Eating after Dinner

I love to eat at night, so I usually have a snack like cereal or cottage cheese and fruit after supper.

Lately I've been doing strange things.  I would have my snack but every time I'd pass by the kitchen I would grab a small handfull of cereal and pop it in my mouth dry.  I can't help myself!  The extra calories don't push me over my maintenance but I feel that this type of snacking is not normal.

Has anyone else have this problem of picking at food?   Any suggestions to help stop these cravings for cereal at night?

sometimes i am this way. i go thru phases. sometimes i am really snacky and sometimes i am not. i been know to take in a random cracker or twoo here and there.

i always eat alot after dinner, i usualy exersize right after dinner, or within the hour, so i have to, or ill go hungry.

Tip: hide all your food away in cupboards, when you pass through the kitchen you won't be so tempted to pick anyything up if its not directly in your view.

omg I do EXACTLY the same thing. usually with cereal too :) ... just handfuls each time i go by. sometimes i take a small mouthful of whatever other food is lying around if i'm still not satisfied. i feel it stops me from eating too much of unhealthy foods though so it doesn't bother me that much.

i would also like to know how to stop the weird cravings. but you're not alone!

lol i do the cereal thing.  quaker squares or special k usually.

I tend to snack the most after dinner.  I don't know why exactly.  I think it originally stemmed from trying to get my 1200 min. in each day and now it has just become habit.  As long as I don't gain, then I will probably just continue to do what I am doing. 

try pre-portioning your usual midnight snack foods into 50-cal servings; that shouldnt be too bad.

I have a bowl of spicy chick peas on my counter.  Last week it was  pumpkin seeds.  Next week who knows, but there will be something healthy there because I am a snacker.

i do it too! i tried to get myself to stop. but sometimes i'm legit still hungry so i'll have a parfait or some fruit and water. i used to ignore it but i have stopped losing weight so i think my body needs more food.

I do this too, and I don't know why.. I'm guessing out of boredom as I generally relax at nights, watch TV, play on the computer or hang out with hubby... and its normally stuff I shouldn't be touching, like biscuits, or slices of bread even.  I wondered about the possibility of maybe packing myself a little "snack box" so if I do want to snack I have to snack out of that, and I'd only put healthy stuff in it like carrot sticks, fruit, popcorn etc.  I might give this ago tonight..

i do this all the time. if you stay within your calorie limits i don't see it as a problem.

I have the same problem......I wake up almost every morning feeling guilty and I can't stand that.  I Love when I do good after dinner and wake up the next morning feeling proud of myself. I am still working on it.  Try to do something to keep yourself busy.....a hobby maybe. I do it out of bordem.  I like to put my i-pod on and clean up or just dance around a bit.  It's tough but we can do it.  I keep telling myself that and I am getting better. I have a note in my kitchen reminding me that I want to feel good about myself and proud.  I need to put it somewhere where I can see it all the time though because I forget about it sometimes. lol   I'm going on a cruise with my boyfriend in 5 weeks....so I started a challenge for myself and that seems to be helping. I want to lose 6 lbs in 5 weeks.  I know I can do it and I know I WILL DO IT! Set yourself a weekly goal and see how that works.  Good Luck! 

I think night snacking is ok as long as within cals still and not junk food.

I'm happy to know I'm not the only one!

I've been trying to stop this cereal snacking at night, so I stopped eating cereal at night completely, even as a snack.   So far it's helped.

I think that I may take spoiled's advice and leave a plate of veggies or other "allowed" food out after dinner so I can grab a few items each time I pass by the kitchen.   Instead of snacking on high carb / high sugar cereal late at night.

I'll be visiting a nutritionist tomorrow afternoon, and I have lots of questions for her concerning maintaining my weight and building muscle.   I'll make a post on this forum with her answers.

I love cereal. It's perhaps the one food I can eat any time of the day. I find it extremely difficult to cut it out of my diet, but sooner or later I'll have to, because i have no control over the quantity that i eat.

ravenlark - how did you just cut out cereal like that?

I love eating something sweet after dinner, anyone have any healthy alternatives?

is cereal ok to eat at night i thought cereal was all just carbs ,but is it ok to have at night?

What is one of the worst things u can eat late

There's no such thing as a worst thing to eat late. You can eat whatever you want whenever you want as long as it fits into your eating plan. The only thing to be concerned about is whether the food you eat will prevent you from falling asleep.

i always snack whenever i feel like it on kashi or sliced fruit.

i never eat until i'm very full so i think healthy snack is fine.

i don't like the feeling of having to eat at certain times or large, set amounts.  i think its easier on my stomach to have small portions and snacks throughout the day.  i avoid feeling lik my stomach gets blaoted this way. (except breakfast, i have a hearty breakfast cuz i'm hungry when i wake up).

I've had a similar issue over the past few months.  I either am INSATIABLY hungry at dinner (as in, eat a restaurant-sized portion of food and find myself still hungry) or manage to keep dinner small but am starved again by ten (I don't usually go to bed until midnight or later).

What I've started trying is eating MORE during the day.  As it is, I have a ton of calories left in my "allowance" by the end of the day which is nice in that it's okay to have a bit of a big dinner or late snack, but not so nice in that even that won't satisfy me.  I'm hoping that if I don't feel half starved all day, it'll be a lot easier to put away the leftovers and not need a snack.

I hear the calories in - calories out thing all the time and I think to a large extent it's true.  But I have a hard time believing that being hungry most of the day and then eating a large meal or late snack at night is as good for you as eating more evenly throughout the day.

Also, putting the food away.  Food out is so easy to eat, food that requires hurdles to get to is a lot easier to resist if you're not truly hungry.