Eat great during the day, but at night not so much

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jmellott99
jmellott99 Posts: 20 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
anyone have problems of just going off the deep end at note in terms of eating well. I have a horrible habit of binging on junk, completely counteracting how well i do during the day. any advice?

Replies

  • buzzcockgirl
    buzzcockgirl Posts: 260 Member
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    me too. Do great all day- then at about 9pm - I want chips and crackers with peanut butter and popcorn and cereal and all sorts of goodies. Sometimes I give in, sometimes I just go to bed.
    I guess the only advice I can give (to you and me!) is either: go to bed, don't bring the junk food that you snack on into the house, or... let's have some self control!!!

    Now I'll try to take my own advice.
  • _Krys10_
    _Krys10_ Posts: 1,234 Member
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    Get rid of the junk, find a hobby to keep busy
  • jgal86
    jgal86 Posts: 77
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    Me!! I am so good during the day but when night time comes I just crave all kinds of junk food. It is awful!!

    I am trying my best not to binge.. but it definitely happens at least a couple of times during the week. Things that really help me:

    -When I feel like I am going to binge, get up and do some light stretching for 15 minutes.

    -Try not to lay around and do nothing in the evenings. I try and keep myself very busy with activities (hard to do I know)

    - Chug water when you feel a binge coming on
  • lighteningjeanne855
    lighteningjeanne855 Posts: 566 Member
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    I see that you have sugar with your coffee, and enjoy pastries and Papa John Pizza.
    I used to have a belly full of pizza, and still go back for another slice before bedtime.

    I looked at your food diary.
    Sugar and refined wheat products are not giving you 'satiety' or satisfaction with your daily
    calorie, intake. therefore, you feel hunger or cravings (which are NOT the same thing), at night.
    If you eat more real food, your cravings will probably go away. May I suggest that you save 200 calories
    for a evening snack, such as a boiled egg and a slice of bacon?

    I follow the Paleo/Primal lifestyle, and eat 1800 calories per day with eggs, bacon, (and bacon grease),
    meat, butter, and lots of vegetables. My stomach is very happy and satisfied. Even if I use my allotment
    of calories and macro-nutrients (fat, protein, and carbs) by 4:30 PM, I'm still all right.
    http://paleohacks.com/

    Best wishes!
  • mwooderson
    mwooderson Posts: 254 Member
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    me too. Do great all day- then at about 9pm - I want chips and crackers with peanut butter and popcorn and cereal and all sorts of goodies. Sometimes I give in, sometimes I just go to bed.
    I guess the only advice I can give (to you and me!) is either: go to bed, don't bring the junk food that you snack on into the house, or... let's have some self control!!!

    Now I'll try to take my own advice.

    THIS = ME!!! I don't keep "junk" in the house but cereal / fruit on a binge can do some major damage!!!
  • cowgirlupkelly
    cowgirlupkelly Posts: 51
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    Me personally I plan for something sweet or salty or a combo sweet/salty for the evening. This helped get to my goal weight and also to maintain it (of course the tracking foods and exercise helped me too).
  • herblackwings39
    herblackwings39 Posts: 3,930 Member
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    I save calories for the evenings when I tend to be hungrier. Sometimes I don't start eating until after 1 or 2 pm. Really it depends on the day, but I always do my best to keep at least a few hundred calories in case I need them.
  • auncangco1
    auncangco1 Posts: 15
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    I wish I had an answer. I have the same issue. At the end of the day, I really want a bowl of cheerios. The more I track my macros, the more I realize I have an issue with sugar and carbs, so I think Jeanne is probably correct.
  • snejkaxo
    snejkaxo Posts: 91 Member
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    I save up as many calories as I can during the day, so I can eat whatever I want for dinner. I still try to keep junk food at bay, at least during the week, but if we do have beer for dinner, or pizza, or whatever else caloric, at least I know the total for the day still will be decent. This is the only way I can maintain my daily caloric value, and not feel deprived when my husband shoves food in his mouth during dinner. Check out IF (intermittent fasting), maybe it will work for you also. Good luck!
  • Kari121869
    Kari121869 Posts: 180 Member
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    You CAN have a snack at night.. i do. Just make sure to keep some cals for it. Check out the low cals for air popped popcorn... I was amazed how low they are!! I crave the 'crunch factor'... so popcorn, veggie chips (which are only 230 cals for 68 chips!!!! EASY to keep that low for a snack) or even cereal is a great low cal snack.. if you're not wanting veggies or fruit
  • 04hoopsgal73
    04hoopsgal73 Posts: 890 Member
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    What jeanne855 said:

