Late night stacking

pianobelle
pianobelle Posts: 6 Member
edited March 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi guys! I have been doing really well and I'm proud of myself for losing almost 40 pounds so far since November 25th.. However, my biggest downfall is snacking at night. I find that I'm hungriest after about 4pm and it lasts up until I fall asleep. This is how I gained so much weight in the first place.. I have limited myself to about 2 snacks at night after dinner, but still struggle. What are some healthy foods you guys eat to keep you super full? Any tips? Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • phoebe1975
    phoebe1975 Posts: 55 Member
    I am the same way, and I have found that natural peanut butter and an apple fills me up more than any other snack!
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
    I push breakfast back as late as possible so I can eat more calories at night, when I really want them.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
    I focus on vegetables and protein at dinner. I also save calories for snacks. Snacking after dinner is fine as long as it doesn't cause you to go over your calorie goal, so I pre-log what I plan to eat.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    Great job so far, OP! Obviously, you have the knowledge and persistence to see success with this.

    About evening snacking, tons of people have success saving calories for that and staying within the calories they allocate for it. Many other people have success with a different strategy, and maybe if you are curious you can experiment with it and see if it helps you or not. Often called "intermittent fasting" (IF), the idea is to have an "eating window" for 6 or 8 hours a day and otherwise not to eat (or think about eating).

    Personally, like you, I am hungriest around 4pm. I'm not that hungry for breakfast (or if I'm busy it's the easiest time of day for me to ignore it), so I may have a high fat snack around 10am but my first real meal is usually around noon. I have no problem working out in the morning without breakfast. I have big snacks in the afternoon and a relatively early dinner. After dinner, the kitchen is closed and I have a habit of doing other stuff that does not involve hanging out in the kitchen or eating. Sometimes I am hungry right at bedtime, but it is my habit just to tolerate it. I know I won't be hungry when I wake up even if I go to bed hungry. Paradoxically, when I do eat late and go to bed full, I am MUCH more likely to wake up hungry. Weird, but not completely uncommon.

    If you are in the mood to experiment, give it a try and see if it helps you. If not, know that you can have success working evening snacks in as well. Meal timing boils down to personal preference and what helps you stick to a plan.
  • Mslmesq
    Mslmesq Posts: 1,001 Member
    Are you hungry in the morning?

    This may sound weird, but have you thought about skipping breakfast and eating a brunch instead like around 11. Then having a midday snack. Then eating two dinners. One early and one late.

    It doesn't really matter as long as you save room and are within your calorie framework.
  • RelCanonical
    RelCanonical Posts: 3,882 Member
    I became a hobbit and basically have dinner at 6pm and second dinner at around 8pm. I eat about half my calories after 6pm. I keep breakfast and lunch light, which I know doesn't work for everyone, but it's enough, as I tend to get busy and get a bigger appetite when I'm at home.
  • chihuahuameme1
    chihuahuameme1 Posts: 2 Member
    I buy little mini carrots and dip them in honey mustard dip I make myself so I can control the honey.
  • wyeth84
    wyeth84 Posts: 35 Member
    I have uncontrolled raging cravings after dinner too and that's 100% how I gained all my unnecessary weight. After a LONG trial and error process I have realized that the best approach is cutting off all after dinner snacking cold turkey.
    [I would usually leave a ton of extra calories for after dinner to have a nice treat such as ice cream or banana and chocolate chips or a couple of full size cookies... you name it. But the second I'd eat that bad boy I'd want 7 more. Then something savory to curb the sweetness. Then a drink to wash it all off. And on and on and on until the 300 cal allowance had turned into a 2000 cal "cheat day". Every day.]
    I have found that distractions work much much better than snacks, I go take a shower, drink some hot herbal tea (no sugar no milk), walk the dog, washing dishes, anything to get over the hump. Also watching TV is a huge trigger for me, so I am limiting myself to one episode of whatever a night so that I can usually last "that" long without a snack.
  • yayamom3
    yayamom3 Posts: 939 Member
    Mslmesq wrote: »
    Are you hungry in the morning?

    This may sound weird, but have you thought about skipping breakfast and eating a brunch instead like around 11. Then having a midday snack. Then eating two dinners. One early and one late.

    It doesn't really matter as long as you save room and are within your calorie framework.

    This is exactly what I do, and it works great for me.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,052 Member
    wyeth84 wrote: »
    I have uncontrolled raging cravings after dinner too and that's 100% how I gained all my unnecessary weight. After a LONG trial and error process I have realized that the best approach is cutting off all after dinner snacking cold turkey.
    [I would usually leave a ton of extra calories for after dinner to have a nice treat such as ice cream or banana and chocolate chips or a couple of full size cookies... you name it. But the second I'd eat that bad boy I'd want 7 more. Then something savory to curb the sweetness. Then a drink to wash it all off. And on and on and on until the 300 cal allowance had turned into a 2000 cal "cheat day". Every day.]
    I have found that distractions work much much better than snacks, I go take a shower, drink some hot herbal tea (no sugar no milk), walk the dog, washing dishes, anything to get over the hump. Also watching TV is a huge trigger for me, so I am limiting myself to one episode of whatever a night so that I can usually last "that" long without a snack.

    Same here. It's actually easier for me to cold turkey cut off after dinner snacks than to moderate them.
  • zeejane03
    zeejane03 Posts: 993 Member
    edited March 2019
    Mindless, night time snacking was one of the issues I had to address when I started this process. For me personally, I realized I was mostly eating out of habit and not actual hunger.

    I slowly started cutting back my evening eating window and over the course of a couple months I dialed it back to no longer eating after 7pm (I still drink zero calorie beverages after then, usually a cup of coffee at 8pm). Now, a few years of doing this, it feels really weird to eat later at night (if we're on vacation, at a wedding reception etc).

    Meal timing is a preference thing and there's nothing wrong with eating later at night, but for me it was preventing me from hitting my calorie targets, so I had to figure out a different way of doing things.

    edit
  • melissa6771
    melissa6771 Posts: 894 Member
    This is a problem for me as well now i drink protein coffee all morning, I eat breakfast meal around 2, small meal at 5, small dinner at 8, then a snack/small meal at 10.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
    pianobelle wrote: »
    Hi guys! . . . my biggest downfall is snacking at night. I find that I'm hungriest after about 4pm and it lasts up until I fall asleep. . . Any tips?

    Yup, go to sleep.

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