preferences.
This.
This argument that eating more during the day will keep you feeling satisfied presupposes that you can't control yourself. If that's really your problem (i.e. inability to just put the food away and find something else to do), then CLEARLY your "diet" is not working for you. It's not the snacking; it's whatever you're doing before the snacking that leaves you still craving food. The OP finishes all her meals and still wants to eat, so obviously eating all her calories earlier in the day isn't keeping her satiated.0 -
I plan in what I am going to eat. It is always healthy snack. A piece of fruit, cheese sticks, like that. I don't deviate from the written plan.0
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Choose to stop, find things to keep busy. If these snacks don't throw you over your calorie limit don't worry too much but it's going to take willpower and that's that.0
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Put down the pipe?0
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Not to sound blunt, but have dinner at six and go to bed early. That's how I avoid the post dinner snacking.0
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If it fits your macros, just eat.0
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I have a BAD habit....I get this feeling of wanting a snack in the evening after 6ish. I eat a balance dinner and throughout the day I manage what I eat. What can I do to help to control this?
Every trainer and dietician I have spoken to has always told me to eat a snack around 9 PM or 10 PM since your body won't be fed for around 8 hours.0 -
I chew sugarless gum or do a challenging crossword puzzle.0
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Healthy snack, is ok. I've been recommended dairy, like a glass of milk, or tea also helps curb appetite. Just make sure it's a decaf one like chamomile.0
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eat smart snacks like air popped popcorn within salt or butter.0
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without salt or butter!0
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I struggle with the same thing. I agree snacking after 6 is not taboo. However when you are NOT hungry and are just eating to eat or because it is a habit, that's when it is a problem. Lately, I've been eating dinner a bit later then having a cup of hot tea an hour or so later. For some reason, the tea seems to tell me to stop. If tea's not your thing, try some other hot drink that you would sip. (Brushing teeth doesn't do it for me. About an hour later, I completely forget I've brushed and the taste of the toothpaste is gone. Give it a try though, maybe it will work for you.)0
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I probably eat 500 calories worth of snacks every night after dinner.
Instead of eating breakfast, which I never liked doing anyway, I save those cals for when I know I really want them! If you can fit it into your calorie goal, it doesn't matter when you eat them.0 -
Take a photo of yourself half naked and place it on the place where you snacks are.
TRUE STORY!! I have a FAT Pic on my fridge so whenever I feel the urge to Binge I just look at that Pic and the craving usually goes right away....
DRINK H2O!!!!0
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