    "I looked at your food diary.
    Sugar and refined wheat products are not giving you 'satiety' or satisfaction with your daily
    calorie, intake. therefore, you feel hunger or cravings (which are NOT the same thing), at night.
    If you eat more real food, your cravings will probably go away. May I suggest that you save 200 calories
    for a evening snack, such as a boiled egg and a slice of bacon?”

    You’re cravings will go away when you are filled with calories that come from real and cleaner foods:
    Snacks try eggs, lean deli turkey breast, chicken, sliced vegetables with ranch dip (2 Tb), Almonds 100 calorie pack with ½ grapefruit, carrot/celery sticks with almond butter, 1oz unsweetened beef jerky, 6 oz yogurt, cottage cheese; protein powder.

    Breakfast try more protein like 3 eggs, wheat toast, real margarine, and a banana or grapefruit;
    Real Oatmeal with berries, milk, and 1-2 scoops of protein powder. Omelletes with vegetables.

    Lunch: Build salads and add chicken, tuna, turkey, fish; avocada, olives, beans; assorted vegetables; add a wrap or pita bread to it. Use 2 Tb of real salad dressing like a vinagrette or Italian dressing.
    Hamburger with gaucamole on it and have vegetables with it.

    Dinner: Beef 4 oz, Chicken-Fish 4 oz, Have 2 vegetables, brown rice or sweet potato.

    Try a protein drink post dinner. Made a time cutoff for nothing to eat or drink.
    Drink tons of water throughout your day. Maybe you are but I didd’t see it recorded.

    This worked for me. Good luck.
  • guessrs
    guessrs Posts: 358 Member
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    My cut off time is 6 pm. After that only coffee and fruits are allowed.
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    Try intermittent fasting. I have the same issues, but have found that my self control during the day is easily translated into not eating anything at all during the day and then eating a nice big meal at night.

    Also, get rid of any junk food from your house. If it isn't there, you can't eat it. My junk food binges are now things like cheerios or air popped popcorn because that is about the closest thing I have to junk food in the house.
  • bfly67
    bfly67 Posts: 2
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    During the day you are busy, probably at work, or something. This means that you have limited moments you need to "manage". In the evening, it is all up to you.

    Don't set yourself up to fail and make sure there isn't an abundance of bad choices just waiting to happen. Shop for success. Then find something to do, exercise (rowing) worked for me, but you just need a few things to keep yourself busy. Read a book, talk to people (family, friends, anyone including a forum). Make it a staple.

    After supper take some time then, go do that thing you do. After that have a treat. Maybe just desert you postponed. Make it something relatively healthy that fits your diet, but also something you can look forward to enjoying.

    After that half the evening is already over.

    Find some light snacks/treats you can get without 'costing' you too much. Me being Dutch, I have a thing for licorice so I found some easy to portion treats I liked. Make sure you choose something that you can enjoy in small portions, i.e. go for flavor/taste.

    Big portions are universally bad for you and don't 'stack' treats (this and that and also the other thing).

    I found it helpful to plan a lot of my days beforehand, like on Sunday for the whole week, for the main meals.Then I'd only have to "fill in" snacks. And it was easy to switch days/meals around when plans changed, since it's easier to (re)adjust then to free-wheel day to day, moment to moment.

    Make it happen :wink:

    George.
  • thequiltmama
    thequiltmama Posts: 20
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    I know that I have an insane sweet tooth and because of that I can't have any sugar. If I have one bite I crave more and more. So I had to give up my sweets. It is hard but it does get easier and I don't have so many cravings now. Best of luck to you. :) I hope it gets easier.

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