Evening Eating

Hey guys! I eat low-cal, super-healthy food till after supper and fill out my cal needs. That's how it should be...but after supper, I just associate evening relaxation with food and I go haywire. I want to eat everything in sight, I don't...but the struggle is immense, and I usually do eat quite a bit afterwards. Evening is the worst time to eat food anyway, cuz you can't burn it off so fast.

Does anyone else have this evening problem? And how, please tell me how, you fixed it???

I like watching movies or reading in the eveing, and I always feel like I need a sweet snack, something more than tea...ahhh! What to do? I always eat way more than I need and then feel bad about it, cuz I've done SO WELL all day!

try eating something really low cal at night, like carrots, celery, fruit, veges...  :D

fruit is sweet!  try grapes, oranges, apples...

You need to have some choices of snacks so you don't binge or snack the wrong foods. There are lots of snacks out there like the 100 cal packs but becareful with sweet treats they may make cravings start. I eat a sf fudgesicle.  Here is a good snack(under 200 cal) I take one sf fudge sicle, add 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter with no added sugar, 1 splenda an about 10 dark chocolate chips.  Put in the microwave for about 5-10 secs just to melt slightly the chips and fudgecicle and tastes just like a frozen reese cup.

There are some awesome all fruit popsicles that are only 50 cal. Take a while to eat and you usually can't eat more than three, haha!

Ooh, these sound good...any other ideas???

I have the exact same problem!  I find the best low-calorie nighttime snacks for me are ones that take a while to eat.  My current favorites are string cheese (I eat the regular kind, not the low-fat) and those small clementine oranges (I love that they can be broken down into sections).  Still, I do find the evenings very very difficult.

paintedbliss - your snack sounds wonderful right now!

Sigh, Jenniferceline...you're a breath of fresh air...I'm glad I'm not alone. :)

Could it be you need more than 1200 cals? Maybe that is not enough food for you and that's why you're wanting to eat at night. If you exercise at all you may need more than that. Maybe try upping your cals to 1400-1500 during the day and see if that helps.

ahh i do the same thing! I try to eat my dinner at around 7 and stay away from food, so Ill busy myself with something other than watching tv. Usually I find that when I'm watching tv, I will go and get chips or snacks, so i try not to watch tv right after dinner. By just busying myself, I am able to forget about food or my hunger. If I really really cant stop thinking about food, I'll sign on to caloriecount.com and look through the forums. That way I wont be tempted to eat and feel very guilty if I do. For some reason, reading other peoples motivations and struggles inspires me  to not induldge in evening snacking.

This works for me, so I hope that this helped. :)

Good Luck!

I second the clementine oranges. They are sweet, take awhile to eat because yoiu have to peel them and then eat them in sections, and they are only 25 cals!

I also have trouble with nightime eating, so I always make sure that have 200-300 cals left so that I can eat something without going over my calories. So as long as you plan it right, there is no reason why you cant have an evening snack. There is no rule that you have to stop eating by a certain point as long as you burn more cals than you eat, it really doesnt matter when you eat the cals. I have lost a significant amount of weight and I usually eat a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit before I go to bed. 

We have all kinds of snacks lying around in the house(cookies,gingerbread and chocolate), but I usually just resist them. I tell myself not to take them...of course that doesn't always work.

Now I just brush my teeth after dinner and that means that I'm done eating for the day...I just won't eat/drink anything until breakfast.

Frozen Grapes! Each one takes a while to eat and theyre like little individual sorbets! taste sweeter frozen too... :)

I eat in the evening while I am watching TV too!  One of the things that has been working (so far) for me is hopping on the treadmill, doing crunches, lunges, or stretching, etc while watching TV.  When I exercise I drink tons of water and the exercise seems to curb my appetite ... plus I stay busy.  It's working for now ... but it has only been about 4 weeks.  I love the idea of hopping on CC and reading the forums ... that always motivates me to be a little bit better too!

As for an evening calorie filling snack ... I like popcorn (the 94% fat free with buttery flavor -- the whole bag is like 240 cals ).  You can even find them in the 100 cal packs ... sometimes I sprinkle some of the Kernel Season's popcorn season (parmesan and garlic or white cheddar) on the top to add a bit of flavor.  Takes awhile to eat ... and so yummy!!

I have this problem too! I try to eat 1,200 calories a day, do what I do is eat 3 meals that average out to 300 calories each, that way I have 300 calories let to eat after dinner. Usually I eat 3, 100 calorie snacks through out the night. But sometimes I use all 300 on something really good. Like a piece of cake, or pizza. It works for me. Also, I work out at night, which helps kill time in the evening so I don't think about food. Try doing things with your hands too. Scrapbook, or surf the web. Chewing gum can help too. :]

-Adrea

I tend to have a general rule that I can't eat anything after dinner. If I think I can have a snack I'll tend to nibble and nibble and not be satisfied. What I do have for a treat though is make myself a mocha. I use hot water, instant coffee, cocoa powder, stevia and just a dash of skim milk. It takes awhile to drink & satisfies my sweet tooth.

Banana and 25 cal hot chocolate. 

I was always a late night eater, I wouldn't go to bed without 2 buttered toasts with milk chocolate. Plus all the little snacks. Solution: no food after dinner! If I feel hungry I drink ice cold water and munch on the ice cubes. I've been doing this for the past 6 months with success.

On days I end up eating less than 1600 cals, I do feel hungrier at night, so like someone else said above you might be eating too little. Remember to readjust your calorie intake on days you exercize a lot, you might need more on these days.

And like kazal mentioned, do brush your teeth after dinner. Jillian Michaels gave the same tip the other day. Have some gum or brush your teeth after meals, you're less likely to feel like eating more afterwards.

These ideas and tips are so great, thanks guys! I'm much more pepped right now and am excited about battling my evening munching! Love the idea of the mocha...mmm, sounds good.

What brand is the 25 cal. hot chocolate? Sounds nummy.

its swiss miss "diet" hot cocoa--and its pretty much amazing.

i also like "designer whey" protein in chocolate and chocolate peanut caramel flavors. you mix a BIG scoop with 3 oz. water and then I like to heat it up. Its 100 calories of pure FILLING bliss. plus, its chock full of protein and vitamins. i mean, it doesn't get better!

also, i am a big late night eater and one thing I do now is try to go upstairs and do my laundry, cleaning of the room, etc at night (just being an entire STAIRCASE away-haha from the food seems to help). Then I make alot of tea and have my laptop handy to go CC and peruse the forums, do online "window shopping" of stuff I want to fit in, make phone calls, etc. and before you know it, im exhausted and looking forward to my big rewarding breakfast that i can now enjoy 200 calories more of bc I didn't waste it on 2 oreos :0)