Binge eating at nights?

dave_in_ni
dave_in_ni Posts: 533 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I dare say this has been the main cause of my weight problems. I do well all day then at night when I get sat down of the sofa I binge on junk, Reese Pieces being the main vice :( I'm not even hungry I just eat for the sake of eating, chocolate, crisps/potato chips, biscuits, you name it I am stuck in it at nights. Its like its my little reward or something then I go an undo all the good work I did all day,

Anyone else have this issue? How did you beat it?

Replies

  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Use your willpower. Just stop eating the junk. Replace with lettuce and salsa or berries or some other healthy, low-cal snack.

    You could also just break the habit. Stop eating every time you get the urge to put food in your mouth.

    If you find that you cannot break the habit on your own or you find yourself feeling badly because you ate food you didn't want to eat, consider seeing a therapist who specializes in eating disorders. Even if you don't have one, they can help you sort out why you eat when you aren't hungry.

    Good luck.
  • violasmith85
    violasmith85 Posts: 274 Member
    Watching TV? That was my issue. I always ate and watched tv so then when I sat and watched TV my brain freaked out thinking I had to have food. So I ended up having to find other things to do than watch tv at night until I got over it.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Go to sleep.
  • majigurl
    majigurl Posts: 660 Member
    Welcome to me ! me and my husband used to polish off a bag of chips, a bag of m&ms's and a 1L of coke together! I'm under 5 feet!!!!

    What you do is you STOP!

    it's f'n hard! it is.. your body is addicted and so is your brain!

    Start small. I stopped the coke.. replaced it with water.. ( omg water and chips is gross! ) .. then I stopped the chips and the m&m's and replaced it with other things.. pistachios was our go to.. yeah. . it's still high in calories.. but a lot better for us.

    after we were over our addiction ( took a month ) we stopped with the endless allowance of pistachios.. I now pre-measure EVERYTHING!

    19 almonds and a baby bell with water (150 cal ish)
    20 pistachios and 75 g of red grapes (150 cal ish )
    1 fudegical for those sweet tooth nights! (80 cal )
    and so on and so on.

    it DOES get easier.. but it gets A LOT harder before it gets easier!!! if you have to make sure you can call someone and complain bout it! come on here and complain.. whatever it takes.. just push yourself.. like you do in your workouts! be ok that it is hard!
  • MsGaladrial
    MsGaladrial Posts: 11
    I SO feel your pain! I am night owl, up often until 2:30 or 3 and find myself grazing off and on from about 10 until around 1. What I've started to do is make a huge jug of a really tasty herbal tea (Tazo sweet wild orange is good) and also have some veggies and hummus close by. Satisfies that weird craving for the "food that does not fill me". Good luck!
  • MichelleLea122
    MichelleLea122 Posts: 332 Member
    I used to do the same thing. The first thing is to portion out your food. Chips or ice cream at the end of the day isn't going to kill your entire day, but a whole bag or pint might. The major thing I found that helped is to sit down for every meal or snack. I portion out the amount of "junk food" (a serving or if I feel a bit rebellious a serving and a half), I'll allow myself to eat. Than I sit down at the dinner table with no distractions and enjoy my food. That way you'll actually savor the yumminess of your snack.
  • Emjaewhy
    Emjaewhy Posts: 4 Member
    I actually do the same thing as you sometimes. A few days ago I grabbed a tub of icecream around 10pm. I thought about it really hard "do i really really really need to eat this right now? no. i don't.", and with all my might put it back in the freezer. therefore it really is all about willpower. it's hard but that's why losing weight is such a struggle for me as well. if losing weight was easy, we would all be at our ideal weight already.
  • alereck
    alereck Posts: 343 Member
    Pre log. When you log your breakfast in the morning add 50 grams or 1 cup of watever you usually binge on at night. That way you can make sure to stay within your calories for the day and you don't have to skip your favorite snack. When night time comes, weight your snack and enjoy :drinker:
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
    Sometimes I chew sugarless gum to keep my mouth busy. Sounds silly, but it keeps me from mindlessly snacking (I do that when I go to the movies, so I won't be tempted to eat the popcorn).
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Sometimes I chew sugarless gum to keep my mouth busy. Sounds silly, but it keeps me from mindlessly snacking (I do that when I go to the movies, so I won't be tempted to eat the popcorn).
    I began gum when I quit smoking. If I'm not eating, I chew gum.

    I didn't plan it - wasn't purposeful, like "I'm going to replace cigarettes with gum!", but that's how it worked out.

    I've heard of other people who used gum to get over eating or smoking, too. :)
  • jallforme3
    jallforme3 Posts: 38 Member
    I am guilty. College student, late night studying and stress eating out of boredom.
    Just keeping the junk out of site and out of mind---if I don't buy it, I won't eat it. But being offered free desserts (nearly every day for me) is the true struggle I have........make small goals, stick with it, and eventually you'll create new habits!
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,059 Member
    Gotta stay mindful of your eating, stopping when full, and being accountable. It's hard, but you'll get the hang of it eventually.
  • kwiatrtdy
    kwiatrtdy Posts: 383 Member
    Embrace the fact that you will crave snacks at the end of the day and save up calories especially for it. I have Special K bags of cracker crisps that are only 86 calories but satisfy that crisp craving. I use Slimfast chocolate bars for the same thing too as they are under 100 calories,
  • namelesshere
    namelesshere Posts: 334 Member
    If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Try to keep only healthy foods in the house.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    You could attempt to make the energy dense, nutrient sparse foods (the ones you're likely to eat on the couch) less accessible and less visible/prevalent in your environment.

