Help! Eating while watching tv is my weakest link!
 

Any hints on how to stop hunger in the evening? I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I am really HUNGRY around 8 or 9pm....my stomach is growling. I don't really watch much tv....maybe only Thursday nights when my favorite shows are on, so I don't really connect the hunger pattern with the tv, but this happens every night, no matter what I'm doing! Does anyone know if taking an appetite suppresant might help? Are they safe?

Eating only 3 meals a day would make me eat all night, too. I have to have a snack every 2-3 hours after a meal. Breakfast at 8:30, snack at 11, lunch at 1:30, etc, etc. Taking appetite supressants is just no good, sorry. They only help temporarily, and you wouldn't be able to fall asleep if you took them at night. There are healthy things to munch on, though, so try to snack on stuff that is good for you.

I'd have to agree with Jamie. I eat three meals and 2, every now and then 3 snacks a day, also eating every 2 - 3 hours.

I don't think appetite supressants are the way to go. You need to figure out a plan for life, something you can follow forever and ever. I don't think pills or the such is something you would want to do forever, if at all.

A cup of hot tea is nice to sit down with as you're watching the tube. Reading, journaling, 3FC and the computer, straightening up the house, getting a jump on the next days things, knitting, sewing and the such are some things you might want to do in the evenings.

I agree with Robin - and I put a teaspoon or so of Benefiber in my teas to help me get a "full" feeling. Another thing for me that was a biggie, is I don't eat unless I am setting at the table. It takes a while to "retrain" yourself, but you can do it!

Plan for a snack around that time every evening . . . Personally I love the 100 calorie bags of Orville's Smart Pop . . . lots of volume and chewing for those calories . . . and then you can spend another hour picking the kernels out of your teeth . . . Keeps your hands busy. :D

All kidding aside, you might also find yourself a little hobby that keeps your hands busy . . . knitting, crocheting, etcetera. ;) Posting on 3FC helps, too. It's hard to type and eat.

Spend at least some of your TV time hooked up to this:

http://www.theentertrainer.com/

Thanks for the tip! I checked that out.......not so sure about that yet, but I do believe that folks were probably skinnier in the days before electricity! :D

Eating a filling dinner makes me less apt to snack in the evening. By filling I mean including a salad with whatever else I'm fixing. Vegetables are great to fill up with. Still, I often want a snack during TV time. Usually by evening I have 200 to 300 calories to play with, if I've stuck to plan during the day, so some lite popcorn or some nuts (counted out!) or a couple of graham crackers with 1% milk will fit right in. I try not to eat right before bed, however.

Jay

I pretty much have a snack every evening, but I try not to do it right before bed. Typically we eat dinner around 6, and I'll have a snack around 8. Sometimes it's LF yogurt, sometimes 94% FF micro-popcorn, or a Special K bar. I do find that my body wants a snack, though!

If you have trained your body to ask for food because you are watching tv, the best way to combat this is to set places in your home where you will eat and only eat there, with the appropriate dishes and silverware. I only eat in the dining room or at the bar in the kitchen. I sit down and pay attention. The problem with eating in front of the tv is it becomes a habit and we aren't even aware of what we ate.

Hi Judy!

I stretch and do yoga in the evening when my joints are looser AND when the TV is on. I figure that I'm getting the benefits of increased flexibility, weight loss, AND it keeps me from eating, too! I drink water as I do the yoga and stretching, so the water helps to fill me up. I brush my teeth and use Listerine afterwards when I have finished my practice. NO FOOD tastes good after Listerine!!!:p

Cheryl

hi fedup and all : )


fedup, I can tell you what worked for me! a bit of backround first. I am and generally have been, my whole life, a night-time person. My habits had become such that I would virtually not eat anything all day long!!!!!!! sometimes not until 10 p.m! It wasn't intentional, I had just become this way due to some bad habits. It got to the point where I would not eat all day (many times) until dinner time! then what? dinner whenever i got hungry, then leftovers (which basically meant dinner again) and then againnnnnnnnnn! sometimes up until 1 in the morning! my weight started spiraling up faster than i can describe in words. up, up, up it went.

My metabolism was so out of whack, by not eating for such long periods and then suddenly eating everything in sight at night ( when incidentally I am most sedentary) bammm!!!! Anyways, thats history now, old news :)

what i did to stop it? My first an primary focus was to eat dinner by a certain time every night! for example, initially, I would not go past 7:30 p.m. Second, no secondsssssss! when I got hungry after dinner, (and I did) I would eat watermelon. Next, I focused on eating during the day. I was so accustomed to not eating, I actually had to remind myself, gosh its 1 o'oclock, 2 even, I have to eat!!!!! SO i started eating during the day. Something healthy and light, for I couldn't handle anything else quite frankly.

Soon, within a week or 2, I started feeling automatic hunger during the day and then some! I would snack, (and still do) on healthy snacks between lunch and dinner (often 1 1/2 to 2 hours before dinner too). carrot sticks, cucumber sticks, etc. I nevre let myself get hungry and nibbled throughout the day whenever i felt that hunger coming on. by the time dinner rolled around (and at this stage of the game earlier , anywhere between 6 or 7), I was not famished anymore! I would, and do eat a substantial portion of dinner. I eat to the point I am not stuffed, but comfortably full!

I soon found that my need for after dinner snacking, even on such healthy low cal things as watermelon and carrot sticks had subsided!!! Actually, I was awed at the difference! how much of a difference it made, my eating many mini meals or snacks throughout the day and then a good substantial dinner.........how I was so much less hungry at dinner time and not only ate less but didnt feel hungry after! The turn around has been amazing for me! do give it a whirl! :) and remember to eat whenever hungry, even after dinner! just have in your mind a few allowed things.......whether it be watermelon, cantoloupe, carrot sticks with low fat dip, even low fat popcorn! (thought i watch my carb intake). with me, after a while, I didnt feel the need to eat after dinner at all!

I feel so much better now........no more indigestion or tummy troubles ! anyhow this is how i did it and what helped me so I hope i was helpful in some way. Once I had my eating shedule in place, , I progressed to more strict meals, etc. good luck and keep at it :) the first few days are the hardest, but it gets easier after that.

p.s, I dont do appetite suppresants. tea, as someone mentioned works great! I sip on water all night and ginseng tea is heavenly!!!!! do try it :)