Late night snacking

carmenation25
carmenation25 Posts: 1 Member
in Getting Started

Hello I am new here bc I don’t know v much about nutrition and I am trying to lose 15 pounds that I couldn’t shed for 5 years. I go over my suggested calories from 500-1000/day but now that I have this app my goal is to watch out my portions are enormous.

I have my last snack around 1030/11pm before I brush my teeth and get ready for zzz. My first meal is usually around noon and I am snacking quite a bit all day.

Can someone help me with ideas on how to snack less at night and better yet dessert ideas that are high volume and low calories? I tend to have cookies, recently I’m Loving heavenly hunks granola chocolate omg i can eat 3 bags of those, chocolate ice cream, and any kind of creamy cookie or dessert.

Replies

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 2,198 Member

    Try and get more intentional about your snacking. Measure it, track it, sit down to eat it. As you do that, you'll begin to see how much you need to cut back. It's up to you to choose where in your meals you're going to cut back. Obviously snacking all day isn't working for you, so you may have to eat fewer snacks.you may also need to make your meals a little smaller.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 15,826 Member

    My personal experience with snacking changed radically when I realized just how mindless I was when snacking. Open a bag of chips during a movie, hand and mouth go onto mindless reflex, and next thing you know I've eaten half a bag! But if you are intentional about snacks, instead of being accidental, you can take control.

    Part of that being intentional may include swapping out available food items for healthier versions… low-fat ice cream instead of regular, not buying cookies at the store and instead buying fruits and veggie sticks, for example.

    Part of being intentional can be controlling portion sizes by measuring in advance how much you are going to eat. For example, when you bring a bag of chips home from the store, immediately separate it into individual portions in sandwich bags. When the urge to snack strikes, grab a SINGLE BAG, munch away, and then STOP…NO grabbing a second bag!

    Part of being intentional can be structuring your eating plan for the day to make room for snacks and desserts. Every day I have 200-300 calories set aside from my daily total for after-dinner desserts. I make this room by watching my food intake for my other meals, maybe choosing to not have that extra dinner roll so I can instead have that cookie after dinner.

    Part of being intentional can also be SLOWING DOWN while enjoying your treat. My standard dessert used to include as many as half a dozen cookies at a time, but much of the time I was stuffing them into my mouth as fast as I could chew. But when I forced myself to take small nibble-sized bites, chewing thoroughly and swallowing before the next bite, and NOT letting myself be distracted by TV during, I found I enjoyed each bite more and could eat fewer cookies yet still be satisfied. Now two cookies brings me MORE enjoyment than back when I stuffed in six at a time, and for a fraction the calories.

  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,435 Member
    edited August 6

    I’m curious about waiting to eat until noon? What time do you wake up? I tend to have one snack between dinner and bedtime, about 100 calories. Usually chocolate.

    Will 15 lb put you in a healthy weight range? I only ask because 500-1000 over per day is fairly significant and I’d expect you to be gaining a half a pound to a pound each week at that rate. Unless you meant you have a deficit goal and you’re missing your deficit goal by 500-1000 per day.

    The app is so great!

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