The Evening Eating Battle -anybody have ideas that help?

8 months post op and an ugly old friend has reared its head...... night time snacking!!!!!

I clean, I go for a walk, I meditate, I do art, I read , I do whatever I can to avoid it but it still calls to me... say from 7 until I go to bed. (Actually screams ,stomps it's feet and parades up and down in front of me is a more a accurate description) Sometimes I win and sometimes it wins... but I want to win almost all the time.

anyone have idea to squelch it.....

This isn't something that goes away -- for me at least it hasn't.

Strategies I use:

• non food distractions -- everything you mentioned: art, baths, workout...
• identifying foods that I am ok with at night; planning it into the day (cottage cheese & berries worked for me for a long time)
• delaying -- filling up w/ a hearty veggie filled dinner
• water targets -- no food / snacks until I have had 30 oz of fluid - after a veggieful dinner this helps delay more
• going to bed early -- hard to do when the food monster is calling.

Good luck -- let us know if you find a magic bullet that we don't know about.

Thanks Stacy, it's nice to know I'm not alone.

I laughed at the going to bed early because I yank myself out of bed early in the mornings in the hopes that I'm so exhausted I go to bed early so I don't go crazy at night , sometimes it works. However , this darn weight loss ( joking) has left me with tons of energy and often I'm past tired and like a squirrel at night.

( I'm actually very happy about the extra energy and soon I'll be back at work so I'll need it)

I know its a hard battle. I'm 18 months since my revision and I learned I have to plan. I have a cup of tea (I bought vanilla caramel tea its so yummy) around 6:30 and plan one protein snack at night (full fat cheese because its so satisfying for me). Good luck:)

Yum on the caramel tea! I made my own hot cocoa mix, but caramel tea sounds lovely.

I was never much of an evening eater (I always struggled more in the afternoon), but I do have a protein shake as my evening snack. It's sweet, so it feels dessertish.

I soooo hear you. The evening is the hardest for me. I'm ok all day long, but then after dinner, something clicks in my brain and says: Snack, Snack, Snack. If I'm able to fight it off for the 1/2 to 1 hour until I allow myself to drink anything, I'm usually ok. I then have a bottle of flavored water and that fills me up until it's time for bed - which is early for me, usually no later than 9 p.m.

I eat every four hours and plan for an evening snack. I have never been hungry since having my surgery in 2007, except for one time. That day I was busy and went eight hours without eating and was starving. I am careful not to let that happen again.

I eat 200 calories for breakfast, morning snack, and evening snack. I eat 300 to 400 calories for lunch and dinner. For me, it makes a big difference if I am never hungry.

Your calorie intake is great information, I'll try and balance my evening meals with more substance, Thanks .

It's definitely not about hunger for me and I know it. I plan a snack but I want sugar and it maters not what I plan. BAAA!

I recommend changing the timing of your meals. If you're eating three meals a day, split those meals into four (same calories, just split four ways instead of three) and plan to eat your last meal at 8pm, when you naturally get hungry. Or shift your current meals later. Basically, rearrange when you eat so that you have a meal saved for the evening hungry time.