Avice to stop nighttime eating

focuseddiva
focuseddiva Posts: 174 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Turns out that my willpower diminishes with every hour of the day. By the time 9 pm rolls around, that box of cookies or cereal doesn't seem as off limits as it was in the morning. This is by far my most challenging part of the day, and where the weight gain creep has happened for me. If I could nip this one habit, it would be smooth sailing.

For example, yesterday was day 3 of my logging on MFP. Yes, just day 3. My calories for the day are 1200. I exercised and burned about 700. I ate veggies, cucumbers, and sugar free jello. I fell asleep at 9 and woke up an hour later, feeling very hungry. I went into the kitchen, lurking and staring at food. I ate one cookie. And then I ate a 70-calorie thing of nuts. In my head, the whole time, I am rationalizing that hey -- I had only eaten back a quarter of my exercise calories, so I technically had wiggle room. Bottom line -- I ate 1800 calories yesterday, and even though I was okay mathematically (b/c I burned 700, so technically I could have eaten 1900 cals yesterday), I still felt awful. I should have stayed at around 1500. I didn't, I let that cookie and those nuts overtake me.

Any advice for a night-time grazer who seems to undo all of her daily hard work in the span of 15 minutes?

Replies

  • murphy92x
    murphy92x Posts: 5 Member
    Have a pint of water or a cup of tea instead or fruit. Thats what i used to do, now im the same situation as you i live at my boyfriends mow and find my self craving biscuits cakes just because i know they are there in my house i never had them in. That also help if you have nothing to snack on you cant do it anyway x
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    Bottom line -- I ate 1800 calories yesterday, and even though I was okay mathematically (b/c I burned 700, so technically I could have eaten 1900 cals yesterday), I still felt awful. I should have stayed at around 1500. I didn't, I let that cookie and those nuts overtake me.
    Why "should" you have stayed at 1500? By all means leave some room for error with exercise calories, but eating only a quarter of them seems a little on the low side. It sounds like you're beating yourself up for eating a perfectly reasonable amount of food.

    Regarding the eating late in the day - I realised some time ago that I simply enjoy eating in the evening. I prefer eating later. I don't really like eating early in the day. I like having a big evening meal and snacking during the evening, so that's what I do. I simply allow for it in my calorie goal. There's nothing wrong with eating later in the day, as long as you're meeting your goal for the day. Arrange your meal frequency and timing to suit your own preferences, energy levels etc.
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    Your body is telling you it needs more food. You are working out and burning a lot, those muscles need fuel. Try eating a bit more, and maybe a bit more protein.
    Eat more during the day, and you will snack less during the night.
  • TheVimFuego
    TheVimFuego Posts: 2,412 Member
    I eat very little during the day, this way I can pig out in the evening and not worry about it.

    But I'm an office drone who doesn't "work out", I can barely work out which train to catch most mornings. ;)

    I find I can exercise restraint during the day easier than the evening so it works for me, obviously it's not for everyone ...
  • emirror
    emirror Posts: 842 Member
    When I'm trying to lose weight, I eliminate the sweets almost completely. To help me do that, I bought a high-quality protein powder, unsweetened almond milk, and PB2 (peanut butter powder with the fat removed). I make a shake at night and partially freeze it, for a milkshake-slushy-type sweet tasting treat. It has almost no sugar, and a ton of protein so I feel full.

    I also found that when I keep my menu mostly meat, vegetables, and eggs, I would stay full longer and not experience as many instances of feeling hungry, to the point of having to remind myself to eat.

    I've been on a dieting break since early November, but if you look in my diary for the several months before that, you can see what it was like. It was boring and repetitive, but it worked.

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