Help with late night snacking!

danielleamplified
danielleamplified Posts: 9 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I stay on track, up until about 8pm or so. I'm actually very good at nutritional balance (during the day, that is). I eat clean, I juice, I eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, I keep my calories low, I try to eat organic, etc etc. I eat perfectly well all day long and then when it gets to the time that I am relaxing at night, my mind says CAKE COOKIES ICE CREAM CANDY! And then I snack. This is not every night, but many nights. Any advice on ways to help curb this?

Replies

  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    save some calories for late night food...
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    save some calories for late night food...

    This. And/or eat dinner later. And maybe have a treat during the day so you don't feel deprived at night.
  • calibriintx
    calibriintx Posts: 1,741 Member
    I'll help. Send me the cake, cookies, candy and ice cream. I will find a way to fit them in. You're welcome.
  • Phoenix_Warrior
    Phoenix_Warrior Posts: 1,633 Member
    Try eating in a way that's sustainable for you... and save late night calories for snacks!
  • momonthego42
    momonthego42 Posts: 24 Member
    I'm with you on having late night snacking issue. And what I find interesting is that I am also an emotional eater. So, what I have found that has helped, especially when watching tv late night, is to start crocheting. By keeping my hands busy my mind doesn't run to wanting something sweet or salty.
  • jennifer_255
    jennifer_255 Posts: 86 Member
    im the same it sucks im also a night person what do i do? drink a pint of water and research success stories or look at older pictures of myself bigger. if im really hungry i will have a bowl of veg such as sprouts spinach cucumber
  • twixlepennie
    twixlepennie Posts: 1,074 Member
    When I started this whole process I knew I would have to confront my night time, mindless snack habit. I always read at night and I'd sit down with a book and proceed to eat an entire can of Pringles, half a bag of chocolate chips etc. It was such a habit I did'nt even realize I was doing it to the extent that I was. It was not that I was eating 'bad' foods, it was that I was eating over my calories.

    So I decided to cut back on my eating window. First I stopped eating after 10pm (10pm came and I'd go brush my teeth lol). Then I moved it to 9:30, then 9pm and kept adjusting, until I was no longer eating past 7pm. Doing this really helped me learn what real hunger is vs. eating out of habit and also helped me keep on target for calories. This is something I've carried over into maintenance and while I'm more relaxed about it now, it's still a tool I use to keep me on track :)
  • danielleamplified
    danielleamplified Posts: 9 Member
    Thank all of you so much! All of this info is really helpful. :)
  • sunshyncatra
    sunshyncatra Posts: 598 Member
    I pre-log calories for my night time snacks and plan what I'm going to eat (usually popcorn, sometimes sweets or wine :)
  • mreeves261
    mreeves261 Posts: 728 Member
    I've found if I deny myself something I want it more. I'll do good for a few days or a few weeks and then bam, I binge. Best way for me to avoid this is to not deny myself anything. If I want ice cream, I have ice cream. I eat only 1 serving instead of the whole pint or 1/2 gallon or whatever I bought.
  • suecaldwell2003
    suecaldwell2003 Posts: 5 Member
    I have trouble with the evening snacking, too. I'm a night owl, so my evenings are pretty much everyone else's late afternoons. I find that I haven't been craving so much unhealthy food since I haven't been eating so much of it, but it's still difficult to not eat *some*thing in the evening, so I always make sure I have some 'spare' calories left over. Honestly, I don't know why a calorie after nine pm would be any worse than a calorie before then. And I will *not* give up my nightly glass of red wine, which I always add to my MFP snacks category first thing in the morning.
  • sweetpea03b
    sweetpea03b Posts: 1,123 Member
    If you have the calories... why not have a snack? I usually save about 100 calories for after dinner... that I use on 1) frozen yogurt ( i love yoplait frozen yogurt bars) 2) apple slices with peanut butter 3) a few pieces of chocolate 4) a 100cal pack of cookies.
  • enigrebua
    enigrebua Posts: 113 Member
    I'm with you on having late night snacking issue. And what I find interesting is that I am also an emotional eater. So, what I have found that has helped, especially when watching tv late night, is to start crocheting. By keeping my hands busy my mind doesn't run to wanting something sweet or salty.

    I did this! Except I do knitting instead of crocheting. I ask my friends and family what kind of knitted item they would like to have and then a few days or weeks later they have a thoughtful present as well, which makes you feel good!

    To OP:
    However, if the night-snacking is really hunger and not to do with any emotional or comfort motivation, then you're body wants more calories, I think. See if you can determine what it is that is motivating you to eat at night and then you'll have a better idea of possible solutions to try.

    Either way, it's a good habit to break, as eating high fat/high sugar/high salt snacks at night could interfere with your quality of sleep and could also encourage you to skip breakfast.
  • Sabby888
    Sabby888 Posts: 30 Member
    DON'T THINK ABOUT FOOD.

    Stay away from food, people eating food or people talking about food. Get food OUT OF YOUR HEAD.

    I believe snack avoidance (the main reason for my weight gain in the first place) has a lot to do with how you think about food. So if you occupy your head with something else, you have won most of the battle already.

    For instance. Right now it is 8pm, I have just finished dinner, my calorie limit is reached, and yet I still want to snack on something sweet. There is chocolate downstairs, with a nice pot of icecream in the freezer........

    NO! I just force not to think about it.

    That's why I am up here in my room *forever alone* watching Netflix.......

    It works. Seriously

    :drinker:
  • GLH2576
    GLH2576 Posts: 70 Member
    How many calories are you having in a typical day? Based on what you wrote it looks like a lot of carbs and sugar (from fruits and juice) and little protein or healthy fat. You might want to add something more substantial earlier in the day rather than consuming "empty" calories later in the evening.
  • ball_FXDWG
    ball_FXDWG Posts: 44 Member
    What works best for me is avoiding boredom and sitting around watching tv. Also living life and being exhausted when my day is done so I can go to sleep immediately and not even think about eating.
  • sammyneb
    sammyneb Posts: 257
    I am in the same boat, I can eat great all day, get my exercise in, then blow it all at night! Two things I do that works..no junk food in the house! It helps that I made my husband step on a scale last week ;) so he is on board with no junk in the house! I have fruit to snack on if I really "need" a snack. But I find the time I want to snack is once the kiddo is in bed and I'm relaxing for the night, watching tv. I don't let myself "relax', every commercial break I either do 30 sit ups or 30 chair dips. Exercise tends to curve "hunger" pains. By the time I stop doing that I'm to tired to think of eating :) so by 9 or 10 at night I can truly relax :)
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Go to bed earlier.
  • PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot
    PeteWhoLikesToRunAlot Posts: 596 Member
    I have a terrible tendency to do this. I specifically leave ~500 cals available after dinner to try to offset it. And it's completely mindless - often times I'm half asleep, and it's basically just a habitual thing. It's terrible.

Categories