I wouldn't think of it as being good, because we all have a little demon inside us that wants to be baaad, especially when told to be good. Perhaps the next time you're tempted to binge, you can ask yourself questions like:
1. Will I feel happier in a half hour if I binge or if I don't?
2. What else can I do right now besides eating?
3. What are my top three reasons for wanting to lose weight?
4. Is there anything small and healthy I can eat RIGHT NOW to stop the binge monster in its tracks?
I would love a solution to this problem. The only trick that has ever worked for me is having a small sweet snack at the same time every evening, like a piece of fruit, dark chocolate square, or cup of tea. If I do that for long enough, the snack becomes a signal that tells my body and mind, "Okay, that is all for today, we're done eating until breakfast."
Unfortunately I am out of this habit, but hopefully it won't be too hard to retrain myself. Good luck with whatever you try!
I never deny myself a snack in the evening (or more than one, depending on how much of a calorie deficit I've built up during the day with activity -- as measured by Fitbit).
I also have a rule that I eat every three hours that I'm awake.
Some of my evening snacks are:
Popcorn
Nutrisystem dessert bars (or similar 150-calorie treat)
light cheese and crackers
all of this is portion-controlled. If I want more, I can have more after 3 hours, or after jogging in place on the mini trampoline to compensate.
If I really can't afford the calories, I'll have a smaller treat, like:
Cinnamon Altoids (they're strong, so I won't have too many. No chewing allowed.)
A heaping spoonful of Fat-free Cool Whip. I'm surprised at how much this satisfies me. It doesn't seem like it would.
Two Hershey's dark chocolate kisses that I keep in the freezer. I have to melt them in my mouth -- no chewing allowed.
Someone said "if you're hungry enough to eat, you're hungry enough to eat an apple." That's good advice. Sometimes I think "apple...meh" and I realize I'm not really hungry. And other times I eat the apple. It's actually quite filling. Eat fruit with a small amount of protein or a couple of almonds, so it won't spike your blood sugar and make you hungrier.
When it's absolutely no more snacks, I brush my teeth, and put in my retainer, and go to bed pretty soon.
I usually have no more than 200 calories in the evening, but some nights I'll have more. Tonight it was 500 (but I think I'll still have a 500 calorie deficit at the end of the day).
If you watch TV, do something with your hands. Take up knitting or something!
Last edited by Queen Sarah; 02-01-2012 at 12:01 AM.
This was one of the most difficult things for me to overcome and I know how you feel about being good all day and then losing it at the end. It is so frustrating to lose control and feel like you have blown all your good work with a few bad choices. Do you have particular foods that you know trigger your appetite? Take a look at what you have had these past few nights that made you go out of control, then avoid those things. I have learned to avoid sugar completely and that if I eat carbs like popcorn it really gets me going.
What's worked for me is having a protein-based snack. Some of my go to snacks are almonds, beef jerky, cottage cheese with blueberries, or a string cheese. Also, a cup of hot tea helps a lot.
I have a couple things I do. I also save 100-200 cals almost every night just in case....
1.) I love 100 cal packs for night time cravings. I eat one or two packs of something and i eat them real slow.
2.) I really like to drink nice hot apple cider! Beleive it or not by the end of the glass I feel totally full!
3.) Casein Protein Isolate Shakes
4.) 100 cals worth of Almonds
Thank you guys so much for all the ideas. I'm going to try the high protein food idea. Hopefully that can keep me full. Also I heard brushing my teeth after I eat, that way it prevents me from snacking more.
This is why I go with a 'save all my calories till the end of the day' approach. I guess it's like IF, but my own plan. I dont generally eat during the day. I drink my water, tea, green tea, coffee and more water, lol.. but I don't eat anything until 4pm-ish. This way, I can eat all my 1500-1800 calories at night, all at once if I want to, and I'm not really ever going 'over' my daily calories. There are rare occassions where I'll go out to lunch with co-workers, or on the weekend where I'll have a breakfast, but my body is so used to it, I tend to fill up REALLY QUICKLY when I eat during the day, lol.
First I would suggest chugging a good amount of water. If you're finishing a workout you might actually be thirsty
If you're legitimately hungry after workouts, save some calories for the end of the day and as other posters have said choose something high in protein, or something low-calorie (or both).
Some days I want something salty after the gym. I don't know why really. All the water in the world doesn't help, so what I do is eat 50cals worth of smart fries (and 50cals worth is about 30 of those suckers!) and find that it gets that craving out of the way
I plan my meals to be a little more heavy at dinner and I plan for an after dinner snack. If you eat a small protein based snack about a half hour to an hour before the gym, you may feel less hungry after.
There are certain foods that fill me up more than others that I save for super hungry times. Since I usually have about 200 calories left after my dinner, I can even eat one of these for a snack if I'm that hungry after dinner:
Egg white omelettes with tons of veggies
Shirataki noodle bowls with tons of veggies This chili (I keep it on hand, frozen in cups)
Soup (I keep anywhere from 2-6 varieties frozen in cups)
Baked sweet or white potato
Vegan veggie burger
I agree with all the other posters that save up 100-200 calories for after dinner. I couldn't go from dinner to breakfast without something to eat. And if you do it well you can even eat a lot for just 200 calories. Here's a few of my go to snacks:
- boiled egg, I remove the yolk and the dogs have a party with it
- baby corn with some salsa dip
- a tablespoon of peanutbutter (yes, just like that... small licks and you feel so full! love it)
- handfull of walnuts
- I count out 6 pieces of candy and eat them very very slowly
- Atkins Endulge chocolate bar (OMG YUM. But quite expensive so not a lot)
- Cracottes with sandwich spread or piece of cheese
Well, I could go on forever. I've found a bunch of snacks that I enjoy. But I guess thinking up healthy snacks isn't the only 'problem'. It's this lack of control. You say you just let go.. which to me implies you've had to really control yourself the rest of the day. Like it's a struggle and at the end of the day when you are tired and feel 'done' you just can't control yourself any longer. If that's how you feel, you should look at your plan. In the beginning it's normal that it's hard to stay away from the bad stuff and experience some 'stress' over that. But it should not constantly feel difficult. If it does, write down for yourself why and see how you can make it easier. Maybe you are forcing yourself into too few calories, or you eat too many carbs and stay hungry all the time, maybe you eat a lot of the same stuff and you never really get excited about what you are planning to eat anymore.
I experiment a lot, I google for recipes that are healthy and low cal. I really make this fun.
Philana I do feel like it is a struggle. I only have 1200 calories a day, I have been doing that for 3 or 4 months now? But when I binge its ovbiously not that low. I havn't been losing recenltly either and I think that is a big reason why I binge. Why even count calories if I wont lose anything. It's so frustrating.
I eat between 1100-1350 and it fills me up. What kind of food do you eat? And why are you so low? You are rather tall. How about adding 200 calories and giving yourself the leeway?
I do great all day, but then the night comes
Good luck.
