Any suggestions?

[jd4070]

Hello. I am new to NoS and I found that the later hours of the evening were hard. Although I wasn't hungry, I wanted to eat anyway. I wonder why? Can anyone relate? Any advice/suggestions?

[Sienna]

I had some trouble with evening cravings when I first started. I think part of it was knowing that I couldn't eat again until morning made me antsy.

But I think the majority of it was boredom and trying to break the habit of evening eating. I dealt with them by finding other non-eating things to do. Things that would keep me out of the kitchen and keep my mind off of food. Going for a walk was usually helpful. If it was later, I'd distract myself with silly internet games or just go to bed earlier.

I also would have a drink (generally water with lemon or unsweetened iced tea, I make my own) instead of food.

Gradually it got better, and now the urges are much rarer and pretty easy to ignore, because the habit is there.

The best advice I can give is to just try to stick with it, until the habit becomes to NOT eat instead of to eat. Don't give in, you can do it. And each day it will get just a tiny bit easier. Maybe plan extra exciting breakfasts while you are building the habit, so you have something to look forward to.

[kccc]

Everyone has a time when "it's hard" when they start. It's just habit - you're used to eating then because you have been for a while. So... time for new habits.

The good news is that the more you work on building those habits, the quicker the old ones will be replaced. The white-knuckle stage doesn't last long!

If you're not hungry, then I recommend...
- Reading the book or website for inspiration
- The podcast on "Strictness" (one of my favorites)
- Finding activities you enjoy that fill up the time you used to spend eating

Good luck!! (And welcome.)

[marygrace]

There's not as much going on in the evening--at least on most weekdays. You're just relaxing, maybe watching TV, and want a snack. Before I started NoS, I was a huge nighttime snacker, and cutting that food out felt very strange at first. For a while, it really felt like something was missing.

Of course, I eventually got used to it and now it physically isn't comfortable to continue eating after dinner. But that desire to keep myself busy by munching is still there sometimes--especially if I'm just watching TV. So I try to do other things instead, like take a walk with my husband and our dog, or walk outside while talking on the phone with a friend. Sometimes we'll go to the bookstore and read magazines in the cafe, or even just go upstairs early and read in bed (for some reason, the desire to eat is a lot stronger when sitting on the couch). If I am watching TV and want something, I'll make myself a cup of herbal tea (Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea is great because it's naturally quite sweet) or add a splash of juice to a glass of seltzer.

[Nicest of the Damned]

Did you used to eat a snack in the evening on most days? Or did you normally snack while doing something (such as watching TV) that you do in the evenings?

I'd second the advice of finding something to do that keeps you away from the kitchen. Don't hang around the kitchen unless you are preparing, eating, or cleaning up after a meal.

You don't want to keep food around wherever you are spending your time. If you see food, you'll want to eat it. If the food is out of sight and not convenient to get to, it will be much easier to resist the temptation.

[marygrace]

Did you used to eat a snack in the evening on most days? Or did you normally snack while doing something (such as watching TV) that you do in the evenings?

I'd second the advice of finding something to do that keeps you away from the kitchen. Don't hang around the kitchen unless you are preparing, eating, or cleaning up after a meal.

You don't want to keep food around wherever you are spending your time. If you see food, you'll want to eat it. If the food is out of sight and not convenient to get to, it will be much easier to resist the temptation.

Another tip related to keeping food around: Don't keep snacks in the house. When all you have in the kitchen are leftovers and/or raw ingredients with which to cook new meals, it's a lot harder to snack. It might not seem so strange to have a bowl of popcorn after dinner, but it does feel strange to have more dinner after dinner.

[nowornever83]

I found afternoon times almost impossible when I first started. I initially appeased my need to snack by having a glass of fat-free milk or V8. That helped. Honestly, it WILL get so much easier and you will feel so good conquering the need to eat emotionally. Chew gum as well. If you stick it out, it will be out of your mind in no time. At least, that is what happened with me.

[jd4070]

Thanks KCCC and also thanks for telling me about the podcasts! I will check them out.

[jd4070]

These suggestions are very helpful. Thank you very much!

[Nicest of the Damned]

A technique adapted from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy:

When you get that feeling that you want to eat, mentally step back from it. Say to yourself, "I notice that my mind is wanting to eat." Just note that the desire to eat is there. Don't act on it or try to make it go away. It will go away on its own, eventually. All mental states do. A key point here is to remind yourself that it's your mind wanting to eat, not your body needing to eat.

Thirst and boredom both sometimes masquerade as hunger or a desire to eat. Get up and get yourself a glass of water (or some other low-calorie beverage). Find something more interesting than whatever it is you've been doing.

If you're eating to deal with emotions of some sort, find some other ways to deal with those emotions. It doesn't have to be a terribly constructive way of dealing with them to be an improvement on emotional eating. It could be something like watching a favorite DVD, re-reading a favorite book, or playing a video game. Anything that's not harming yourself or others and doesn't involve ingesting calories is going to be better than eating to deal with your emotions.

[oolala53]

I want to add an addendum to the last post, in case you, like I do, feel the desire in my abdomen as well. However, it is not a feeling of empty hunger, just a vague sense that I need to eat. As others have said, this is basically habit. It may stem from an emotion that got covered over by eating or just the simple Pavolvian pairing of food plus anything else. So it is not surprising that you feel this. As a person who spent a lot of time trying to pinpoint the reason, consider that it's not that important to know. More importantly, do some of the suggestions given. (I myself will sometimes make a cup of mocha--half decaf, half milk, 2 t. cocoa and a smidge of stevia, but it's even better if I have NOTHING.) Or as the last poster said, you can say, "This just the habit of having paired up TV, reading, lounging, etc. with food in the evenings. It is not a true guide to any need for food." Then put your attention into something else. You may have to leave sometimes, you may have to get rid of snacks for awhile, but eventually--months later, probably, not days-- the bonds will be greatly weakened or broken completely. You will be dismantling the pairings.

This is another of the beauties of No S. Most overweight people have all these pairings of cues and food that have very little to do with hunger AND they are willing to get stuffed. Thin people like food for all kinds of reasons, too, but they don't like feeling too full, so they might eat a bite or nothing of something and then just wait for a meal or even skip a meal. No S by limiting the number of times we eat starts extinguishing lots of pairings to various cues, and by limiting the amount, starts to whittle away at the capacity for overeating. It's loverly!

[osoniye]

I find that fixing a special drink of some kind helps, either cafe au lait, or herbal tea. It might not be the best thing, but it provides some taste sensation and some activity in the kitchen, and that seems to satisfy me in a way that non kitchen/taste things don't.