I just completely fail at nighttime! Why is it so different during the night?

I don't get it!

I'm so good with everything the whole day and then nighttime comes and I just lose it. It's like when the moon comes out I turn into this insane werewolf that wants to eat EVERYTHING! Why is it so different at night? I just completely lose it and start eating over my calorie limit!!!

Does anybody have any tips to fight this horrible night time eating?

yeah especially if your sitting around at home.. read a book, go online (even on here), go for a walk, watch a movie.. talk on the phone (or ifyour me text up a storm).. that stuff allll helps.. and maybe save room for a larger dinner when you are home at night that way you dont go over your limit and you are satisfied, drink plenty ofwater and hot tea as well.. goo dluck :)

try eating dinner later like around 8

and then planning a snack right before bed so you dont feel deprived

do you eat enough during the day?

I think it is just a habit. I have a fruit, like watermelon chunks or grapes, so you feel like your just popping something in mouth, instead of chips or something bad. This might sound weird but I'll eat fresh steamed green beans. I eat them with my fingers. I don't cut them. I reminds me of eating french fries. It works for me. Although I don't snack nearly as much as I used to.

Judy

I find the same thing tends to happen to me if I don't eat enough during the day (especially if I fail to eat breakfast -- I'll be ravenous all day without breakfast).

What's your daily calorie target?  How active are you?  Maybe you've set your target too low.  Mine was too low for the first week or two I was trying to lose weight, and I was always hungry.  I upticked it after a couple of days and found that a couple hundred calories made an enormous difference to my satiety, but didn't hurt my weight loss.  I've lost about 30 lbs this year thus far (and I can't even say I'm actually trying all that hard; most people on here put a lot more into it than I do).

Do you find that you crave any specific food group in the evenings (carbs? protein? fats?)?  That might say something about a missing piece in your diet.

OTOH, if you're eating enough, you might consider taking up some fairly-vigorous form of exercise (as long as you don't have medical problems that counterindicate it).  I've been sidelined for several months while recovering from a lung infection, but when I was training in Muay Thai, I found that the intense exercise really curbed my appetite (I'm hoping to get back to it soon). 

Running also does the trick for me, as does horseback riding, if I'm not just lazing around the trails at a walk.  I generally eat less on days I bike to work (though, again, skipping breakfast torpedoes that effect).  Exercising in the evening can also prevent boredom-eating (Britty made some other good suggestions).

I also think Judy's snack suggestions are great.  If I'm feeling snacky and really want something salty (because I'm a salt junkie), sometimes I'll have a few (and I do mean a few) chips or pretzels coupled with a bunch of chopped veggies or fruits.

Also, make sure you're getting enough sleep.  Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on your brain's appetite controls, and if you haven't had adequate sleep, as fatigue creeps in during the evening, you can definitely transform into a werewolf.

I don't know if any of these suggestions will be your silver bullet, but I hope they help :)

Original Post by judy_:

I think it is just a habit.

ditto that. I used to have the same problem- just the minute I came downstairs from putting the kids in bed I automatically started feeling "hungry" and started snacking. Every single evening.

If it's legitimate hunger, maybe you need to look over how you break down your calories during the day. Make sure you're having enough fiber, protein and water. And leave yourself an extra 200 or so calories for evening snacking.

Maybe the key is to get outside of the house and do something, anything, before the urge to snack begins.

I have this habit.  Dh and I like to grab Chipotle for dinner and watch a dvd after the kids are in bed.  Chipotle is highish in calories, but what made it really bad was that I also ate a side of chips and drank a soda. Worse, we used to also have ice-cream with whipped cream, but happily we've stopped that.  Now that I count calories I don't often indulge in the soda and almost never in the ice cream. But I still am tempted to snack a lot at night.   If we're watching a dvd, I'll fix myself some raw veggies, but I'll take my time slicing them and arranging them to look pretty and maybe make a light vinaigrette.  Or I'll make a cup of herbal tea with a small amount of cream and have one small serving of cake (if I've baked that day) or even a slice of toast with a thin spreading of butter and jam.  For me, getting into the habit of taking time and care over even simple food prep makes me less apt to eat a lot.

I think it's probably the same thing I and probably others are hungry for- companionship.

Maybe we're upset about not having someone/something satisfying and think about what we don't have. That gets frustrating and then we turn to what we do have that's pleasurable: food. Food is always there, never disappointing, fills a kind of emotional and probably spiritual hunger. Only it really doesn't.

Try yoga, meditate, walk, etc.