Help with snacking!!

My snacking/ e eating has been better. Only 3 'blips' since early April. I do recognize it was purely stress and emotional eating. They were not epic episodes like previous times so that was good. Made it not feel too bad.

Great job making it 2 days!! I've had good luck with the concept of "urge surfing "...Google for a better explanation. Basically is the concept that urges pass and learning to work your way through them. I was introduced to the idea in reading about the book "brain over binge". So in case you are a researcher type...there ya go! Lol

I'm over a month without a binge, and nighttime eating was my stumbling block. I've tried literally everything else to stop it, plan for it, fast it away, etc. Good luck in the quest!

Try splitting calories into 6 meals, including a pbj. I have a 1 slice with pb2 many mornings for breakfast

2 days without snacking. It helps to drink a lot of water.....several bottles of water....then there's no room for food.

Good job on the five days! Keep going, it's almost a week!

Ralphone wrote: »

I find myself lately snacking too much especially at night. Looking for some help to change that. I would like to be able to post something here when I want a snack and maybe someone out there can help talk me out of eating it LOL good luck to all.

Hi Ralph, I can completely relate! Late night snacking was a big issue with me for a long time and one of my worst habits!

There's a few ways to combat this, so you have to experiment and see what works for you.

1.) Workout. When I get out of work at 9 pm that's the time I am most tempted to snack. I combat this by going straight to the gym after work. By going to the gym at this time, my snacking urges are completely eliminated and I go straight to bed for a good night's sleep right afterwards.

2.) "Out of sight, out of mind". Get rid of the temptation by putting away snacks and trigger foods after a certain time at night. Right after you put them away, go do something to distract yourself.

3.) Brush your teeth after dinner, especially with a strong, minty flavored toothpaste and/or mouthwash. It helps deter your taste buds from wanting snacks. This one really works like a charm, I do this when I get a craving but have had enough food for the day.

4.) Get out and do something after dinner or whatever time the craving hits. Go for a walk, do a fun craft or hobby, workout at the gym, read a good book, any activity that will redirect your mind away from food.

5.) Meditation, yoga. There are some great guided meditation videos on YouTube that are very helpful. "The Honest Guys Guided Meditation" videos are great. Yoga is also good for combating cravings and such. The best part is you don't have to be a novice or bend yourself into pretzel shapes to do it. There are some wonderful, short, beginner yoga videos on YouTube that you can do.

6.) Chew gum. Almost no calories or sugar, keeps your mouth busy by "pretending" to eat food while not actually eating anything. This one works like a charm for me. If I feel super hungry at my part time evening job, I just grab a stick of gum and it knocks that craving right out. Double-whammy if it's mint flavored (again, mint deters cravings).

7.) What cravings really mean. Pay attention to what you are craving, it is usually a sign your body needs something. If you are craving carbs, you need more sleep- more on that in a moment. If you are craving chocolate, you need magnesium. If you are craving dairy, you need calcium. Keeping a food diary will help you notice a pattern and adjust your meals accordingly to eliminate the cravings.

8.) Sleep! If you are craving carbs late at night, that means your body needs more sleep. Try going to bed a little bit earlier. If you have trouble falling asleep, again, guided meditation videos on YouTube can help ("The Honest Guys" guided meditation videos are my favorite ones - very well made, very relaxing! You will nod right off.)

9.) If you absolutely feel compelled and have to snack... opt for something healthy. Not gonna lie, there are times where once in a while, I just have to have a small snack. It happens. Fortunately, I keep healthy stuff on hand for when it crops up. My favorite is sliced green Granny Smith apples. They are tart and crunchy. Sometimes I add a little reduced fat peanut butter (little meaning 1 tablespoon to dip them in). Protein bars are also a good one- protein helps you feel satiated and full. Worried about calories? Well ask yourself which is better: 200 calorie chocolate bar or 200 calorie protein meal bar? A protein meal bar has more nutritional value, so if you're going to snack it might as well be with either a piece of fruit or a protein bar as opposed to something like chips and candy.

10.) Three day rule. If there is a particular food item you are craving, wait three days. If by the third day you still really want it, can't stop thinking about it, then allow yourself that food as a small treat and adjust your meals/calories accordingly to accommodate it. It's okay to have a treat *once in a while* ('once in a while' meaning once a week to me). It's when it's every day that it becomes a real problem.

11.) Phase out the unhealthy stuff. This especially applies to foods that are loaded with added sugar. Studies have shown that sugar can be extremely addictive. Whenever we eat something that has a lot of sugar in it, the "reward center" in our brain goes off, prompting us to want more of it. To combat this, gradually cut back on added sugars. If you go cold turkey, that might backfire thanks to reverse psychology. So slowly phasing out sugary foods is a good way to go- less harsh and easier to eliminate. For example, instead of a candy bar or cookies, opt for a low fat granola bar or protein bar (again, just read the label to make sure it's not high in sugars). Instead of ice cream, yogurt. Instead of chips, popcorn (I like Skinny Pop- only 35 calories per cup!) My rule of thumb is less than 10g of added sugars. Anything more than that does not come home with me. As for low-sugar protein bars, I like the PowerCrunch Protein Bars. 205 calories, 13g protein and only 5g of added sugars. They are very tasty and cookie-like, so I don't feel so deprived.

So those are my suggestions of things that have worked for me. Again, you have to experiment and try to see what works for you as everyone's bodies are a bit different. Hope this helps!

Kimmotion5783 wrote: »

Ralphone wrote: »

I find myself lately snacking too much especially at night. Looking for some help to change that. I would like to be able to post something here when I want a snack and maybe someone out there can help talk me out of eating it LOL good luck to all.

Hi Ralph, I can completely relate! Late night snacking was a big issue with me for a long time and one of my worst habits!

There's a few ways to combat this, so you have to experiment and see what works for you.



3.) Brush your teeth after dinner, especially with a strong, minty flavored toothpaste and/or mouthwash. It helps deter your taste buds from wanting snacks. This one really works like a charm, I do this when I get a craving but have had enough food for the day.

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Awesome share above. In addition to #3 add a fluoride mouthwash rinse. Reading the fine print you will see that you have to wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything after using the fluoride rinse. By the time the 30 minutes are up you probably will not want to eat anything else. *Bonus it is also minty and reduces cravings : ).

Hey, thought i'd join as im also a late night snack man. It can turn into a binge if im not careful!

I just bought an icecream machine so I can make my own protein icecream/frozen yoghurt. So far its a success, I save up some calories knowing that i'm likely to snack, i hold off for as long as i can and then i have some of the icecream. I make sure I go to bed before i'll get hungry again

Genius! Protein yogurt ice cream...sounds delish. Nice job on 10 days of no late night snackin Ralphone.......you are doing fantastic!

Omg I hear you. We had to move back in with my family after we had our kids and my father is a terrible influence with the midnight snacking. I had done so well when I had my kids, lost 60 pounds, but since we have moved back here I had gained it all back in a year.