I really need some support in my weight loss efforts...i do really good with my eating all day and as soon as my son's, (ages 14 and 21) get home, i feel like i need to eat...it is mostly starches..dont know how to stop this...

I don't have any advice for you, but I'll be sending your way!

Do you think it's the stress of dealing with two high-energy boys coming home or is it that they are ready to eat after the end of their day so you use their snack/meal time as a way of spending and bonding with them?

If it's stress - you might Google Paul McKenna and check out his tapping technique to calm emotional eating (it's been working for me), and if it's needing time with them, then let them snack while you do something else (fold laundry, read, whatever) and then sit down to a fun board game when the boys are ready. Do something to distract yourself because one thing I learned is that my boys stopped eating LONG before their want of a snack turned into a binge for me!

Mine are 17 and 20, although my 20-year old is away at college - Nevertheless, this worked when they were both at home.

Good Luck!

i dont think it is a bonding thing...because most of the time i am in the kitchen by myself, with my hands in the bag of snacks..i am embarrassed to eat that way in front of them..i am totally out of control

I had a similar problem w/ binge eating... It was nothing more than a bad habit. Every night when I came home from work I would eat & eat and eat... On nights where we were busy and had to run out right after work I woudn't feel hungry... So I knew I was not eating as result of hunger....

I am in the process of breaking the habit... I try to stay out of the kitchen and stay busy.. (cleaning, etc) or I decide on something I am going to eat that is not junk food. (ie veg broth or some vegetables)

I think it almost became 'pavlovian' everyday I would come home and binge... Nothing more than a bad habit...

I think MM is right, it's just a habit. Or maybe you're not eating enough during the day? You might want to save a snack for this time of day, if it's before dinner. Some with some high fiber and a bit of protein. And find something to keep you busy during that time. And, for pete's sake, stay out of that kitchen!!! ha!!!

I'm the same. I've been trying to figure it out, and I think it's because:
a) I'm tired and feel like taking a nap
b) I love my kids to pieces, but when they come home, I feel like my day is sort of "over". The day is no longer about me, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I'm secretly a little resentful.

I think that by that time of day, I'm run down and in need of some protein. I've started eating something healthyish mid-afternoon, and it seems to be working. Usually a slice of whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter. Maybe some fruit with it.
My son gets home at 3, and if I eat something around 2:30, I don't feel quite so bitter about having to share the rest of the day with my family.

Hi, I am also a night eater, and I also don't know what to do about it! I'm glad you're here, and I hope we can pick up some good ideas for help along the way. This place is the best, and welcome!

I too have had problems with binge eating. Some of the things I do are just plan get out of the house (go for a walk), start cleaning, brush your teeth, hop in the shower, drink some tea, drink 2 full glasses of water, chew gum. I'm sure you can do it!

well it is great to know that i am not the only one...Ellis, i feel that same resentment, like my day is over....Time goes so darn fast during the day, and about the time I get to relax and enjoy my clean house, the kids come home and i feel bombarded...I love my kids to death, yet i need my time alone..
Thanks for the great advice everybody

Welcome! I used to do that at night after my fiance and I ate. But in my case, it was when I quit smoking. When I got the urge to smoke at night, I would go into the kitchen and grab what ever I could find. Before I knew it I ate an entire bag of chips. I still want to do this at times when I am bored, so I think that with the warm weather coming, I wont be doing it because I will be outside with my son. But the one strange thing, I have the way of how cigerettes smell, but lately when I see people smoking I feel like I want one really really bad and then I grab what ever food that I can find at the time.