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How Do I Stop Eating So Much At Night?
This is a discussion on night eating, stress eating, emotional eating and the strategies to combat them and break the cycle. Solutions brought up include willpower, visualization, developing alternative routines, moving meals earlier in the day and finding very low calorie foods.
If you want to add to this discussion or add a comment, please click on the link above and you can participate anonymously in the supportive PEERtrainer community.
Hi All,
I have a horrible problem! I want to lose my final 10 lbs and have been doing really well. I eat very healthy during the day at work, exercise and play tennis regularly, but when I get home after the gym (9pm or so), I have a nice dinner but then I start eating uncontrollably even though I'm not even hungry! Does anyone have any suggestions for me? I've tried buying ice-pops and eating like 15 of them instead of pretzels or ice-cream but I always end up going to the bad foods.. How can I stop this, convince myself that one ice-cream cone is enough when i know i have 6 in the freezer? Or if I can't stop-how can I switch to some better alrernatives? Does anyone have any ides?
Thank you!!!
Thu. Jul 28, 7:28am
A good alternative, for me, is sugar-free meringue cookies (I buy them at Walgreens!). 14 of them is 40 calories! There are about 5 servings in the whole container. Also, they get kind of stuck in your teeth, so after a bunch, it's hard to eat anymore. And, they come in chocolate, so that's the best! If I ate an entire package, it'd only be 200 calories, and that'd take me at least an entire night to do!
Alternatively, find something to do with your hands - that's probably why you eat. Take up knitting, or dig out the old Nintendo, or give yourself a manicure - don't want to eat if it'll mess up your nails! Spend time doing things like lotioning your whole body - since it's smaller now, you want it all to be soft too! Take a long shower after the gym, or even a bath with some candles, music, and a good book. Write your checks and go through the mail. Anything to keep your hands busy.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 8:11 AM
I have the same problem
I have the very exact same problem. I'll do excellent throughout the day but when bedtime comes, i just MUST put stuff in my mouth to feel at ease :o(
I will try picking up those sugar free meringue cookies and hopefully that will help, its so pitiful to waste a perfect day of good eating at night, its the worst feeling.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 8:26 AM
Perhaps you could not buy the treats. I have the same problem, but now I don't have anything left to snack on:-). I bought pretzels in the lunch pack so its just one serving. If it is not around, you can't eat it! Also, brush your teeth after you eat!
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 8:41 AM
i'm struggling with the same thing. i keep busy, exercise, eat healthfully through the whole day... and then right at bedtime i start to eat again, doesn't matter what. i think i'm feeling anxious, not hungry. it's so frustrating!. i'd rather kick the habit of night eating rather than simply switching to sugar-free snacks, so maybe i'll try to add in another bedtime routine, like working on my sewing etc.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 8:43 AM
Don't eat after a certain time
My wife and I have tried to set a rule that we don't eat past 7pm. We have not always adhered to this, but mostly we have. The result is that we eat much smaller dinners (because eating earlier in evening -- not so hungry), and that we don't snack... most snacking takes place at night.
By the way, I am big midnight-snack eat (up in the middle of the night), and I stopped doing that.
The first couple of days were a little hard -- not so easy to go to sleep feeling slightly hungry, but after that, it hasn't been bad. An interesting thing is that you are less likely to wake up feeling hungry if you DON'T eat late at night.
Try it for a week and see what you think...
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 8:56 AM
Pavlov's Dog & Classical Conditioning
Where do you sit when you eat dinner/meals? For instance, if you sit in front of the tv when you eat dinner than you are conditioning yourself to eat when you watch tv. Then, if it's late and you're watching tv it makes sense that you'll be hungry even if you're not. It's a Pavlov's dog thing (behavioral psychology). I don't know what your personal habits are, but if you can try to make the place you eat specially for eating only, than you'll be less likely to eat.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 11:24 AM
Brush your teeth after you eat dinner. That will help because then you'd have to brush them again if you eat more.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 11:24 AM
Snacks at home
Hi! Someone already suggested this, but I just want to reiterate: force yourself to not have these snacks laying around the house. If pretzels and delicious ice cream are in your kitchen they will be very tempting. Over the last several years I have trained myself to completely skip the cookie, chip, soda and ice cream aisles in the grocery store. Sometimes at night when I'm craving a snack, it's a big let down to have to choose between apples and almonds, but it's also a relief because I know that if I had yummy things around I would eat them up regardless of hunger level.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 1:56 PM
For me it's a combination
I have the same problem with being "good" all day and then completely blowing it at night (ie eating more than a day's worth of calories). I attribute it to the fact that I have developed a habit of zoning out when I eat, and it's a way for me to completely mentally disengage from stress in my life. The more stressful my day at work was, the more likely I am to lose control at night. I have tried knitting (bored of it), not eating with the TV on (but we have a small apt with no kitchen table and my roommate loves TV at night) and not eating after 8pm (didn't work out so well with my crazy schedule).
