Overeating after dinner!

anitakulick
anitakulick Posts: 2 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm 68 and working full time. I love my work but I get home around 7:00 p.m. By the time I do some chores, I end up eating dinner at 8:30, and from there it's all downhill. I have no problem staying on target all day - but those after dinner hours are my downfall. It seems like this is a no brainer. I know all I have to do is stop eating, but I'm tired and don't feel like doing anything other than read or watch television and snack. And snack. When I was younger it was a little easier to lose the weight. But not now. Plus I have some health issues which restrict my ability to exercise vigorously (I do the stationary bike but not at high speeds) and the medication caused me to gain about 10 pounds due to water retention which helped to start me on this path.

Replies

  • amy19355
    amy19355 Posts: 805 Member
    edited November 2018
    I know exactly what you’re talking about! I added some beer to that nightly boredom mix and all of a sudden there’s a mess of un-fitness to fix!!

    I’ve rearranged my daily calories intake so that I eat most of my calories before I get home. Because i work hard all day at the office, I ascribe to the idea of “breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner like a pauper”. I apply that idea by eating big hearty breakfasts (sometimes in two eating events a few hours apart), and packing a lunch bag with a decent sized lunch and an afternoon snack.

    For dinner, I find that volume eating large piles of vegetables provides me with a mental feel-good-about-my-choices, and, an important satisfy-the-wanna-chew beast that lurks inside me.

    Truthfully, it was really tough the first week or so to get all the calories consumed in that shorter window of time, but, every day there was a noticeable benefit to energy or sleep patterns, that made it easier to keep doing.

    I get some pretty good satisfaction from the “have a glass of water instead” trick also, to turn off the eat-from-boredom pangs.

    Good luck to you, and good fitness to us all!
    Amyfb
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    I also found re-arranging calories to be helpful. I ate about half my daily calories before I got home, including a very late afternoon high protein snack, and then planned half my calories for my evening meal, which was satisfying. Then I took up knitting while watching TV to keep my hands busy. I don't knit much any more but the evening snack pattern was effectively broken.
  • Copper_Boom
    Copper_Boom Posts: 85 Member
    I normally brush my teeth and floss shortly after dinner. Curbs any impulse to snack, because having to floss my teeth again is way too much hassle.
  • kittybenn
    kittybenn Posts: 444 Member
    I like the water idea. I usually have a diet drink (ginger ale or Coke) and/or herbal tea. There's something about a hot tea that kinda signals my brain that it's almost time for bed. Flossing and brushing your teeth also helps.
  • Finafoshizzle93
    Finafoshizzle93 Posts: 157 Member
    I’m on a similar schedule, usually don’t get home until 8pm after work and the gym. I’ve found brushing my teeth after eating really helps.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    How about changing your routine after work? Instead of doing chores right after work, eat, then do chores. That will keep your mind off of eating.
  • PennyP312
    PennyP312 Posts: 161 Member
    Sugar free minty gum is my go-to. It signals my brain that I’m done eating for the night. I’ve been doing it for years and it really stops me from snacking.
  • Running2Fit
    Running2Fit Posts: 702 Member
    I brush my teeth after dinner. It's just a way of getting myself in the mentality that I'm done eating for the day. And if I'm really craving a snack later I make myself a cup of tea which usually helps since I'm not usually actually hungry, just bored.
  • Danp
    Danp Posts: 1,561 Member
    You sound similar to me. No matter how much I eat during the day I'm always REALLY hungry at night.

    I decided to make my life easier by just work with my natural tendency toward nocturnal eating and moved the vast majority of my calorie consumption (75%-80%) to dinner.

    Coffee and maybe a light breakfast (piece of toast or yogurt) - 10%-15% of daily calories
    Skip lunch (never really hungry during the day anyway)
    maybe a light snack in the afternoon - 10% of daily calories

    Then I have all those calories left over so that I can eat when I'm hungry and have enough left over to indulge my sweet-tooth with some desert.

    Gotta find what works and make it work. =)
  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
    I use to be like that but made up my mind to not eat at night. I drink water and tell myself the scales will look good in the morning, it is just a bad habit.
  • wenrob
    wenrob Posts: 125 Member
    There’s nothing wrong with eating at night or after dinner. Mindlessly eating without accounting for it is what will cause the problem. My advice would be to redistribute your calories so you have room to munch later if that’s what you want to do. And account for it. If you’re not logging these little snack sprees doing so might be enough to curb your behavior. I have a snack every single night. I log it when I’m logging my breakfast so that’s it accounted for and I don’t have to figure out how I’m going to work it into my day later.

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