Candy at night šŸ˜

tundrajs07858
tundrajs07858 Posts: 1 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

hello!

Iā€™m starting back on my fitness and diet journey. I have had 2 kids in 3 years. I used to be super into macros, but I donā€™t really want to get obsessed with tracking. I am trying to log all of my food and stay within my calorie guidelines. With that being saidā€¦ I struggle a lot with the after the kids go to bed snacksā€¦ Iā€™m talking chocolate etc!!! Does anyone have some tips for me? I know it takes 2 weeks to form a habitā€¦ buttttt your girl is struggling getting to say 2 šŸ¤£

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,930 Member

    I plan and track my before bed snack in advance, usually good quality dark chocolate because I can stop more easily and find it more satisfying. If it makes you happy, make it fit your plan!

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,451 Member

    some tips that might help

    limit how much you have in the house or have none in the house

    have it portioned into single serve amounts.

    put it in difficult places - ie up high where you need to get step ladder to reach.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,483 Member

    Are you eating enough or are you on 1200 calories per day? This might be too low for you and you might feel peckish at night. Are you bored in the evening?

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,375 Member
    edited April 22

    1.) keep it out of the house. Simplest and best. If itā€™s not good for you in quantity or frequency, itā€™s not good for the kids either. Youā€™re doing them no favors keeping the house filled with candy and processed treats. Wish I could turn the clock back two generations on that one.

    2.) freeze it. Out of sight out of mind, frozen chocolate is rather tasteless, and when I want it, I want it then, not to wait for it to reach room temp

    3.) my (diabetic šŸ™„) husband is under strict orders to hide his personal stash. When I do accidentally find it, itā€™s usually in such a gross place (loosely rolled in his disorganized tool cart for example) I am too busy or too disgusted to want it.

    4.) get a hobby. Do chores. Go for a walk after the kids are in bed. I do needlework. Chocolatey hands + needlework = disaster.

    5.) keep a bowl of fruit in an obvious place on the counter and train yourself to reach for it first

    6.) cut out the sugar sodas and coffees. That will go a long way towards helping with the cravings for the rest.

    7.) if you must have sugar (me!) meringues are sweet but super low cal, especially if you make your own and cut the sugar called for in half. They still bake up just fine. Also check out aquafaba meringues. They are as close to zero calorie as a treat can get.

    8.) invest in a ninja Creami or drag out your old Donvier. We have a nice low cal, low sugar or sugar free ice cream every nice.

    I say this as a formerly obese, 2-lb a day candy and chocolate consumer. It will take a few weeks, but the cravings do eventually subside, and that naval orange or handful of fresh strawberries will begin to taste like heaven. Sugar dulls our tastebuds and we donā€™t even realize it.

  • pridesabtch
    pridesabtch Posts: 2,647 Member

    Night time snacking is tough. Last night I was very peck-ish, I tried everything from playing with the puppy to, drinking more water to on-line shopping (not really good either). I knew I wasn't really hungry. I was bored and tired. I only had a few hundred calories left for the day. I aim for 1350-1450 a day. I did have something, but it fit my mood and my calorie count. Got to have half a bag Microwave Buttered Popcorn for roughly the same calories as 5 Reese's miniatures. Could have had either, but the candy would have been in quick, where the popcorn lasted a while. It's all about having options you can work with. Good luck!

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 36,248 Member

    Good advice above.

    Also, consider that night cravings can be aggravated by sub-ideal sleep quality/quantity or cumulative stress levels.

    As we go through the day, we get more distant from the most recent sleep, plus internalized stress may accumulate. Those things increase fatigue. When fatigued, the body is likely to seek energy. Food is energy, and sweets are quick energy. VoilĆ , cravings.

    If sleep can be improved, work on that. If stress can be reduced, work on that, and consider non-food stress management techniques. If the problem isn't fueling or nutrition, usually the best solution isn't food.

    (That's not to say that enjoying eating isn't legit. It is. I encourage enjoyable eating. It's just saying that problem-solving isn't synonymous with enjoying/not enjoying what we eat, or eating everything we may crave.)

  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,543 Member

    Keep it out of the house.

  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,279 Member

    let yourself eat chocolate after the kids go to bed but plan it. try buying bars of dark chocolate but only eating / logging one square per night.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,375 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48583306#Comment_48583306

    oh my goodness. One square would never work for me. Youā€™d think after six and a half years of logging and monitoring, but nope.

    sometimes I can manage just one of the Lidl minibars, at 240 calories, but they typically turn into two.

    The only chocolate I ever found I could control was some stuff I brought back from a trip last month. It was supposedly just pure dark chocolate and brown sugar. It was dry, bitter, and not very enjoyable. Two bars lasted a couple weeks.

    For some of us, chocolate is what I imagine crack is to others. It lights up all my pleasure centers, breaks down all resolve, calls seductively to me when itā€™s in the house. No, make that ā€œbeckons imperiouslyā€.

    I was reading about a place that offered ā€œchocolate massagesā€ yesterday, and had this immediate horrible mental image of me shaming myself by licking myself like a dog. Justā€¦..no. Eating itā€™s bad enough. Rolling around in the stuff and having it rubbed all over me would be sheer torture. I imagine it getting in through my pores and causing even worse issues controlling it.

  • patriciafoley1
    patriciafoley1 Posts: 470 Member
    edited April 26

    I have a snack every night.

    Try Blue Diamond cocoa dusted almonds. 190 calories for 24 almonds, if I remember right. A huge bag at walmart is 12$. I usually eat 12 almonds so thats 95 calories. Almonds are good for you.

    Also I like Lily's sugar free dark chocolate almond bar. 1/3 of a bar (about 10 squares) is 130 calories. Some nights I have 5 squares and not 10. As previous posters have commented, dark chocolate is good for you. This is also relatively available. Walmart sells it for $3.50 to $4 a bar.

    These are things that are easy to find, low sugar, relatively good for you (as snacks go) and won't trigger you into a sugar addiction to eat more.

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