I find that my biggest problem is when I am alone, as I won't eat everything in sight when someone else is around. But I can't eat out all the time. I am really at a loss, as this habit has been in place for about 6 years now (began back in college). Does anyone have any really innovative solutions to take my mind away from food when I am stressed out?
Also, there is room in my group right now, it's called New York Women Overcoming Emotional Eating---we just lost 2 members.
Thursday, July 28, 2005, 2:10 PM
In one of our groups, our weigh-in day is Friday, so on Thursdays, she says "nothing after dinner but water." (Ideally, we would have this attitude EVERY day, but...) Anyway, last night, I was still feeling "munchy" after dinner. I was going to make a bag of popcorn, but I didn't want to eat the whole thing myself, so I asked my husband if he wanted some. He said no. So I didn't make the popcorn, and did end up sticking to "just water." A few minutes later, I was sitting down and realized, "Oh my gosh! I'm full!" If I had just given myself a chance to listen to my body, I would have realized this. Sometimes, we feel that we are entitled to dessert so we'll seek out something to fulfull that craving whether we're hungry or not.
Can we all just remind ourselves: IT'S JUST FOOD!!!
Have you ever woken up in the morning and thought, "Oh, I wish I had eaten more last night." No? Me neither! But I have thought, many times, "WHY did I eat so much last night??"
Things that have worked for me:
- brushing teeth right after a meal
- DON'T buy stuff you shouldn't be eating. (I do not have the willpower to eat only a small portion of something. If I have it, I'll eat it - all of it. So I don't even buy the "no pudge" ice cream sandwiches. I'd eat the whole package in one sitting.)
Friday, July 29, 2005, 6:49 AM
First Successful Night
Well I kept myself busy last night as to avoid the nighttime munchies and it worked, well sorta. It was sooo terribly difficult though, hard to fall asleep. But one day at a time I hope to get rid of this terrible habit of mine.
Friday, July 29, 2005, 7:57 AM
I agree!
That's exactly how I am-i find myself buying the low-cal snacks but then I'll eat the whole package. If I'm doing that, I'd rather eat the full fat snacks but less of them!
Friday, July 29, 2005, 9:03 AM
I have 2 tricks that I've tried -
1) drink waterwhen you are hungry - it give your mouth something to do and, at least for a while, you might be satisfied and hopefully by the time you aren't satisfied anymore it's time for bed
2) since I've joined PeerTrainer I've tried to start moving my big meal earlier in the day. Now I eat a bigger breakfast than I did before (which was nothing...so that wasn't too hard), I eat a big lunch, and by the time dinner rolls around I'm usually not that hungry. I'm not sure how I did it, but kind of trained my body to be not as hungry at night. I am also doing no carbs for 2 weeks so the food I am able to snack on is not very appealing to me so that helps too.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005, 8:32 AM
meant to comment here...
This is great, esp. the Don't by stuff you shouldn't be eating. Late night is really scary for me, I'm alone often and I really "talk" to food then, so if I have ice cream, I find myself downing a full carton and not even looking up until I'm done. And my groups have been great to so thanks to you all. Oh, sorry, and thanks peertrainer!
Thursday, August 04, 2005, 5:05 PM
If I'm really feeling munchie, I'll pop a whole bag of light popcorn. If I eat the entire thing, it's only like 200 calories. And it'll take awhile to eat it all, and when it's gone, I'm pretty full, so I'll tend not to eat more after that. I'll pair it with water, or diet soda if I really need something sweet. For a treat, you can sprinkle a little parmesan cheese (the stuff from the green can) on top, and then it's like cheese popcorn, w/o adding too many extra calories that you have to look up in a calorie counter. (This usually makes me eat it faster though, so, it may not be good!) Even if popcorn is not what I'm craving, I tell myself it's all I'm allowed to have, and it gives my mouth something to do. Sometimes it's so unappealing that I just don't snack.
Friday, August 05, 2005, 8:39 AM
This may sound crazy but put a picture up of a body that you want whether is a celebrity or just some model from a fitness magazie in your cabinet and on your fridge it will help you fight the urge to pig out.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006, 2:07 PM
nite eating
the PT community has well established the fact that not everyone is an emotional eater... however, learning that I am an emotional eater was what stopped the nite eating for me. one evening, after eating something sweet, then salty, then looking for another sweet i realized: in the back of my mind i was repeating over& over a conversation i had with a co-worker that upset me. from there on in, if i felt the nite munchies, i stop myself and look to see if there's a little scene going on in the back of my head that i want to stuff way down with food. that usually takes the craving away.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006, 3:40 PM
i agree with all of the above!
1. don't buy junk food!
