Everyday Systems

So I'm back at it eating 3 meals a day feeling good and satisfied, not hungry between meals. Then the Evening comes around, after work, after Dinner, after the Kids are in bed, and it's all I can think about!! I can't believe how hard it is that time of day (the WORST time of day!). The last two days I've caved, and it never on something healthy either, it's cookies or a handful of chips! So annoyed that I do so good all day then blow it right before bed. Gonna try again today! Did any of you struggle with this? If so did it just get easier? What did you do?

Yes I struggle with after dinner snacking. For the most part I have found if I just try really hard, the urge goes away. I get on the computer, read or go to bed early. I also remind myself how good breakfast will be if I don't snack. What is hardest for me is afternoon snacking at work. It is so hard for me to avoid going to my coworker's desk for a piece of chocolate. Just try to avoid, avoid, avoid, until the behavior becomes habit. I also eat dinner rather late (7:30-8:00-ish). There are definitely some days lately that I have given in to a dessert. "Mark it and move on."

In the summer I find it easy as the longer daylight hours mean I can get outside and do something. I took up autoharp just so I would have something to do with myself on dark, cold nights.

This is normal. You were used to eating in the evenings, so now you feel hungry then. But it is something you can get over. People who move from the East Coast to California feel hungry at their old meal times at first. But eventually they adjust to the time difference. They don't always eat their meals three hours earlier than native Californians. But the adjustment does take time.

I suggest finding some ways to make it harder to cave. It doesn't have to be a lot harder, even a little bit will help. Some possible ideas:

Don't spend your time in the kitchen. The kitchen is for preparing meals, eating meals (unless you do that in the dining room), and cleaning up after meals. Find someplace else to be if you are not engaged in one of those activities.

Don't have food available outside the kitchen. You don't need a mini-fridge in your den or office. You don't need bowls of snack food or candy in the living room. Make it so that, if you want to eat, you need to get up and walk to another room to do so.

Find an activity that will distract you from food. It doesn't need to be something healthy or productive. Sitting around playing computer games, as long as you're not eating while you do it, is an improvement on sitting around eating.

Me too! Same situation: I get the kids in bed and sit in front of my computer and just want to eat...here's what helps me:
1) Cleaning up the kitchen after dinner so it's clean and I don't want to mess it up.
2) Brushing my teeth when I want something to eat instead of waiting before I go to bed.
3) Drinking tea.
4) Whining to my husband about all the sneaky things my brain is telling me in order to justify snacking Really, it's my biggest enemy.

Another idea is just not to keep them in the house except on S days or buy smaller bags. No one needs to randomly snack on them.

I'm a night time eater too. To avoid snacking I eat late (around 8.30-9) and make sure that my last meal is a nice, good size. My evening meal is always my largest meal of the day. My daughter is still young so eats too early for me at 5pm and my husband doesn't return home until after 8 so a late dinner works well for my family schedule.

I find I cannot act differently unless I think differently. Here are a few thoughts that have helped me.

Eating at night is just a very strong habit, an unproductive one that I really want to change. Strong habits can be broken with resistance if I just outlast the desire.

What I feel is not real hunger. I ate a meal and I may not be stuffed, but I am not really hungry and have no need for food. It won't hurt me at all to skip eating until my next meal.

If I keep giving in to the desire, I'll make it stronger. If I resist, it will get weaker over time.

The kitchen is closed.

To quote Oolala's wisdom:

I find I cannot act differently unless I think differently.

My oft-repeated mantra: "I am not a snacker."

Short, simple, to the point. Said often enough til I started to believe it and act upon it.

Lo, five NoS years later, I am not a snacker.

HTH,

Last night was a struggle for me not to snack. My mind was being very sneaky. You did so well this week! It's practically Saturday! Go ahead, have some nutella! Or ice cream! It's so hot! You need it!
But I remained firm: It is almost Saturday, I can hold out that last 90 min before I go to bed! And besides, nutella before bed gives me heartburn. I won't do it.
Huzzah!

My old standby is a glass of milk if I find myself caving in. I just tell myself that if it is true hunger then the glass of milk will take care of it. I used to eat constantly from supper until bedtime. I was fortunate that I managed to stay pretty strict at the beginning of my No S experience which helped to break the evening snacking habit early on. Now it is second nature.

I also adjusted my supper from 5 or 6 to 630 or 7 which helped.

I was fine all week, even though I had my worst snacking times in the evening but last night I had bought two little single-serving pieces of pie for S days -- and they preyed on my mind, even after I got into bed. Woke up at 2 a.m. thinking about them and actually thought, oh, it's Saturday now! (I stayed in bed, though!)

This tells me, if it's there I will want it! Next week, I won't shop in advance.

OMgosh, I used to shovel chocolate in after midnight on Friday nights. I don't recommend using that technicality. I applaud your for waiting! And your decision to wait until the weekend to buy is probably a good idea for now.

This tells me, if it's there I will want it! Next week, I won't shop in advance.

JW, good for you! The reality is that NoS is just as much (more, even) of retraining the mind/thinking patterns/habits as it is about physical meals, the actual food we eat.

oolala, LOL! I totally understand that technicality!

vmsurbat -- there's a place in the book where Reinhard quotes someone from the board, saying that training this part of the brain is like dog training. Love that! Pavlov's dog = my brain when there is pie in the house!