After dinner cravings ruin my whole day for me!

I eat so well, but then I get these cravings for sweets after dinner. And I try hard to forget about them (I even tried that whole "wait fifteen minutes and the craving will be gone) but I totally over-did it on cookie dough and some french fries tonight. How can I stop these cravings?

I have those 60-calorie packs of jello pudding in the fridge just for this! Come in vanilla, chocolate, caramel, and combinations of those! Good stuff, and usually satisfies my wanting something sweet.. 

I can't resist my late night cravings so I actually save 300-500 calories for after dinner. I eat a really small breakfast and lunch and a snack right before I run around 5 pm. Then I have a large healthy dinner around 7 and then around 9 o clock when the cravings kick in I have a calorie budget to spend...sometimes I use it all and sometimes I just don't need it and it is a deficit. I've READ that eating right before bed is bad but I don't take it too seriously because I have a good BMI and overall am quite healthy. Sometimes I even use those calories in the middle of the night (2-3 in the morning) because I cannot go back to sleep without consuming a certain something-or-another...the other night it was sugar cookies :)

yes, i always save a couple of hundred cals for dessert but even after i've eaten that i can still want more - evenings are tough for me too.

my advice - low cal hot chocolate. i drink 'options' sachets which are only 33 cals - and i only have half the sachet cos that is plenty - only need a small cup of it. hazelnut one is gorgeous. anyway, have it straight after your dinner and it will satisfy your sweet tooth. it really works.

I feel your pain!  I have this problem as well.  Sometimes a plain bowl of oatmeal does to trick but other times it just leads me to a binge till I make myself sick. 

I think the above posters gave some good advice.  Save your calories and keep an emergency snack on hand.  I've been trying to just eat fruit or yogurt when these hit and sometimes it helps. 

Also try brushing your teeth!!  Nothing nastier than trying to eat with the taste of fresh mint in your mouth.  That worked for me the other night. 

When I first started counting I had this problem and I too saved calories for after dinner. I've found, however, as time goes on (I've been counting everything for over 4 months now) that these cravings decrease. It's not nearly as much of an issue now as it was at the beginning.

Also, try chewing gum! I usually go for sweet gum, which can kill cravings, but you could also try minty gum which would work kind of like brushing your teeth.

I like to have a hot beverage after dinner, typically a caffeine free herbal tea to suppress any hunger pangs.  I find it relaxing and it works well as a digestive.

It happens to the best of us. I safeguard myself by keeping a huge bag of frozen fruit and cool whip lite (or fat free) topping in the fridge. I don't plan it into my daily meals, so it's there just for when the cravings attack.

I totally hear you.  I do the exact opposite of what is usually advised.  I eat a small breakfast and lunch and save my calories for dinner and an after dinner snack.  If I eat a big breakfast in the morning, like I'm apparently supposed to, I end up binging all day.

One thing that helps me is to not eat my supper until around 7:00 p.m.  I get home and work out, then make and eat dinner, then have a snack.  At about 8:00 I take a shower and brush my teeth.  That's a good way to signal to my body that I'm DONE EATING for the day.  It doesn't always work, sometimes I'm just determined to inhale food, but it does help a lot.

I often have two squares of a dark chocolate bar if I have a sweet craving. The dark chocolate is so rich it helps kill cravings and dark chocolate is actually good for you. In moderation.

Honestly though, when I first began implementing the no eating after 7 p.m. rule it was hard and took will power. I drank a lot of water with lemon and chewed gum.

But my body adapted and the cravings stopped.

I also eat two squares of dark chocolate at night. I have the same sweet cravings after lunch, so I chew a piece of sugar-free gum. The bubble gum flavor tastes so sweet that it kills the cravings. Doesn't work in the evening, so I save about 100 calories for the dark chocolate.

drink a large cup of hot tea, enjoyed with one serving of 'dessert'. Brush your teeth, then wait 15 minutes. let me know how it goes!

I keep a stash of the Jello/Hunts gelatin snacks, and fat free cool whip on hand for these times. 25 cals, and I'm good. I can't eat the Jello w/o the coolwhip though, yuck! lol. Hmmm, maybe just a couple of tbsp of the coolwhip would do the job... hehehe

Oddly enough, ever since I started eating as big a breakfast as I want, I never have any desire to eat after dinner (7-8ish). It sounds counterintuitive, but it worked for me. I wake up starving mind.

Original Post by jackie857:

How can I stop these cravings?

Eat more.

I love eating... I found my solution is to eat a HUGE salad with some salsa and red lentils for a post dinner snack... I get so full that I could not stuff fries/chocolate/any other thing down...and MUCH more bulky that a 100 calories of cookies, pudding or something that leaves me hungry for more

I also cool really bulky low density foods... I can cook a HUGE vat of soup that totals maybe 900 calories that I could never finish... all this food helps curb any cravings... and if I am really craving something, I just eat a bite of it when I am full... that way I don't eat much of it after the first bite...

This worked for me... hopefully it can give you some help...

I agree with taking a shower, chewing gum & brushing your teeth. I brush my teeth so the taste of sugar isn't lingering. Oh and also the big salad thing...I eat HUGE salads with lots of veggies and then I mix light (could do fat free because its not about the taste) sour cream with salsa and use that as a really low cal dressing. It really fills me up to the point of not wanting to eat anymore. 

I find that I used to eat part of my kids dinner just because it was sitting there.Now what I do is wrap up all the left over food that hasn't been served and I put it away.I find drinking tea has really helped me too. I swear by it.Good Luck

I would not suggest as other have done here.  Before doing anything make sure your blood sugar level is tested.

If this is not a problem then Sugar cravings are there because somewhere before now you were eating to much sugar.  Your hooked! 

Usually your parents introduce you to sugar and depending on your age it an be worse fro some generations. Easter, Halloween and Christmas..all times I would pig out on sugar.

What do you do now?  Well I would suggest you set up a food log here on cc and go thru all your favourite sweet foods...learn what is in them in sugar and nutrient values.  Study this list and understand the sugar craving if not a medical problem that you have it is a habit and your addicted to sugar.

You can not quite cold turkey so ween your self off this carving slowly.  Reducing your white sugar intake and use alternatives, Honey is number one..a tea spoon when the craving hits is usually enough, splenda and other alternatives work too. 

But the idea is to get away from this need of sugar.

Treat it like an addiction, try what others suggest until you hit what works for you.  Could be glass of hot water and honey, sugarless gum, splenda in a water, a banana, small piece of dried fruit(high in sugar)...

You will soon know what it is that works for you.  My down fall was sugar, salt  and butter...and believe me it is hard to find tasty alternative.  The best thing to do for your body is to cut them slowly out of your diet, completely. Your body was just not made to eat all the white sugars we want to. 

And remember you only need 1 level tsp of salt a day!!

Here are the things that got me past that stage

1.  Try not to have any of those hi cal snacks in the house at all.  That means no cookies, no chips, no ice cream, no candy, etc.  Nada!

2.  Eat dinner 1/2 hour later and make sure it's a balanced meal with large enough servings of vegetables and salad to be satisfying.

3.  Plan an evening snack such as fruit or yogurt to be eaten about 1 to 2 hours after supper.

4.  Make sure I eat a balanced diet because that seemed to help me with cravings.

That way I knew I was going to have something sweet and that I couldn't go looking for anything high calorie (because it wasn't there.)  After a while the strong cravings went away, but my evening snack is still a good habit. 

Obviously get that stuff out of your house!  Who has french fries in their house when they're on a diet??

Eat a teaspoon of agave nectar, drink a glass of water.

Eat one square of dark dark chocolate.