Hello, my name is alison, and I just joined 3FC a few days ago, and have been sticking to counting WW points (I don't go to meeting just use their slide chart and stuff) ever since I joined. I have a little problem though...I'm 18 and naturally love to stay up really late to watch cartoons, lol, and I ahve a horrible late night snacking problem...it's like...I'm great, and then come midnight, I rack up another 10 points or more. I was sondering two things:
1. Does anyone have any good ways to get me to stop eating a lot at night?
2. And for when I just can't not eat...does anyone have any alternative ides...something that's not icecream or chips, lol, but also not carrot sticks?
If you can help that'd be great, thanks a lot in advance.
I know not crap about weight watcher points, but when I stay up late or am working nights its easier for me to eat by the clock. You just limit your meal portions (think 200-400 cals at a time) and split then into 3-4 hour intervals. Revs up the metabolism and you don't sit around muching on crap.
First I'd leave some points for night. 2 points for a mini bag of 94% fat free popcorn, a yogurt, something with some protein would be nice. But when your points are done, go brush your teeth. Gargle with some listerine. That'll clean your mouth and nothing will taste good after that!
I would definitely advise protein, with optional complex carbs -- no simple carbs, they'll just increase your urge to munch. I'd suggest something like turkey breast and maybe 1/2 cup of brown rice. As for the desire to just keep putting something in your mouth while you're watching T.V. (the actual psychological habit) I'd say that you're going to have to quit that, rather than substituting good food for bad. It sounds like you're going to have to modify your behavior, change your habit. Possible actions: Drink water -- peeing is better than eating all night, right? Find some sugar-free, low-cal candy or something to suck on instead. Switch locations. Don't watch as much T.V. late at night --tape it and watch it at a different time of day. If you can, get an exercise bike and ride it while watching the 'toons. Find something else to do with your hands so that you don't have them to put food in your mouth when you're not actually physically hungry.
I'd advise changing the habit altogether, rather than enabling it. Sorry for the dreary suggestion, but I believe it's better in the long run. Take a look at my stats below: neither you nor I got to our high weights by eating for the right reasons, so I'd suggest looking at THAT, rather than how to continue eating in the middle of the night.
What about saving a couple points for something healthy in the evening like some fruit or something... OR, aren't there 0 point snacks through Weight Watchers?!? Maybe have a little serving of one of those.... Don't know how many points they are, but I'm hooked on Del Monte Real Fruit Pops for a nightime treat... PM me if you want the calorie/fat info and I'll send it your way!
I get on that kind of schedule when I'm at school, but this summer I've tried my best to curb it and be in bed by 11:30. It's mainly so I don't pig out... I don't know what it is about late nights but it's hard! If you absolutely CAN'T do that (believe me, I've been there... somehow I thought m&ms and butterfingers might give me brainpower... how stupid?!) try somethign that will fill you up- skim milk and some fruit, or something crunchy and healthy (rice cakes, matzo, something liek that) I find that hearing myself chew something other than gum can make the urge go away. But as Sarah said, protein is your best option- I just can't think of anything off the top of my head. Try to make a list of things that are, say, 5 points or less and acceptable for night eating, and try to eat them a few hours before you go to bed.
You can plan for a snack at that time of the night, but you also need to get to the root of why you mindlessly eat in front of the TV. You could find something else to do with your hands...like knitting or crocheting or cross-stitching. I especially liked the suggestion about the exercise bike!
Be careful of the sugar-free candy. A lot of it will cause diarrhea and horrible, eye-watering gas if you eat much more than a serving size.
Sarah, it's the sugar alcohols (like sorbitol etc) that have a laxative effect when eaten in large quantities. They have these candies called Sorbee, and i ate like 30 of them one time, I was soooo bloated and um not feeling well. Same thing with Atkins type snacks - they are sweetened with sugar alcohols, and if you overdo it and binge on them - heh you are totally regretting it later.
If i get the urge to binge or snack, i have mini-freezies in the freezer. Each baby freezie is 12 cal (granted its just sugar water, but still, not bad), so I can have a few of them, and it satisfies my craving for sugar, and freezes my mouth (which in turn makes me not really want anything else lol).
Wow, that's really interesting. It totally validates my plan for eating since March -- I eat almost no processed foods now. It's really rare. I just went cold turkey on March 1, and, while I never was huge sweet-eater (I love the salty/crunchy crap -- note my "Ixnay the Eeto-chay" reference to the left) I did find that I was craving more and more sweets with each year......so, when I cut out all the manufactured, processed stuff, it was partly in an effort to ward off diabetes -- which my mother developed before she died.
This is not to say that I never eat a bad thing or a man-made thing, ever...but it's definitely the exception, rather than the rule.
Thanks everyone for all the wonderful ideas. During the day I'm totally gonna use the treadmill if I watch tv, although I normally don't. And, these mini-freezie things? what are they? do I make them somehow? they sound interesting...I want to try it!
I buy freezies in a box of like 200. I know that some people call them other names (freeze pops or ice pops - I'm not sure). The mini ones are about 5-6 inches long, just a plastic tube with frozen sugar water in it lol, and they come in all different colours (aka flavours). Does that make sense? lol
Ok, this might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I love them!
Garbonzo beans are wonderful if you roast them in the oven. You can have a whole CAN of them for few WW points. And, they are protein, which satisfies the above suggestions from the others.
If it's possible, rinse them and get the little "films" off of them before placing them in a low degree oven (about 200 degrees) for about an hour or until they get nicely roasted and crunchy. Obviously, this is something that you'd need to plan ahead for. But, even if you don't get them totally crunchy they're still a good snack food. And, if you don't get the films off, that's fine, too. I've been known to stick a batch in - films and all - for about 30 minutes and eat them!
You can add seasonings - be creative! Maybe one of the powdered butters or something spicy or something. Flavor them according to your mood.
Ok, now I'm getting a craving for roasted garbanzos! I wonder if I have time to stop at the store on my way home....
Looking for some ideas...can you help?
I was sondering two things:
Find some sugar-free, low-cal candy or something to suck on instead. Switch locations. Don't watch as much T.V. late at night --tape it and watch it at a different time of day. If you can, get an exercise bike and ride it while watching the 'toons. Find something else to do with your hands so that you don't have them to put food in your mouth when you're not actually physically hungry. 
Maybe have a little serving of one of those.... Don't know how many points they are, but I'm hooked on Del Monte Real Fruit Pops for a nightime treat... PM me if you want the calorie/fat info and I'll send it your way!