2. Brush your teeth after dinner
3. Chew gum!
Thursday, April 13, 2006, 5:56 PM
I use to be a evening muncher but not anymore. I find sugar free life savors help me alot. I think we just need something in our mouth even though we don't need it. Also I go outside if it's nice at night, the craving only last about 10 minutes (doctor told me this) so I just walk down the driveway and back then by the time I get back I forgot all about food. I find if I have ice cream in the freezer it calls my name so now I don't even buy it anymore.
Thursday, April 13, 2006, 10:24 PM
replacement activity
What about treating yourself to a fun novel -- the kind you can't put down (even if it's kindof dumb). Get in a cozy chair with a cup of herbal tea and read. The rule is: you're not allowed to eat with the book. If it's a good enough book, you will rather read. Ritualize it as much as possible -- put on a cozy robe, play some soothing music, etc.
Alternatively, I'm enoying doing free weights at night right before bed. Tires me out so I sleep great, and it feels good to get all my muscles going -- and shut off my brain!
Thursday, April 13, 2006, 10:45 PM
something that hubby and I do-- exercise while watching TV. That really keeps you busy, so that you're not eating! ;-)
Friday, April 14, 2006, 10:51 AM
To the OP.
Have you tried eating BEFORE going to the gym? Perhaps it's because you are eating at 9 p.m.?
Once you're home from the gym, you need to have a little something, but not a whole meal... eating that late at night may be the reason why the scale isn't budging! ;-)
Friday, April 14, 2006, 11:05 AM
Try exercising earlier in the day and having a decent meal afterward, then at 9 you wont feel like you need to replenish calories you burned working out.
Friday, April 14, 2006, 3:06 PM
I, like most people have this problem as well. Something that I have begun doing is not eating dinner so early that I feel as though I need to eat again before going to bed. I eat between 7 and 8pm. ( I am trying to eat several small meals thorughout the day, so I might have something at around 4pm prior to this meal)
Friday, April 14, 2006, 11:00 PM
I agree with the above poster. I also eat later in the evening around 7-8 p.m. I find this really helps me cause I'm not hungry. I also am a night hawk so my bedtimes is never before 1 a.m. Guess that comes with being retired lol.
Sunday, April 16, 2006, 11:59 AM
I know this is noted over and over again, but the easiest way to not eat multiple ice cream cones, etc., at night is to just not keep them in the house at all. After you break the habit of eating at night, and the habit of eating junk when you're not hungry, you can re-incorporate those foods into your house, but not until those habits are broken for real, and you have to watch yourself - if you un-break the habit, you need to remove the stimuli (the junk) again until you re-learn the good eating.
Monday, April 17, 2006, 10:36 AM
Eatting at night.
I can relate to most of what is said here. I would eat perfectly healthy through out the day, then at night... There have been somedays when I nonstop ate right after dinner until 30 min b4 bedtime. I bet I ate between 750 & 1500 calories alone just after dinner! I would have such a stomach ache, then I couldn't sleep.
I decided to break the cycle & it is really working well at least so far I only started this 5 days ago on Thurs. but I have honestly lost 5 /12 lbs in 5 days. (This also tells me how bad I have been eatting at night) I started planning what I could eat I would give my self a few choices so not to lock me into one thing like fruit juice bar, fat free choc.pudding or fat free popcorn(protein bars are good, they fill you up & are chewy. I would drink a large glass of water after dinner that would really make me full. Then I hold out as long as I can before having the snack, (usually around 7:30/8PM) I eat one of the snacks I have pre chosen. I also use the time after dinner to post to Peer Trainer & look around the site or play w/my kids, read, clean, anything but sit on the couch & watch TV & be bored & eat like I always do. This does take a little bit of planning & determination but I make it a game to see how long I can hold out before eatting the snack. Maybe eventually I won't even need a snack at night!!!???? Hope this helps and good luck.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006, 10:15 PM
I had the same problem and did two simple things - I stopped working out late, it always led to overeating later - and I got a DVR so I don't need to stay up to watch TV - I go to bed early!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006, 10:21 PM
3 steps
I could have been reading my story exactly! A few things have helped: Sheer willpower; visualizing backing away from the kitchen and sitting back down. Going to bed earlier with a book to read. Allowing myself one "100 cal snack pack of kettle corn" VERY satisfying, crunchy, salty, sweet, pretty filling. This has been my best week so far! Good luck.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006, 2:03 PM
Ok, here's something no one's suggested yet. Stop eating "WHITE" foods!! I am not kidding, it really works! No white flour, sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc. during the day. Switch to whole grain EVERYTHING, and limit it. You can still have bread, just make sure the first ingredient is whole grain. Cereal, at LEAST 6% whole grain. Stop eating potatoes. NO SUGAR, or very very little. You will be amazed at how you can stop those cravings and you'll feel less hungry all day. And bump up those veggies.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006, 11:10 AM
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