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Old 03-18-2001, 08:22 AM   #1  
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Help!!! I do great during the day, then comes nighttime.....I start munching and keep munching! I mean anything-all the evils, chips, ice cream, etc etc etc. I'll eat a popsicle, have a fruit, then I find myself into the 'bad stuff' in the house. Yes, get it out of the house, but I do have other family members! Pirates Booty is great, but I end up eating the entire bag! It's almost as if an evil evening spirit has taken me over or something! I've lost 65# and am afraid of gaining it back. I know people say to do other things in the evening and not sit and watch tv, but I work 10 hour days and there isn't much energy left after that!
Any suggestions?
-debbie
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Old 03-18-2001, 08:59 AM   #2  
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Hi debp,
Have you ever thought about start counting you points at night. I have many friends that start their point day at 4pm, just for this same reason.

Alot of people have found that this is very liberating and they feel more in control. Then you can eat those chips (I hope they are WOWS) and eat more at night, then just cut back during the day. Try it. What do you have to lose? Maybe more weight!!!???
ql
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Old 03-18-2001, 09:59 AM   #3  
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I have always struggled with that same problem, and would always end up going off the program because of it (count pts. all day, and then chuck it in right after dinner...sometimes *before* dinner ;-) ). I decided about 3 weeks ago that enough was enough; if the program was not going to work for me I was going to quit. I gave myself one week and the challenge to stay within pts for the *whole* week -- not just a couple days here and there, and never on the weekends. When I accomplished my 1 wk goal (and lost 5.4 lb!) I realized that most of my evening snacking was out of habit, boredom, etc... I usually save 4.5 pts for after dinner, and it helps me to delay snacking -- since I know I can have the snacks, I can delay eating them to a time when I may want them the most (during a 9 P.M. TV show instead of right after dinner, for example).

When the snack monster is really hitting -- and I don't want to give in yet -- I get a glass of ice water, hot tea, or make some flavored decaf coffee, and visualize myself walking around this summer in a bathing suit with confidence (the visualization really helps me). Surprisingly, I usually find that the snack attack passes, I wasn't *really* hungry, and I pay attention to why I was looking for food (I found that being tired was a big reason).

You've done sooooo great losing all that weight -- an inspiration to those of us just starting! Don't let yourself revert back to old habits that helped you gain weight (I'm guessing) in the first place! Hang in there! Holly
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Old 03-18-2001, 11:39 AM   #4  
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Deb,

I am sooooo glad you started this thread. It seems like it could be written by me it sounds so familiar. I have been on program for 2 1/2 years and the first year the weight just flew off (99 lbs) and then with only 10 lbs to goal.....it just stopped. I had to very humbly admit to my leader after about 5 months of playing with the same pound, that my night time eating was getting out of control. I admitted that once the journal was completed for the day with good results.....the late night eating bug would bite and those points never got added (guilt). After rearranging my goal weight, and losing about 3 of those 10 lbs.....I finally reached goal! (My leader actually declared it as goal even though I was w/in .5 of the actual weight) My maintenance was fine (since I was addept at keeping at this level for over 10 months) and my first 2 months of lifetime was logged in at the same as goal. Since then, I have put back on 7 of these pounds. Even though I religiously follow program all day long, the late night eating is still a big problem (and boredom seems to be the main cause). Needless to say, since gaining back this weight, I have been embarrassed to go back to my meetings and show this oversite to my fellow members since my leader has used me as such an inspiration (102 lbs total weight loss) to them. Clothes that were so lovingly bought are now starting to fit snug. This thread (and this site) I hope will give me the inspiration to "get back on track" and re-lose this added poundage. Thanks again for admitting a weakness that many of us share and hope to overcome.....together.

Karen
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Old 03-18-2001, 03:49 PM   #5  
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Wow, I can totally identify with this problem! I eat healthy all day, exercise lots, and blow the whole thing in the evening! I have even tried saving lots of pts for the evening, and still eat more than I have left! I have lost 61 lbs since august, but only about 10 since the end of december, due to this problem! I feel horrible and full after, and track every single pt, but it still happens! I know I can't give up, or it will all come right back, but I just don't know what to do right now!
It does help to hear that so many others are in the same position, though! Hang in there everyone!
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Old 03-18-2001, 05:28 PM   #6  
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Raising my hand too. What is it about the evening? I can do good all day long till about 8 or 9. I have been coming here the past few days looking for inspiration :-) from all of you wonderful ladies. Yes today is the first in about 2 weeks that I feel like going at this full force once again. Maybe this evening I will start a book. I also know how to eat while reading LOL I will have this struggle the rest of my life but I will keep at it. So I think I will move my butt a bit and go do some cleaning. Good luck this evening :-)
Sue
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Old 03-18-2001, 06:50 PM   #7  
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It's me again, the 'muncher'. I'm so glad I posted this and it's good to know it's not just me. Reading your posts today, I started thinking. This 'problem of munching' needs to be faced as a challenge, one that is not too big to be to overcome. Sometimes I also feel that perhaps since my weight came off so easily, I'm also being tested, a test I'm not going to fail!
All that being said, I think it's going to be harder to do then to write.
-debbie
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Old 03-19-2001, 08:43 AM   #8  
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From what I've read about weight management, this problem of eating at night is one of the biggest contributors to many a person's weight problem. It certainly was/is for me. If it's just a bad habit (like mine is) the best way I've found is to experiment with different things to try and break yourself of the habit. I've tried all sorts of things, ranging from starting my points for the day at dinner, scheduling a nighttime snack etc. Through trial and error, I've found 2 things to be true of myself:

