[hloehr73]

Today is the start of day 3 for me. I have stuck to the 1600 calories a day but really really struggle at night. I do great during the day. But in the evenings about an hour after supper all I can think about is FOOD! FOOD! FOOD! And it's not that I am hungry, I think night time snacking is going to be my hardest bad habit to break. But I CAN DO IT! I know I really need to work on eating 3 meals a day...(i don't usually eat breakfast and sometimes not even lunch). But this is all a learning process and I will SUCCEED!

[randomcards]

That one was a hard one for me too. I've had some success of the last month trying the following. I don't really subscribe to the "don't eat after X time" if I am staying within the calories, especially if it helps me to not binge on really bad stuff late at night.

What I've started doing now is moving dinner way earlier (like 5:30) or sometimes it's just a large snack, and then eating another "meal" of 200-400 calories at like 8 at night. This really helps me not eat anything bad the rest of the night and helps me split up my meals.

Sometimes I'll split up dinner (like I'll have a sizeable salad at 5:30 and then the rest of it at 8) or sometimes it's dinner at one slot and a mini-meal at the other slot.

I have no idea what might work for you, but you should tinker until you find something easier. Especially early on if you only rely on pure willpower I think we set ourselves up for failure.

[Katy05]

Ahhh, late night snacking was my nemesis! I feel you! I've been back on track for a little over a week now and I'm proud to say I haven't cheated once with late night snacking. Yay! Unlike randomcards, it's really helped me to say "don't eat after 8:00pm". At first, I tried 7:00pm but I go the gym after work and I don't get home until around 6:30pm. So, that didn't work. I tweaked it and viola! So far, so good. I also make it a point to brush my teeth by or before 8:00pm and then drink a big glass of water. That helps me.

Learning process is right! Keep at it - you can do it!!

[McJess]

I have a hard time with that too. Or had. Lately I'm having a harder time during the day, but I digress.

On a good day, where I stick to 1600, I find my success comes from following the following eating schedule:

Get up at 6:30 or 7 and have coffee. The Fat Free half and half I put in it plus my calcium chew and my omega 3 suppliment add up to 100 calories. So there's 100, gone.

Workout for an hour M-F. from around 7:30-8:30

Around 9:00 have a 100 calorie protein shake I make with some whey powder and a few berries and some flax. This keeps me from being starving while I get ready for work and gets much needed protein to my muscles right away. It's about 113 calories or so.

10:30 or 11:00 - breakfast. Usually oatmeal with berries, protein poweder and flax seeds. It's 300 calories.

3 hours later, lunch, 300 calories.

3 hours later, snack, 200 calories. Usually my snack is this high fiber cereal mix I made up of All Bran, Kashi, and a few other kinds. The yumminess of the Kashi makes up for the twig-ness of the All Bran. I have it with almond milk.

2-2.5 hours later - dinner - 400 calories

after dinner snack - 200 calories. Lately that's been a yummy yogurt, berry and Kashi parfait that totally satisfies me.

Total for the day: 1600. Eating on that schedule does really help because even if I think I'm hungry but KNOW I'm just bored, my next "feeding" is usually not too far away. I know that doesn't work for everyone but I just thought I'd share what does work for me, most of the time anyway.

[Eliana]

What has helped me tremendously is scheduling SIX small meals a day. I have more food to look forward to every 2.5 hours or so. It was really hard at the beginning because my meals are very, very small, but I got used to it after about three weeks and now it's smooth sailing. And my sixth meal is dessert! Usually popcorn. But it can be berries with cool whip, or broccoli or a Sundae! As long as it's within my allotted calories for the day.

Eating is important. The more frequently you eat, the more stable your blood sugar is which helps with metabolism and weight loss. And please don't skip breakfast. Your metabolism really doesn't any have get up and go until you've eaten.

[sockmonkey]

I think late night snacking is a tough one for a lot of people! You are definitely not alone. I posted something similar last week and received a lot of suggestions.

I am like randomcards...I don't say I am not going to eat after a certain time especially if I am hungry and still have calories in my allotment. Is what I have been doing is snacking on low cal healthy foods. One of my favorites is pickle spears. But you can also do 100 calorie bag of popcorn, carrots (which is a "negative" calorie food - which means your body uses more calories to digest the food than the food actually has) & other veggies, a small apple, a rice cake (the caramel ones are only about 50 calories), or light mozzarella string cheese (about 60 calories).

Also, I know you said you need to work on eating 3 meals a day, but be sure you are eating enough during the day also.

Good luck and know we are all here for support!

[hloehr73]

Thank you so much for all the great ideas. I think that it's a problem for me at night because it's the one time of the day where I am actually sitting and not doing anything. I did go to the book store today and bought a book to read at night when the "cravings" are the worse!!! Help take my mind off of it!

Once again thanks....this place is trully the best!!!

[McJess]

I thought of something else that I do sometimes if I know I'm just bored and wanting to snack but already met my calories for the day. Do my nails! I hate hate HATE having smudged nail polish, and snacking will surely smudge it, so it creates at least a half hour - 45 minute buffer.

[mkendrick]

I personally found that the 6 small meals didn't work for me. I was never really hungry, which was good, but I never had the comfortable satisfied feeling (not the overeating stuffed feeling). What has worked best for me is breakfast (between 6am and 8am), lunch (exactly at noon), dinner (between 5 and 6pm), a snack between lunch and dinner, and a snack after dinner but still two hours before bed. My snacks aren't big, maybe some celery and a handful of craisins or a sugarfree jello (10 calories!) or some fruit. But my meals fill me up.

And the first few days are the hardest. My whole body rebelled for the first week. I considered giving up a million times, but I didn't After that, almost instantly, it clicked and it was my new lifestyle. Now I don't eat fast food or junk or binge not because I'm "on a diet," it is simply not my lifestyle to do so.

It'll get easier And when you start weighing in and seeing lower numbers, it'll feel like Christmas. A good weigh in makes me way happier than wolfing down a Big Mac.

[ajowens]

Breakfast esp protein is really important in not being hungry the rest of the day. Also (a hint) avoiding carbs and starches at breakfast can help you be less hungry all day.

Also... night is hard for almost all of us. It is so bad sometimes I just take a benadryl and go to bed. Try a tleast 2 cups of veggies with dinner. They don't look like it but they are super filling long term.

[Jaimie]

This is a definite problem for me as well. I've been following WW, so I leave myself 2-3 points at the end of the day in case I need a snack. Then I'll grab an apple and a salad or yogurt and salad and munch on those. Or if I want something sweet I'll have an english muffin with smucker's sugar free preserves or a 100-calorie bag of kettle corn.

I try to fill up on high-fiber foods because they keep me filled up longer. I'm a huge fan of steel-cut oatmeal. It's a bit more expensive, but in the morning I'll have that with a bit of honey and raspberries or blueberries and it keeps me filled up until lunch.