Tips to avoid evening binge

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  • daddydog69
    daddydog69 Posts: 17 Member
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    Ive been saving calories for late night....I haven't gone a day in more than two months without some cardio or strength training. MY problem occurs if I save enough for a few beers or 3/4 glasses of Cabernet I get the delirious munchies...and wear a track to the kitchen. The dogs love it...I still keep track of everything...last night I had Swedish meatballs at 1:45 am! AGGGH!
  • 80sFanatic88
    80sFanatic88 Posts: 70 Member
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    I wait till midnight, so I can count those calories for the next day instead. Makes me feel like I'm cheating, but then when I wake up I've got calories to burn off. :tongue:
  • a778c466
    a778c466 Posts: 141 Member
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    I try to make sure I save a large amount of calories for my meal at night, because I had that problem also. One piece of dark chocolate satisfies my cravings better than milk chocolate ever has. Also brushing my teeth makes me not want to eat anything either.
  • jamimari777
    jamimari777 Posts: 101 Member
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    fruit - pineapple and grapes with cinnamon satisfy me.
  • kmccormick42
    kmccormick42 Posts: 78 Member
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    Hershey's kisses - anywhere between 1 & 3 and I feel like I have my chocolate fix in. It's less than 100 calories
  • jamimari777
    jamimari777 Posts: 101 Member
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    I also picked up 100 calorie dark chocolate bars - those do the trick too.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    Don't buy foods you're likely to binge on. Do more frequent trips to the store so you don't have a huge stock of food you love in your house. Buy things you like but you don't love.
  • katielinds
    katielinds Posts: 20 Member
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    I do the same. For the last 10 years, evening has been my "food time" so it would be unrealistic for me to expect to eat a small portioned dinner and a bigger lunch/breakfast--- i'd fail! I eat light (but smart) for breakfast and lunch, and then I go to the gym after work and come home and EAT!
  • patbeharry
    patbeharry Posts: 13
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    I have a planned evening treat.....usually hot milk and cookies as a bedtime snack. Each morning I try to plan out my "menu" for the day and I account for the calories that will be my evening treat. That way when I get that evening craving I still have something to look forward to.
  • katielinds
    katielinds Posts: 20 Member
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    Oops--- meant to quote Jfrankic-! :)
  • weightingtobloom
    weightingtobloom Posts: 30 Member
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    It's very easy to be good in the daytime but pig out at night. For this reason I'm a huge proponent of saving up calories for an evening binge. Why fight it? Just eat healthy and low calorie for breakfast and lunch, and that way you can go all out for dinner and later night snacks.

    Nate Miyaki calls this appraoch intermittent feasting (as opposed to intermittent fasting) and it's worked great for me during my maintenance phase. I have no problem restricting calories during the day when I'm busy, especially if I know I'll be able to eat a lot at night.

    This is what I do unintentionally... It might work for some people, but I can't lose any weight even though my calories are right on target. I think it messes with my body's system, because it's definitely not a normal way of eating.
    Also, even if I have enough calories to handle the binge, I still feel terribly guilty and uncontrollable afterward. Binge eating is definitely not the most enjoyable way to get your calories.
  • davidwgold
    davidwgold Posts: 50
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    I've literally just started working on my binging problem. I will often go a few days perfectly fine but then I'll reach for one treat and go wild, often consuming an extra 3000-4000 calories in one sitting.

    My current plan is to not restrict my diet, I found the reason I binge is because I restrict myself on what I can and can't eat but my most recent binge pushed me to work on this problem. What I'm doing is having a small treat each day in the evening, whether it be some ice cream, a small bar of chocolate or really anything I usually crave. Once I've eaten it I immediately fill up a bottle of water and if I feel an urge coming on I've grabbed the water and had a drink until I don't feel the craving anymore.

    Since my treat is after my evening meal as well I don't plan on eating anything else afterwards so once I've had my treat I go and brush my teeth, in a way this helps me because I associate cleaning my teeth with the end of the day where no more eating will happen, obviously this might not work for everyone but personally it has helped.

    Feel free to add me though because I know exactly how it feels to have this problem and would enjoy getting to know others in the same situation!
  • moxiepedia
    moxiepedia Posts: 14
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    I had noticed that my late night snacking had nothing to do with hunger but with old habits, i.e. munching while watching TV. Once I recognized that, I moved dinner to later in the evening. My go-to dessert is typically "ice cream" made out of frozen banana, which I then blend with a spoonful of peanut butter and some cacao powder. That bit of sweetness is satisfying enough to stave off further cravings, and I'm usually full and satiated. I also sip on water and may chew gum or have a mint if I'm sensing a snacking urge. You may find, though, that you just have to keep certain foods out of the house. You're on the right track. We have to know our current behaviors (and possibly the reasoning behind them) before we can change them.
  • cschiff
    cschiff Posts: 209 Member
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    don't bring the whole bar of chocolate, bag of chocolate chips or whatever it is with you to sit down!!! take a small portion in your hand and go enjoy. make sure it is a reasonable size. i also try to drink a HUGE glass of water before i eat the sweets so that by time i am done i will think "man, I'm full!" Almost always works. Enjoy :)
  • katellanova
    katellanova Posts: 204 Member
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    How about enjoying what you want in moderation and not stressing yourself out with "being good"?
  • KatrinaWilke
    KatrinaWilke Posts: 372 Member
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    It's very easy to be good in the daytime but pig out at night. For this reason I'm a huge proponent of saving up calories for an evening binge. Why fight it? Just eat healthy and low calorie for breakfast and lunch, and that way you can go all out for dinner and later night snacks.

    Nate Miyaki calls this appraoch intermittent feasting (as opposed to intermittent fasting) and it's worked great for me during my maintenance phase. I have no problem restricting calories during the day when I'm busy, especially if I know I'll be able to eat a lot at night.

    This is what I do unintentionally... It might work for some people, but I can't lose any weight even though my calories are right on target. I think it messes with my body's system, because it's definitely not a normal way of eating.
    Also, even if I have enough calories to handle the binge, I still feel terribly guilty and uncontrollable afterward. Binge eating is definitely not the most enjoyable way to get your calories.

    Why is this not a normal way to eat? I am just curious...
  • j4nash
    j4nash Posts: 1,719 Member
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    Simple...I eat most of my calories at night. It's nothing for me to have 1000 calorie dinner at 7:30pm or later.

    ETA: I also follow IF, so I eat between noonish and 8pmish. A 16/8 window works for me.

    this is the only thing that works for me
  • Warchortle
    Warchortle Posts: 2,197 Member
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    If you have cravings that are real and not mental it's because your body knows it's deficient in a certain vitamin.

    There are recipes for quick whey protein powder brownies. Also just keeping real cacao beans on hand might help.
  • rmdaly
    rmdaly Posts: 250 Member
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    I will eat after dinner just out of boredom because I am in the kitchen or watching TV. I started doing a yoga/stretching routine in front of TV and that keeps me from snacking and I feel better afterward.
  • twinketta
    twinketta Posts: 2,130 Member
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    Eat your MFP cals as normal and then work out to add treats, the more you work out the more treats you get simple! You burn em you earn em!

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