1. The less I eat during the day, the more inclined I am to pig out all night. (Sounds entirely logical, eh?) For me, this means NO saving up points for a big dinner. The more regularly I eat throughout the day, the better I can cope at night. So, I now try to get in 3 meals plus a snack or two.

2. Eating anything after dinner can set me up for a night of snacking. I do better if I just resolve myself to NO EATING after dinner. Period. To reinforce this, I made a vow this Lenten season to avoid all food after dinner. It gets easier day by day to accept the fact that eating after dinner is not an option for me.

Interestingly, I was out with a girlfriend Saturday who's been successful in getting weight off that she gained during her pregnancies. We got on the subject of eating at night and she told me her solution, too, was to just brush her teeth after dinner and consider the kitchen closed. The same approach seems to work best for the two of us.
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Old 03-20-2001, 08:30 PM   #9  
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About once or twice a week, it seems, I go crazy in the evenings. I can't pinpoint what it is, if I'm stressed, tired, eating too little during the day, eating too much during the day, trigger foods, exercise, lack of exercise, what. But it's annoying.

Sometimes I'll go into binge mode. Not a massive binge, I guess, but a pretty big one. The one where I can down three slices of carrot cake for dessert. Or a box of Girl Scout cookies. (Thank goodness my stomach can't fit in the ability to do both yet! Some days, I have my doubts...) It's all the same type of foods, and sugary foods, that I tend to binge on. Oh, and M&Ms, but those are during the day at work. It's like the sugar awakens some sort of craving... but then other days, I can eat a little sugar and stop. Like tonight, I had a serving of chocolate-covered raisins. About 30 of them, 200 calories. And then I stopped. No cravings. It's weird, I don't get it.

Other nights I'll go into graze mode. Usually this is when nothing truly fattening or sweet is in the kitchen. I'll go and eat some fruit. Then I'll eat some popcorn. Then I'll eat some peanut crackers. Then I'll go eat-- well, you get the picture. Different things, and not unhealthy really -- unless you eat a bunch of them in a sitting.

If you look at my journalling, it's whacky. I'll eat 1500-1600 calories for 2-4 days in a row, then have a day or two of 2500-3000 calories. Then I kick myself thinking, "If only I hadn't eaten all that, I'd have lost weight this week!" And the cycle repeats. I've been bouncing between 170 and 180 for, like, a year now. Which is better than my previous 260-270 from three years ago, but it'd be nice to at the least be healthier in what I eat.

I'm going to try the 'brushing the teeth' method, and moving exercise back to the evenings. Hopefully after brushing, flossing, and mouth wash, I'll be too lazy to go through that routine again after eating something.

...either that or I'll just eat and still be lazy, and get a bunch of cavities. Hrm. Maybe this isn't such a great idea after all.
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Old 03-20-2001, 10:20 PM   #10  
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I hear ya Scuttle I have been messing with the same 20 to 25 pounds for about a year now. Its starting to make me mad I tell ya. Everyday I tell myself I am going to get serious again. I read all the stories on here that are so amazing and wonderful and I think what the heck is wrong with me. By the way Scuttle you should be very proud :-) you have done a great job taking off the weight. I did something different today. I started my points with supper and will end with lunch LOL believe me I dont have mush left for tomorrow so this just might work. Well I think maybe I should head to bed and thanks to everyone for shareing your stories it sure does help on this life long struggle. Sleep well :-) Tomorrow is a new day.
Sue
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Old 03-21-2001, 08:48 AM   #11  
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I know that those times that I find myself in "binge mode" are usually times when I am bored. For me, it's usually at work (but that's another story). Why don't you try exercising at night instead of in the morning? It'll give you something to do while you gain a few extra points to have in case you have a binge-attack?
Also, I tend to eat small meals and snacks throughout the day (usually about every 3-4 hours) and I think that it is because of this that I have no problem NOT eating at night. Once I finish eating dinner, I don't even have any thoughts about eating any more for the night. I think, like someone else mentioned, that eating more during the day keeps you from eating too much at night.
Also, if you do find yourself heading towards the kitchen to satisfy a craving, you can always try just getting into bed early.
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Old 03-23-2001, 05:07 PM   #12  
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There are some excellent ideas posted here!

I especially like the idea of starting points after 4 pm. Since I love snacking at night, I'm going to try brushing my teeth after dinner, too ( a fresh mouth along with a fresh start!)

Thanks, everyone!
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