I also drink lots in the evenings, which seems to satisfy any hunger pangs. However, I'm not as hard core as either Ian or freelancemomma...my drink of choice is water sweetened with Mia (this suggestion assumes you don't have an issue with artificial sweeteners). I find the sweetened drink also satisfies my sugar cravings.
Night eating (after about 10 pm or so) is definitely my demon. Some nights, something clicks in my brain, and I just can't stop thinking about food and what I can eat. I've found that if I can resist for about an hour or so without eating ANYTHING (even "free" foods like celery and such), the obsessive craziness will pass (usually).
I used to eat mindlessly at night, not because I was hungry, but because there was stuff to eat and I thought cos it was there that I should eat it. I also found that I wasn't eating enough through the day and starving by dinnertime so that I'd eat and eat. I'd eat all through dinner and nibble sometimes right up to 10pm. When I started WW I found that I had to change my nightly routine. If I usually ate while watching tv then I'd pull out the laptop and surf the net while watching my show. By keeping my mind busy the urge to eat could be contained. I also cut out anything that would trigger a binge and reintroduced these slowly weeks later (some of them I haven't even introduced yet). I also tried to swap a good thing for a bad thing. Like if I once ate chocolate after dinner, I'd now eat a tiny bag of individual wafers filled with choc. I didn't deprive myself. If I wanted chips I ate a small bag. I'm getting there and losing weight, but I still have to be mindful that I could potentially fall back into my old habits if I'm not careful.
....raw veggies with a thin dip like low cal Nuoc Cham (a viatnamese dipping sauce). I make mine with fish sauce, rice wine vinegar or lime juice, water, garlic, and a bit of stevia or splenda).
That sounds ridiculously good. Great idea about thinning salad full-fat/flavor dressings, too. I cannot find a good substitute for my Marie's Blue Cheese (all of them taste too sweet).
I definitely DEFINITELY relate to this. My issue always begins at night, mostly with alcohol which turns to snacks I justify after having a couple drinks. Then drinks become too many and snacks become meals, and....there you have it. All of which have been reinforced over several years now. I'm the proverbial man-on-the-couch with the beer numbing out in front of the tv and I've got the abs to prove it. lol
That sounds ridiculously good. Great idea about thinning salad full-fat/flavor dressings, too. I cannot find a good substitute for my Marie's Blue Cheese (all of them taste too sweet).
Anyway, carry on!
This one is not sweet at all and it's easy and tart.
or you can use
which tastes pretty much exactly like the original.
I read an article a while ago about how we are simply tired in the evenings and mindlessly eating to give our body energy to stay awake, when we should really be just going to bed. LOL Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
I do this. I really hate going to bed empty. Makes me feel edgy. Whether I've been perfectly on plan all day or not, no matter the mix of macronutrients, no matter if I drank lots of water or some alcohol, I get the evening munchies. Trying to work a plan to deal with it.
It seems a bit of an emotional thing too. I don't really like going to bed, or letting the day go if I haven't achieved something emotionally satisfying. It was really bad while I was married, because I didn't really want to go to bed with X. And then after the divorce, the anxiety of it all clung to me for the longest time. Plus feeling lonely. So filling up on some sort of mind-numbing food helps me turn off my brain so I can go to bed.
So as I think about it now, since I've been working on the emotional side to this nighttime eating thing, I've had more problems with being able to fall asleep. Oddly, the munchies seem to disappear around 10 p.m., but I am still left with edgy anxiety.
I definitely have this problem, what I try and do is push all my meals back..I have breakfast at noon, lunch at 3pm or 4pm and then save 1/2 my calories for dinner at 8pm followed by a glass of wine. This means I do get to eat at night
I used to feel hungry at night before I started losing weight and during the first few months. In fact, lately I've been picking up that habit again!
The way I overcame it originally was mind-over-matter. Even now, I talk myself out of eating by keeping busy with my drawing or writing (or assignments!). What I find to be my problem is that I always have to be doing something. For instance, if I'm watching a TV show that's getting a little tedious, my brain will think of food and suddenly I'm hungry! Sometimes starving! And yes, I will be thinking of chocolate or something sweet.
Drawing on suggestions that I've read since joined 3FC, my advice to you is to either a) overcome your cravings that you stop thinking about eating at night or b) eat, but do it in moderation and find foods/drinks that are healthier. If you are calorie counting, choosing better options is the way to go. I have drinking chocolate that's 99% sugar free and ice cream that, although slightly more expensive, is a lot healthier in calories than the leading brands.
It was really bad while I was married, because I didn't really want to go to bed with X. And then after the divorce, the anxiety of it all clung to me for the longest time. Plus feeling lonely. So filling up on some sort of mind-numbing food helps me turn off my brain so I can go to bed.
Annnnnnnnd........we have a winner. This is me entirely. I wish we could talk.
I have this very problem. I have been able to squish my all day long always hungry feeling and can do great with my calories, but come night time I just can't get through the evening without at least one snack. When I first started calories counting I would eat my calories before night time even came under the idealistic hope I would be a good girl and stay out of the kitchen. I just can't do it. I Love food I will always love food and it is my small reward after a long day of chasing a toddler. I like to sit down either read, play a game or watch tv once my son is in bed and I need a special treat when I am doing it. So now I have trimmed back on the extra calories in my meals and save some for night. If I don't I will go over my limit and all was for naught. Naturally, I don't eat as much junk at night as I did before but maybe half a candy bar or a jello cup with fruit or some popcorn. Sometimes I just have to have chocolate, and if I don't get it I feel deprived and then next thing you know I am not on a diet anymore.
Oh, I don't know if anyone mentioned this, but you could start counting (whatever way you portion control) at night. Maybe your day's worth of calories/points/exchanges/carbs starts at 9pm, then you count until 9pm the following day.
If anything, it's a mind game and gets you to adjust during the day when you don't have so much temptation to binge, but it really helps!
I used to have huge cravings at night and I learned its due to your blood sugar/insulin at that time. However, I'm on the ideal protein diet and the cravings are gone, but I still have the habit of going for food at that time. I can easily not eat the whole day and then 10pm-2am hits and I'm eating pasta and all kinds of stuff I shouldn't.
Last edited by Leilani2013; 09-26-2013 at 09:11 PM.
