Over-eating late in the day.

I'm 54 (male).  I've been trying to lose weight (sometimes successfully) for years, and new to Calorie Count, which seems to be working for me.  I'm moderately active, I usually manage to get in 3 or so aerobic exercise sessions per week, with maybe 1 circuit training session.  I'd like to lose 30 lbs.

My problem is - trying to control my eating in the afternoon and evening.  I seem to do well in the morning and early afternoon, but after 3:00 pm I find it hard to not eat impulse items (both healthy foods and deserts) that I know I shouldn't eat.  I either work at home or travel for work, both of which can be challenging for food choices.

Any suggestions?  I've thought of trying Full Bar or other high-bulk nutrition bars, but in the past I've found these just function as a sweet snack that stimulates my appetite.  I've tried eating nuts, which helps somewhat, but it's easy to eat too many of those.

Hi dmosk, I am overweight at 57 and do great during the day with balance in my life.  End of the day - is the culprit.  I find answers generally are to keep busy.  So what can you do?  I need to have outside time for fresh air everyday if I can and such, so hiking, walking, and biking so far are my favorite ways to get busy.  Then, the 4:30pm time is when I usually start making dinner - and I like cooking alot.  I don't tend to nibble while I cook necessarily but just fixing food helps.  Dinner isn't until 6:30pm so I have tried exercising beforehand, reading, working on the computer - something to stave off eating.  When I am in control, eating an apple seems to take care of the sugar need, munching need.  Drinking thai tea or lattes are helping to fill me up too.  Hope this helps. 

I am 58 and still trying to lose that last 20 or so pounds (successfully lost 100).  The evening seems to be bad for me also.  The only thing that seems to help is to have a glass of water or other low calorie drink to fill my stomach. The problem is that even though I know that, I find myself eating before I think about it and head off the food.  I bike two to three times a week and on those days I seem to manage better than other days.  Since I live alone I think I might be eating to stave off some feelings of loneliness, otherwise occupying my mind with food.  The only other thing that seems to help is to go to bed early, but as I said I live live alone so there is no real incentive to do that.  

My biggest problem is late afternoon 'grubbing'. I walk in the door from work and find myself at the frig - or the pantry. So, I joined CC after deciding I would make the Internet a productive tool for me. One of many resources I am now using. This is good, to have a group of folks like me, right?  Having to 'report in' really helps. But to offer input for the late afternoon binging.... personally, I still like an occasional martini, sans the vermouth - dirty, with two olives. I know, it's an "F" rating, but it keeps me even more diligent the rest of the day.  And it's way better than chips or cheese and crackers, which is what I used to do when I got home. Maybe I should work later? tee hee... In any event, I'm losing the pounds, and still get the occasional cocktail! So, I'm not dieting, I'm controlling!

I have found having a 3:00 snack at work--popcorn, frozen grapes, anything under 100 cals--keeps me from raiding the kitchen before dinner.  Coffee also settles my hunger for a little while.  If I'm not too tired after work I do my walk as soon as I get home and by the time I'm through it's time to start dinner and I can wait those few extra minutes.

Hi Dkfox, I am not a coffee drinker per se, but have started drinking coffee at the end of day thinking I am tired and is one reason I eat before dinner.  I wondered about the coffee helping or not.  I like your idea of walking before dinner - and no reason why I can't do that.  Thanks for the popcorn idea too. 

It is way too easy for me to start eating when I get home from work and never really stop.  I have recently used several of the strategies mentioned:  caffeine when I get home, an apple before I leave work, a larger lunch (usually homemade vegetable soup).  After dinner, eating a hard sour candy or two helps prevent continued munching.  If I have an evening snack, it is usually a mix of craisins, walnuts, almonds and toasted soy nuts.  I have gotten much better at measuring out a portion of this mix, 1.5 oz.

I had also got into the bad habit of eating at night, hence why I'm trying to lose now. It's what I call the Civil War syndrome. Fighting with myself at night about whether or not I should eat and that little devil would usually win. I've drawn a truce now and can usually manage to behave myself and save 200 calories for a 9pm snack with a bottle of water. Oatmeal at night satisfies nicely as well. Those instant oatmeal packs are anywhere from 120 to 160 calories, so it makes a really good late snack.

Hi.  I'm new to the group, but here's my two cents.  After years of late day/evening snacking, I've finally been able to stop and ask myself if I'm really hungry.  Is my stomach growling?  Do I have a headache?  Am I fuzzy-headed?  If I am, I have a small snack (no more than 100 cal).  If I can't identify any symptoms of hunger, I then ask myself why I really want to eat.  Am I bored?  Find something else to do.  Am I tired?  Go to bed/take a nap.  Am I angry?  Deal with it--write in journal, address what made me angry.  You get the idea . . .sounds so easy, but it is really hard.  Bottom line is that eating when you're not hungry only distracts you from what's really eating you for as long as you're eating.  After that, you are still angry/bored/tired, AND now you've eaten a bunch of crap so you have more to feel bad about!  AAARRGGHHH!