Trying to not night binge...a habbit I lost when losing weight

[BakingChick]

Night Binging...a habbit I lost while in weight loss mode...and didn't miss in the least, but gained back with ferocity over the last year or so. So here I am, going online, to try and distract myself enough to forget that I just want to pick up a spoon and dip it directly into the peanut butter.

Any of you find night time a hard time to get past? What kind of snacks do you allow yourself to have at night time. Or do you stick to the "no more food after such and such time" rule?

[luckymommy]

The night time is my most challenging time of the day. Just the thought that I've already eaten my dinner and I'm done for the day really freaks me out!

I eat shredded broccoli with calorie free dressing...chew minty gum, eat sugar free low calorie popsicles and try to keep busy...sometimes I do push ups and sit ups or read on this board. I imagine myself reaching my goal and I imagine how I'll feel waking up the next morning...will I be proud or not?

Last night, I nearly binged. I had a migraine, PMS and my son has chicken pox. All those things made me wanna binge. I came on here and got lots of support and this morning, when I woke up, I told myself what a fantastic job I've done. I mentally gave myself kudos and I try to do that all day long.

I hope you find what helps you too

[Mudpie]

I'm ok for a few days but then I get the urge to binge at night. Usually there's some sort of emotional upset or I'm totally fatigued and had too much caffeine during the day. Then the aftermath or caffeine crash comes and I start eating to try to counteract it.

I find, even though physically I'm dead tired, that if I force myself to turn off the TV, put on my shoes, and go for a short walk (usually to the mailbox and back does it) that will head off the binge.

I think it was Jayell who said that "it's really hard to binge on water-packed tuna". I took that advice to heart and try to not keep any chips or "treat foods" around (except low cal versions) so if I'm really determined to binge then I have to walk the 6 blocks to and back from the grocery store to get my "binge" food. That works really well in the winter as a preventative measure.

And finally sometimes I have a pre-planned binge to head off serious trouble. Tonite it will be on fresh cherries.

Dagmar

[ncuneo]

I've put on 10 lbs since hitting maintenance due to weekend binging and been getting things under control as of lately. The only thing that really seems to work for me is just saying no and having to accept that I want to lose this regained weight more then I want to binge. So I have my set calorie limitations and that's it. If I'm hungry above and beyond that well then it's just too bad because I know that eating above and beyond is a trigger for me and that's just the way it has to be. I win this battle about 50% of the time I'll also plan in trigger foods on Fridays and Saturday's to trick myself into thinking I've gotten my "treat" or whatever. But I have to be in a pretty good place mentally for this work otherwise, well it's a trigger.

Once I'm back to maintenance I'll have to adjust my strategy a little, because maintenance seems to be when I start to tell myself "oh it's ok". But I'll cross that bridge when I get there. Binging issues are a tricky animal and I feel like it kind of comes in waves. I'll go months where I just can't control it and months we're it's less of a problem or controlable. I'm almost hitting controlable right now, so I'm just riding the wave - good luck!

[djs06]

Not a maintainer, but I certainly struggle with this.... I have a really hard time with the night eating. And the right-after-work eating. Hard stuff.

For the past few days I've experimented with eating lunch later (and thus dinner later, instead of not as soon as I get home from work). It makes me less likely to "snack" at night. I always have some kind of dessert (single serving of ice cream or some popcorn or just something) and then try to cut it off by 8 or so. So far it's helped.

[k8yk]

I have always made sure to set aside enough calories for a nightly snack. When I was losing it was usually fruit or nuts. Now that I'm maintaining its fruit AND nuts We generally just don't keep bingey snacky food in the house at all.

[Lori Bell]

I sometimes have a hard time in the PM, but usually I am so exhausted from such a busy day that if I just lay down in bed, I'm usually a sleep within a few minutes. I do however make sure I have plenty of fruits and veggies cleaned and dressed ready to go...just in case.

[Glory87]

I'm an afternoon snacker, not an evening snacker, but this is what I would do:

Brush, floss and rinse - you won't want to have to redo all that work, plus food tastes gross when you have minty mouth.

Chew gum.

Declare the kitchen "closed" after a certain time and do NOT go into the kitchen.

Make sure I had enough calories for a nice, very satisfying dinner (protein + healthy fats) to help keep me full until bed time (don't splurge during the day and only have room for a 200 calorie cup of soup or little salad and expect to make it all night).