Late Night snacking

Snacking has always been a big problem for me.

What I've started doing this year is try to eat my meals at about the same times each day, and have a set number of calories as my goal for each meal. I try to eat every three hours so I don't get too hungry, although I usually am a little bit by my next meal.

I have a 1,600-calorie goal, so here's my meal breakdown on most days (not including exercise calories, which I try to save for dinner and my after-dinner snack):

Breakfast- ~7 or 8 am- 350 calories

>(extra cup of coffee around 10 or 11 when I feel a little hungry, included in breakfast calories)

Lunch- 12pm- 300 calories

Afternoon Snack- 3pm-200 calories

Dinner- ~6, 6:30pm- 500 calories

After Dinner Snack- ~8pm- 200 calories

if your eating within your calories for the day then it really doesnt matter when you eat them. I stay up late so i literally count up to midnite. Anything after midnite goes into the next day.

Disclaimer- i know many believe that you shouldnt eat after a set time in the evening. especially carbs. I am just stating above that I do not have a problem eating throughout the evening. so please dont thrash me

I don't know that this is particularly helpful in YOUR case... but I don't do ANYthing about it. I have always been a night eater. It's a habbit that I tried to break in the past by chewing gum, watching tv in bed (hubby hates crumbs in the sheets!!), a jug of water, etc. NOTHING seemed to break me..... So what do I do? I make sure that I have PLENTY of calories left at the end of each day to have a night/evening snack. If you can't beat it...make it work for you! :flowerforyou:

Just budget your calories for snacks.

It doesn't matter when you eat.

Sometimes, I have dinner at 5pm and sometimes I have dinner at 10pm.

I usually eat 500-800 calories worth of snacks every day. I eat all day. I'm hungry all day, so this works for me! :laugh:

Listen to your body and do what's good for you.

I have a great idea! I confess that I too have been struggling with this lately only to feel awful about it the next day!
UGHH!!! AND I am not seeing the same results as I did before when I was much more controlled about not eating those late night goodies.

So here is my idea... let's be accountability partners! Whaddaya say?

If you are game.. send me a friend request!

God Bless YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kimi!

I don't know that this is particularly helpful in YOUR case... but I don't do ANYthing about it. I have always been a night eater. It's a habbit that I tried to break in the past by chewing gum, watching tv in bed (hubby hates crumbs in the sheets!!), a jug of water, etc. NOTHING seemed to break me..... So what do I do? I make sure that I have PLENTY of calories left at the end of each day to have a night/evening snack. If you can't beat it...make it work for you! :flowerforyou:

This is so true for me too. I've tried to stop late night eating and haven't been able to yet (although I like the idea of breaking the habit) Doesn't make it any easier that I have a baby who still wakes me up at night. I got tired of beating myself up over it so I keep about 200-300 calories for my night eating. That way I don't feel defeated come morning. I also will count calories after midnight into the next day's diary.

I save about 200-300 calories for my late night snack, so it all works into my meal plan.

I wake up in the middle of the night, and have some peanut butter or a slice of cheese sometimes. Hell, I don't even always wake up in the middle of the night, because I'm already awake, reading mountains of homework and assignments for class while everyone else in my house sleeps, so I just get a snack and count it into my daily food. Hasn't hurt me at all, because I don't have a lot of time to eat large meals during the day, so it all works out evenly.

Where people usually get in trouble with snacking isn't the snacking itself, or the time, because time is irrelevant, and hasn't been correlated with weight loss. What HAS been correlated with weight loss issues is the fact that snacking usually is hard to keep track of (so people eat more calories and can't count them), and people tend to eat more overall with snacking than they would otherwise. A snack is just a few bites of something, but many times people turn "snacks" into meals, and those meals add up really quickly.

If you wake up hungry, and want a snack, just plan for something small and filling. I usually go with things that have protein, like a spoonful of peanut butter or cheese, because I find that gets rid of the hunger, and doesn't keep me up.

When you've eaten all your calories for the day, go to bed!

I'm only half-way kidding. My drive to eat compulsively increases exponentially when I'm tired. Your body produces leptin (the hormone that is responsible for feeling full) while you sleep, and getting adequate rest is important for your muscle growth and repair and your mental health. Also, if you're working out hard during the day, it should help you to sleep better, in case you need motivation to work out every day or in case you have trouble falling asleep.

I know that everyone doesn't function in a 9 to 5 world -- I used to be a night shift worker for years -- but you can allot enough calories and small meals to get you through your waking hours, and then stop. I don't have my diary set up in a breakfast, lunch and dinner format -- I use 6 small meals instead, spaced at regular intervals. Try not to eat too many of your calories early in your day. I save the most for meal 5 & 6, which are dinner and an after-dinner snack.