    An extreme example of this would be to get rid of it so that it's not in your house. If you need to do this, then just do it. You are much less likely to get in the car and drive to the store to go purchase your favorite treats, then you are to walk over to the kitchen and grab a handful.

    A less extreme example that can still be effective for many people would be to re-position the items. So for example if you typically keep them out in the open, where you can see them, move them to a different floor of your house in a sealed container where it is not in plain sight. This will cause the item to be less convenient to access and it will also potentially cause you to think about the item less frequently since it won't be as prevalent in your environment.

    If you do decide to have some anyways, which you may, rather than bringing the entire container to the couch, portion out the food item, put the package away entirely, and only bring the portion you intend to eat, to the couch.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
    That's basically what TV is for, right? Getting people to sit passively for hours at a time while they have adverts thrown at them left and right while they consume.

    Stop watching TV. If you can't do that, then be mindful of what's going on while you're just sitting there. Ask yourself if you're actually hungry, or are you being manipulated by the ads? Or are you just bored?

    Drink plenty of water as well. Thirst is often mistaken as hunger. If you have to snack, replace it by something low in calories like carrot sticks or berries or air-popped popcorn.
  • sensitivefool
    sensitivefool Posts: 343 Member
    Change your routine. Literally sit somewhere different. Or go for a walk at night to destress, come home and focus on your hygiene or something productive, then just go to bed. It is habit. Break the cycle.
  • rebeccagibney
    rebeccagibney Posts: 1
    I just started a new diet/ eating habits and night time is when I am most hungry too...
    Some suggestions they have:
    Drink water,
    Save a snack from the day for after dinner (I'm doing the Tony Ferguson plan and I'm allowed 2 x 150 cal snacks a day)
    Have a cup of tea - I have Chilli Chocolate and Lamington tea (not one for herbal), that can really hit the spot for a chocolate craving..
  • xjeanie
    xjeanie Posts: 69
    This totally isn't going to be something you like, but it's worked for me. My problem is that I too binged at night when relaxing. So now? I make myself go to bed early. I brush my teeth (which for some reason helps a bit) and then call it a night.
  • lolly715
    lolly715 Posts: 106
    If you don't buy it, you can't eat it. Try to keep only healthy foods in the house.

    This. I used to binge eat constantly in the evening, and it was never because I was hungry. The only thing that worked was a solid month with nothing other than what was needed to prepare meals in the house. Now I can have a few treats available (I only buy ones that are pre-portioned into snack sizes, like 100 cal bag style) and just take what's within my calorie allowance.

    Not quite ready to bring back the big bags/bars though. Think that's still dangerous territory for me, even with the intent to portion them out. I always want to finish the entire thing, whether it's a 100 cal chocolate stick or 1200 cals worth of fresh bakery cookies.
  • sheepysaccount
    sheepysaccount Posts: 608 Member
    I had the same problem. So I am using two strategies.
    1) Don't buy junk. (And if you do, buy one very small portion and put it on a high shelf where you'd need a ladder to get it.)
    2) Leave about 300 cals for after 7 pm (that's when my munchies hit.) Just plan in some extra stuff after dinner.
  • kriskris92
    kriskris92 Posts: 190 Member
    Like everyone else has already said, tea and/or healthy, pre-portioned snacks are usually my go-to. I often find that it's not even the actual food but more the process of eating that is a habit for me, so I've started trying to find other things to do while watching tv to occupy my hands. Sounds rather childish, but I have a few abstract designs printed out that I colour mindlessly while watching a show/movie and it really helps distract me from a craving. Knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, crafting in general - anything that your hands can do while leaving your mind free to focus on the show!
  • fushigi1988
    fushigi1988 Posts: 519 Member
    Make sure you eat enough during the day
  • willywonka
    willywonka Posts: 743 Member
    This has always been an issue for me. Some weeks I'm good, some not so much. I'm trying to go to bed early and stay there instead of coming down to the kitchen.
  • CynthiasChoice
    CynthiasChoice Posts: 1,047 Member
    I wonder... if you really think about it, isn't TV boring? We want to have something pleasurable to do at the end of the day to reward ourselves, and sometimes TV can be a pleasure, but it's not truly gratifying. I get really restless watching TV, and in the past, I've eaten junk food to calm myself down. It's understandable that you're looking for something to relieve the boredom.

    Think about what activity could get you really fired up, and see if you can start doing that sometimes instead of TV. Maybe something artistic like learning an instrument, or painting, sculpting, woodworking or writing. Maybe you could find a group on Meetup that you would have fun joining. Reading a good magazine, book, or researching something of interest on the web are options, too.

    When I do watch TV, I tend to play Candy Crush at the same time. It keeps me busy. Or I get up during the commercials to do a quick household chore. Whatever it takes!

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