Best time to eat a chocolate/sweet treat

sharonlep
sharonlep Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm terrible for night time binging once I start on anything dessert - sweet like, so I'm trying not to eat any kind of dessert or choc treats and just having a tea or a LF hot choc drinks instead, but, I still want to try and eat the odd sweet treat.
I read somewhere that eating a sweet treat around 4pm or 5pm (that's also exactly when I start loosing my willpower and good intentions for the day!) is a better time to eat sweet foods.
Has this helped anyone else stop their nightly sweetctooth cravings and late afternoon hunger/willpower problems?

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    Is the theory behind that time that you are eating something sweet before your evening meal? If so, it makes sense.

  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
    For me personally I find I do better if I eat sweets after I’ve already had a meal. If I’m actually hungry I end up binging on more than I had planned. If I’m already satisfied from the meal I am more able to stick to my planned portion size.
  • sharonlep
    sharonlep Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks for your thoughts on this. I think it is more psychological to me probably. If I'm on a sugar binge it doesn't matter how full I am from my evening meal.
    So trying to train myself not to have desserts every night might work better.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Timing only matters if it makes a difference for you. You could try eating it right before bed because you'll be less tempted to overeat when you're asleep. You could also try having it first thing in the morning before breakfast if breakfast mentally signals the beginning of your eating day, so the sweets may possibly feel like part of yesterday and not have a continuity pull.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
    I just eat a bite of dark chocolate (26 calories) whenever I want one. I also put cacao powder (20 calories) in oatmeal, Greek yogurt, and coffee. Cacao powder turns anything into chocolate. A giant bowl of basically chocolate pudding made from Greek yogurt with berries satisfies my sweet tooth.
  • Lillymoo01
    Lillymoo01 Posts: 2,865 Member
    Whenever I know I have the calories available to fit it into the day. This is easiest to determine towards the end of the day, after dinner. It is nice finishing the day with that special treat as the last thing you eat.
  • koalathebear
    koalathebear Posts: 236 Member
    I eat chocolate any time of day as long as it fits within my calorie budget. If it doesn't fit in and I really really want it - I make sure I do some extra exercise so I can have it. So I'm still eating Tim Tams and chocolate. It's just a matter of figuring out if it's worth the additional exercise if it's outside my budget. I usually have it in the evening so it feels like dessert.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    For me personally I find I do better if I eat sweets after I’ve already had a meal. If I’m actually hungry I end up binging on more than I had planned. If I’m already satisfied from the meal I am more able to stick to my planned portion size.

    This is me too. While I was losing I very often had a 100-250 cal dessert immediately after dinner. (I didn't eat after that since I don't eat between meals and dessert was in essence an extension of dinner in my mind. Also, I have dinner late.)

    I'll add that if I am counting or tracking or eating mindfully that sets limits, since overeating for me is typically not something uncontrollable, but deciding, eh, today I can overeat or whatever in the moment, which I tend to do much more when not doing something (which need not be logging but can be) to keep myself accountable to me.

    But I'm sure it's different for some others, so OP, just experiment and see.
  • swim777
    swim777 Posts: 599 Member
    This sounds like me, too. I do have to watch what kind of snacks I have. Chips, candy, cookies are much harder for me to moderate. I can do a protein bar and coffee. Seems to be working at the moment.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I am not someone who can eat packaged sweets moderately. One package is one serving. So I just don't start...for me it's the only way. It's the first one I have to stay away from.

    I do have Greek yogurt and fruit with some walnuts after dinner, or I'll have popcorn with a teaspoon of sugar sprinkled on it. Those don't trigger me for some reason. I just stopped buying foods that I can't stop eating - and there's a whole long list of them. I know if I buy them - - the package is one serving.

    I've tried to be a moderate eater. It's not something I can make work.

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-happiness-project/201210/are-you-abstainer-or-moderator

    I'm typically fine with sweets, except for Red Vines (not Twizzlers, which I think are awful). Thankfully there's at least one store near me that sells them in the smaller packages with all of 240 calories.
  • OooohToast
    OooohToast Posts: 257 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    For me personally I find I do better if I eat sweets after I’ve already had a meal. If I’m actually hungry I end up binging on more than I had planned. If I’m already satisfied from the meal I am more able to stick to my planned portion size.

    This is me too. While I was losing I very often had a 100-250 cal dessert immediately after dinner. (I didn't eat after that since I don't eat between meals and dessert was in essence an extension of dinner in my mind. Also, I have dinner late.)

    I'll add that if I am counting or tracking or eating mindfully that sets limits, since overeating for me is typically not something uncontrollable, but deciding, eh, today I can overeat or whatever in the moment, which I tend to do much more when not doing something (which need not be logging but can be) to keep myself accountable to me.

    But I'm sure it's different for some others, so OP, just experiment and see.

    Me too ! I find having my sweet thing when I am hungry is lovely, but doesnt do much for hunger which makes me a little dissatisfied with what I have eaten. So I have it after a meal, usually in the evening, but it has been known after breakfast.....
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,110 Member
    I crave sweets at night so I like to keep the bite size five chocolates in my night stand. They are pre-wrapped portion controlled for me and I don’t have to give up my nightly treat before bed
  • Mov3mor3
    Mov3mor3 Posts: 96 Member
    Sweets leading to binging is something that probably isn't caused by the time of day but something more about relationship with food. Reward, boredom, shame, emotion.. those types and other examples.
  • kimothyschma
    kimothyschma Posts: 209 Member
    When I was starting out, I set a time limit for when I was allowed to eat. I had to stop at 8 pm. That helped a lot initially, and it wasn't forever. I no longer get the late night munchies, unless I'm PMSing.
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 702 Member
    The 4 pm tea break, with the tea. Still a long time until dinner, and annoying things to deal with.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    emmamcgarity wrote: »
    For me personally I find I do better if I eat sweets after I’ve already had a meal. If I’m actually hungry I end up binging on more than I had planned. If I’m already satisfied from the meal I am more able to stick to my planned portion size.

    Ditto, and for me it's better to do this after dinner, rather than lunch.
  • staticsplit
    staticsplit Posts: 538 Member
    I sometimes eat a couple, but they fit in my goals. For example, my afternoon/pre workout snack was a frozen banana, frozen cherries, chocolate whey protein powder, oat milk, and a few walnut pieces on top for crunch. It was like ice cream but also 2 servings of fruit and like 20g of protein. Then just now I had an aero chocolate mousse for 93 calories that was a nice sweet treat to the end of the day.

    It sounds like it's psychological so maybe see if you can re-train your mind to not consider sweet treats off limits, which means you're mentally restricting. Then if you have something you go into the all or nothing mentality and go wild. I sometimes overindulge in social situations, but I don't tend to binge at home any more because I tell myself I can always have more later if I want because it's allowed.
  • emmies_123
    emmies_123 Posts: 513 Member
    I did two things to help the sweet binge.

    1. I set a time limit for dessert. I could not eat chocolate until dessert-o-clock, which was at 8:30pm. If I didn't want it at that time (still full from dinner), I didn't have it.

    2. I stopped buying larger desserts or things that could go stale (cake, brownies, etc), and started buying smaller wrapped sweets. Things I could eat for less calories, and that were already portioned out, instead of having to cut a slice.
  • sharonlep
    sharonlep Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks again all.
    Staticsplint...your message really hit home to me. Because I've been allowing myself almost daily treats, I do feel a lot more calmer and in control. Makes total sense I'd binge if I've previously deprived myself as much as possible from having treats.

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