how do you avoid night time snacking?

ninx123
ninx123 Posts: 18
edited September 24 in Health and Weight Loss
I have a problem of snacking at night when I am bored. I eat dinner pretty late (usually between 7-8), but I don't go to bed until after 12. I try sipping water all evening or drinking tea but I just can't keep myself busy enough to stop snacking.

Does anybody else have this issue??

Replies

  • You sound so much like me. I don't go to bed till way late. It sucks, but its how I am. I am constantly wanting to snack. I feel ya girl.
  • lilwashee
    lilwashee Posts: 222 Member
    the apple straws from gourmet world you can have 38 straws is 130 calories oh and um 76 corn nut chips is 140 calories you just have to be slow while eating it ..o wait and also kettle popcorn 5 cups is only 100 calories popped
  • Bridge_CG
    Bridge_CG Posts: 429 Member
    I know this sounds silly, but... Brush your teeth after your dinner or after like a certain hour. It'll make you think twice, because you're already squeaky clean! :happy:
  • campi_mama
    campi_mama Posts: 350 Member
    A cup of decaf tea sometimes helps me. Also gum. Gum is my friend after dinner especially when I'm cleaning up so I don't pick at leftovers. Sugar free pudding is also a yummy treat if you want something for dessert...
  • KickassYas
    KickassYas Posts: 397 Member
    I know this sounds silly, but... Brush your teeth after your dinner or after like a certain hour. It'll make you think twice, because you're already squeaky clean! :happy:

    that's genius!!! plus toothpaste aftertaste and most foods mixed is horrible.
  • lzuendoki
    lzuendoki Posts: 3 Member
    I have this problem. I can do well all day and then when the evening comes I can really snack and it. One of my favorites is raison brand and 2% milk. I often have 2 to 3 bowls of it at one time. I can wake up around 2 or 3am and eat some cereal. i need to make healthier choices. The evening is my most problematic time.
  • jenbcp
    jenbcp Posts: 11 Member
    My friend lost 65 pounds last year, and when I asked her how to curb this bad habit, she told me to "get a life". Meaning, go read a book, knit, scrapbook, write.....basically, get your mind busy on other things so you don't think about eating.

    The toothpaste thing is a great idea too!
  • i have been having this issue too!!!! i figure it's silly to expect myself to go for 4+ hours without eating just cuz it's night. so since i tend to sleep in late, my "food day" is from the time i wake up till the time i sleep. otherwise if i try to deny myself i either go to bed grumpy, or i wake up STARVING the next day, and i end up screwing up everything :( so i try to excercise in the evening to jumpstart my metabolism at night (which is of course the time when it's usually slowing down). the bonus to that is then i get extra calories to eat! i tell myself that if i want to eat, i need to go work out and gain the calories that i want *before* i can eat them. then i try to find healthy but filling substitutes. lately i've been eating about 2-ish cups of fresh strawberries (quartered) and i add splenda on top. it totally hits my sugar craving and it definitely helps fill me up. that's only about 100 calories. or i do a salad. lettuce is kind of icky and boring, but it's also low in calories. i solve this problem by getting light dressing and using more than a serving. i will fill a HUGE bowl full of lettuce (2.5 cups ~10 calories) and then i'll use a some extra dressing to make me actually like the salad. so if it's 50 cals for 2 tablespoons of dressing, i'll maybe have a large enough salad to put 3 or 4 tablespoons on it. that's 75-100 calories, and i don't feel guilty. there's even lighter salad dressings out there to help lower the cals on that, too! right now i'm just hooked on honey dijon so i've gotta cut back a *little* bit lol...

    hope this helps!
  • ande2994
    ande2994 Posts: 136
    For me, the snack cravings usually start after 11pm, at which time I should really be getting ready for sleep anyway. I try to tell myself that if I go to sleep, I won't know I'm hungry. And an extra half hour or hour of sleep doesn't hurt!
  • My friend lost 65 pounds last year, and when I asked her how to curb this bad habit, she told me to "get a life". Meaning, go read a book, knit, scrapbook, write.....basically, get your mind busy on other things so you don't think about eating.

    The toothpaste thing is a great idea too!



    I'm gonna get a LIFE!
  • That_Girl
    That_Girl Posts: 1,324 Member
    I chat online. :laugh:

    Hi!
  • watermelonstarfish
    watermelonstarfish Posts: 195 Member
    i go to the gym after dinner. by the time i get back it's time for shower and bed.
  • I do have that issues. I just have to keep myself busy and try to get in the routine of getting ready for bedtime that way my body would automatic starting relaxing and wanting to snuggle in my bed. Read the book and drinking water until feel very sleepy then turn light off. I just fall sleep without even eat anything. Computers, TV, electronic stuff keep us up so late and not relax our mind from be so stimulating that our mind, therefore, we are not sleepy until we are phyiscally exhausted enough to sleep.

    I even found this as helpful is to just excersis more and i tried to think like those people that work at farms all day and come home be exhausted and go to bed early and rise up early to do everything all over again.

    However, i am not farmer and I just try to go to bed if i am getting hungry cuz my body is struggling to stay awake since it have been awhile since i last ate and body do know its time for bed but You know we are too stubborn to listen to our bodies haha!!!
  • justscrappy
    justscrappy Posts: 11 Member
    I am a night owl, and usually have about 5-6 hours between supper and when I go to bed, and I find myself wanting a snack around the 9pm mark. The easiest thing for me to do is PLAN for that snack. I make sure that I have an extra 200 or so calories left after supper so I can have a healthy snack and not blow over my calories.

    I usually have a cup of fresh blueberries and a cheese string, or an apple with peanut butter or my favorite, a 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels popped in a brown lunch bag in the microwave. These range in the 100-200 calorie range, they satisfy my urge to snack, are quite filling, and are healthy.

    Eating out of boredom is partly why I have all this extra weight to lose in the first place, so before I eat anything outside of my regular 3 meals, I ask myself WHY I am wanting to eat, and if the answer is anything other then I am hungry, I don't eat it. This has really helped eliminate the eating out of boredom, the eating just because the food is there, and especially the emotional eating I was prone to do before.
  • ninx123
    ninx123 Posts: 18
    Thanks for all the advice! I like the idea of brushing your teeth....very smart!

    I might join a 24 hour gym, if if that's the case I might work out AFTER dinner instead of before, which should keep me busy for about an hour. I just need to get into a habit of not doing it.

    Thanks all!
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