My willpower weakens at night

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elleseefit
elleseefit Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
From breakfast to mid-afternoon snack my meals have been clean and on point, but once I get home from work it's like my willpower never existed!

I get plenty of roughage and protein during the day. I eat around 300-400 cals. per daytime meal. And still my cravings for sweets and salty food become ferocious at night and I feel like a bottomless pit!

My weakest muscle is definitely my willpower.

SO FRUSTRATING!

Replies

  • sarski77
    sarski77 Posts: 79
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    How many calories do you NET on your average day?
  • unskinnybop1
    unskinnybop1 Posts: 25 Member
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    I agree! I know its bad not to eat breakfast but its a waste of calories if I'm not hungry. I try to have a biiig lunch to satisfy them until the snackfest arrives so I can snack and not go over 1200 calories!
  • kristafb
    kristafb Posts: 770 Member
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    I'm very similar. I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch & dinner, but at night I crave chips or ice cream or just junk in general. its brutal!!

    I've found the best thing to do is track for snacks first thing in the day that way you can fit it into your diet if you want it. Then you can look forward to it all day :)

    Also get a hobby!! knitting, crocheting, anything to keep your hands busy. or even work out!.

    Ps Your baby is adorable!
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
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    Yes, it certainly does!

    "Willpower is lower when you're sleepy," explains study author Kelly Baron, Ph.D., a clinical health psychologist at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. "So if you're eating in the middle of the night, you're more likely to overeat and make poor food choices."

    Can You Eat Late And Still Lose Weight?
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/22/eat-late-weight-loss_n_1619425.html
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
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    Save more calories for night
  • ruckerbenton
    ruckerbenton Posts: 94
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    I struggle with this issue as well. My problem time is between 10p - midnight and beyond. I will wake up and go straight to the frig. I appreciate reading this thread so I can learn as well. I do try to log my day and snacks in the morning before the day starts. Lately, more because of my results, I have become frustrated with the whole healthy lifestyle thing. I even had a thought last night that there are so many fat people's clothes that are stylish and beautiful and that maybe I should go back to just accepting who I am and quit trying to change. So--I'm following this thread with some hope.

    I am starting back to school full-time in early May. I hope the increased activity and time that this requires will decrease my snacking and poor habits. I know that I have to own my behaviors and work to get past the bad and the negative thought energy that I spend. Best wishes!
  • sarcosis1
    sarcosis1 Posts: 42
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    I have this problem too. I can be good all day but at night I crave bad foods, especially after exercise. I'm struggling with it.
  • rosie7693
    rosie7693 Posts: 14 Member
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    I'm completely the same. The best thing to do is probably just scrimp on the calories earlier in the day so you can afford to have snacks later at night. Without fail I will always want a massive bowl of cereal around 9-10pm, and it always makes me go over. But as of yet I haven't managed to stop that habit!
  • angieleighbyrd
    angieleighbyrd Posts: 989 Member
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    I'm a binge eater. And when I say binge I mean when I get in a binge I can do upwards of 10k calories in less than an hour and that's not my whole day.

    I haven't really found my triggers yet. But the only thing that I've really found to help me is eating on a schedule. I also pre-log my food the night before and I try to fill up all my calories when I log so I don't have any room to mess up. I eat roughly every 3-4 hours. I try to get protein and fiber in each meal because it helps me stay full until my next meal. I have my diary set up to times instead of breakfat, lunch and dinner....sometimes it does take some prep time. I have an appointment today to get my tattoo worked on. I won't be home for a few hours so I prepped my afternoon meal to take with me. Usually when I log the night before I guess on what the weights of things will be then just adjust it as I go along. But last night I prepped everything that I plan on eating for the day including weighing it out. Being out of the house and around others is I guess one of my triggers.

    From what you've said it doesn't sound like we have the same issue though....but maybe planning your meals out more will help you when you feel out of control at night.
  • momof2TONI
    momof2TONI Posts: 116
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    Oh my goodness, I have the same problem. I do great all day long, then at night my willpower totally disappears. I'm at the point of giving up and eating whatever in the heck I want to and forget trying. It's so discouraging!
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
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    Habits, triggers and willpower:

    How Habits Work, from The Power of Habit
    http://charlesduhigg.com/how-habits-work/

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