snacking in the evening!

hiya, i'm a 17 year old girl who weighs about 10 stone and is 5ft11. I know my weight is average (I think!) but I would really like to lose about 1/2 stone to gain more confidence. i really want to lose it within the next month too as i have a party in october which i'd like to look a little slimmer for.

up until this point, my eating has been fine (i think!) until about 9pm when i start snacking! i know this is really bad, as i go to bed at about 11pm and sometimes i'm still snacking just before i go to bed. these snacks usually consist of chocolate biscuits, a banana, handfuls of cereal, crisps, sometimes mini chocolate bars.

last night, for example, i had two oaty biscuits (150 calories), a banana (100 calories) and a handful of granola (200 calories) from about 9pm - 10.30pm. altogether this is 450 calories, which is almost a quarter of my calorie allowance during the day! i know i'm snacking because i'm bored or maybe due to stress or whatever, but i can't seem to stop eating in the evening.

so far, my daily eating is usually something like this:

breakfast: small bowl of muesli with 2 slices of tinned peach and semi-skimmed milk (200 calories?)

mid-morning snack: biscuit or small cupcake (100 calories?)

lunch: cheese sandwich or roll with a fruit and sometimes a 100-calorie snack like a Breakaway or a Rocky chocolate biscuit. (500 calories?)

afternoon snack: 2 biscuits (150 calories?)

dinner: sometimes pasta or rice with meat in the sauce, or jacket potato, or pizza(every friday) or breaded fish etc, and usually with salad/vegetables and new potatoes if we haven't had pasta/rice. (700 calories?)

dessert: yoghurt or cake? (200+ calories)

altogether, about 1800 calories and that's WITHOUT the late night snacking!

i don't think i'm putting on weight, which is weird, but can i please have advice on stopping the snacking past 6.30pm and maybe foods which i should substitute in order to lose 1/2 stone quickly? because i'm 17, i have to eat dinner with my family, so i can't really skip dinner or only eat the veges/salad.

thank you for reading! and sorry it's long!

by the way, i do moderate exercise - i used to run for an hour 3/4 times a week, but i stopped that when i realised it may simply add muscle (and weight!) if i carry on eating a lot of food.

now, i walk briskly for about 1.5 hours a day at the minimum and do some housework.

i want to start running again, but only if it will help me lose weight. and i think it will, as long as i start limiting my calories. any help on what i should eat a day to lose 1/2 stone in a month?

Coffee works wonders to supress appetite for me, especially late at night. It's supposed to be because of the caffeine, so tea -might- also work, if you don't like coffee.

Also, have a small snack of oats or some other complex carb, it will regulate insuline and reduce the cravings.

First, you should understand that at 10 stone and 5'11", you are already in the low end of your BMI for your height. Do you do toning exercise? If you want to feel more confident, I would suggest toning exercises as opposed to diet for you. Pilates is amazing. Also, look at the cut of your clothes. Different body types require different cuts. Seek out clothes that fit you, as opposed to trying to change your body to fit the fashion.

That said, I, too, am a late night snacker. I am in the midst of my weight loss (I'm half-way to my goal!), and part of my success is I've figured out how to deal with late night hunger. First, as long as you are within your calorie goal for the day, you can stretch out your meals and snacks to go from the morning through to night. Ex: - I eat breakfast at around 6:30 am, a light snack such as a piece of fruit and  some nuts at around 9:30 am, lunch at 12:30, another snack at 3:30 (cottage cheese or yogurt), dinner at 6:30 or 7:00, and a snack at 9:30 (fruit, Fiber One (yes, the cereal!), and or even a bit of chocolate). You really can eat during the evening, even right before bed, and not gain weight so long as you stay within your calorie goal for the day. Once I began viewing my snacks as "mini meals", and began eating at 3 hour intervals throughout the day, my body adjusted and the weight really started coming off.

