night time snacking...

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I am the same way. Don't beat yourself up, just try to have very low calorie snacks that you can eat and drink more water. I like the Pop Secret popcorn its only 100 calories and its a lot, so you feel like you ate a lot and you feel pretty full. Or I'll eat a yogurt. Sometimes I'll force myself to do a little work out and by the time thats over I'm hot, tired, and just drink water, get a shower and go to bed which stops me from eating. I usually have about 500 calories in snacks after dinner which is sooo bad I can't stop myself. If you know that you can't control it, then try to eat even less all day and do a work out if you can, that way you have extra calories allowed for the late night snacking.

You could always chew on a piece of gum, or grab a mint. Some people even say they chew on ice. I don't think you are exactly hungry, you just want food.

Maybe try adding more protein to your last meal of the day. That will help keep you full. It really doesn't matter what time you eat at night... it only matters WHAT you eat. I have snacks right before bedtime but are usually healthy fruits, nuts and the occasional dark chocolate. Do you eat 3 meals and 3 snacks each day? Spreading out your calories will help with any hunger cravings as well. I practically graze all day long, lol!

You aren't alone. I was just going to post the same thing! I always screw my food choices at dinner... going good all day... go go go... then dinner is a bust. Stupid high calorie, no value foods. they get me everytime.

I actually hoard my calories to account for my nightly "snack!" After dinner every evening (usually around 9pm) I have some PB2 (powdered peanut butter) mixed with a bit of the real stuff, slathered on wheat toast and topped with bananas and sprinkled cinnamon. This runs about 350+ calories. I love it and look forward to it all day. It has never interfered with my weight loss/maintenance. I think that "no eating late" rule is a myth...

I could have written this original post...only I have so much more to lose.

I have the exact same issue. I used to make jokes about how I become a rabid food vampire at night. I literally would binge. It's taken a lot of work, but I'm slowly stopping my constant night snacking by not having snack foods in the house. If I want it, I have to cook it. That makes it more work and I stop and consider if I really do want to make something. I'm drinking a bunch more water and allowing myself 1/4 cup of almonds and/or fruit (my favorite combination is almonds and a green apple cut into bite size pieces) but I make sure it's small picky sorts that take me awhile to eat so I can snack away on something with nutrients and filling.

Good luck! You can beat this. *hug*

Late-night snacking is not automatically bad. What time do you go to bed? My doctor has told me to try & eat something with protein in it every 3 hours while I'm awake. That means I usually eat at 9 p.m. or even, sometimes, at midnight if I'm up late.

Just make sure you eat the right KINDS of calories if you're eating that late. No cookies or chips! Choose a hard-boiled egg or a cheese wedge instead. Why protein? Because carbs & starches & sugars give you a quick burst of energy, but you don't need that. You're going to bed, not working out. If you eat carbs when you're not active, they'll get stored as fat. But protein burns slowly & steadily, just enough to keep you going. It won't make your metabolism spike and then crash, like carbs will. And in order for your body to use protein for fuel it also has to burn fat. The chemical reaction requires 3 parts fat to 1 part protein. So if your body is getting plenty of protein, it will end up burning some of its stored fat.

Here's how my doctor explained it to me: if you eat supper at 6 p.m. and don't eat again 'til breakfast at 6 a.m., that's 12 whole hours your body goes without fuel. So at some point during the night, your body probably goes into fat-storing starvation mode. The point when this happens varies from person to person depending on their metabolism. But if you *do* eat protein before bed, and avoid long fasts, your body will toodle along at its normal metabolic rate all night, happily burning fuel AND FAT.