There is some evidence that breakfast is key to such a program; if you eat breakfast, it will start your body metabolizing food and keep you out of starvation mode (where your metabolism will slow down and burn less food to convert into energy - this is why you will see a lot of advice on these forums to "eat more" to people who are at a weight loss plateau). It is good you eat such a healthy breakfast. Try to get fresh fruit, as opposed to tinned, when you can. Then, a steady stream of low-calorie meals and snacks throughout the day will keep your metabolism working, and keep hunger pains at bay. So, you can eat later in the evening, in moderation, after a day of healthy meals.

You might want to look at what your snacks are. The yogurt is terrific - eat low-fat or non-fat plain yogurt with fresh fruit. Try to add other healthy snacks - low-fat cottage cheese and some fresh veggies, fruit and nuts, low-fat mozzarella cheese and veggies or fruit, etc. Just have the chocolate once in a while, as a real treat. 

Just remember the key - eat 500 calories a day less than you burn. Check out your requirements in the "Tools" section here and make sure you are getting enough calories. And, I personally believe the other key is to eat moderately throughout the day. You should be fine if you keep both these things in mind.

And seriously, for you - exercise is a better way to go than diet.

As someone has already said, you're at the botom end of your BMI already - yours is 19.5.  You want to get to 133 pounds - which would be a BMI of 18.5. Do not go below 18.5 because that is underweight.

I too am 5ft 11"and appreciate that tall girls carry weight differently to more average height females - but don't get ill!  Being this tall, I know about wanting to appear slim - but you're already really slim!  I vary between 9st 10 lbs to 10st which for me is a UK8 (being the same weight and height, you're the same?) and it isn't weight that creates that fluctuation, it really depends on sodium levels that I have consumed.  Look up water retention on Google and read the tips on how to combat it.

I can see you'reeating a lot of refined sugars - chocolate bars, biscuits, pizza(the sauce - sugar). Refined sugar is addictive and the more you eat of it, the more you'll want.  Try foods such as avocados on those really thin corn cakes, zero sugar cereals like shredded wheat, nut butter (reduced sodium), sardines in olive oil, wholemeal products, brown rice, more veg, more fruit.  Don't be scared of eating fat by the way... contrary to belief - fat doesn't make you fat - weight loss/gain always boils down to calories in Vs calories out.  Our bodies needsfat.

Drink plenty of water (at least 2 litres per day, lots more if exercising) and get in some exercise - aim for about two and a half hours per week of raising your heart rate and sweating!

PS; you're 17. You have not stopped developing yet and you WILL fill out more. This means that it is natural to put on weight.  Whilst you are this young, take advantage of a speedy metabolic rate... because believe me, the older you get the more you have to work harder to get those results.

Basically you snack in the evening because you're hungry. This is also why you are not gaining any weight, the snacks you eat in the evening are only just bringing you up to maintenance calories.  Looking at what you are eating I'd say your calories during the day are just a bit but not much too low.

You are at a good (but already low) weight for your height. If you feel like you have too much fat, running and other exercise could help you to tone up and if you stick to about 2200 calories a day and exercise as you were you should find your body tones up into a good shape. Worrying about putting on the tiny bit of muscle that this would entail doesn't really make sense, we are made of fat, muscle or bone. If you don't want fat or muscle on the out side you are only left with your bones sticking out which really looks awful.

I get home from school really late and always feel like eating and winding down with some television

i usually grab a bowl of cereal with half a banana

or some tea and small piece of cake

thank you all so much for your replies and all the advice was really good, i'll look at exercising more, drinking more tea (don't like coffee) and maybe sticking to small snacks in the evening, like reduced-fat yoghurt/cottage cheese or oaty stuff, small chocolate pieces etc.

last night i had 2 freddo chocolate bars (200 calories), an oaty biscuit (70 calories) and a small bowl of cornflakes (100 calories).

now i'm hoping to start afresh and maybe just have one freddo in the evening with cups of tea!

thanks again :)