Nighttime grazing

My issue has always been nighttime eating.  When I am busy during the day, I can usually stick to my plan and eat and drink exactly what I should.  But as soon as 5:30 hits and I'm off work, that's when the munchies take ahold of me. I have been pretty good at controlling it and of course my small tummy helps in not going overboard. But in the past few weeks, I have been less strict about not popping a taste of this or that into my mouth from the family's dinner.  A bite of their mac and cheese or a taste of their pizza. It hasn't stopped my weight loss but I think it did slow it down a notch. 

So this week, I recommitted myself to watching everything that goes in my mouth and it definitely has paid off.  But still I have a really hard time after dinner when I'm not hungry at all but I go to clean up the kitchen and put away the leftovers from dinner. It is SOOO hard not to take a taste.  So I found something that worked for me last night... I started brushing my teeth then went into the kitchen with the toothbrush in my mouth and kept my mouth closed and the brush in my mouth while I bagged up the leftovers and put them away. Even though I really wanted a piece of that General Tso chicken, there was no way I could eat it with minty suds in my mouth! :-)  I have had an epiphany and decided I need to do this every night that I have to do the kitchen clean up.  My little willpower helper.

Anybody have any other tricks they use to help fight off mindless eating?

ok if possible don't have anything in the house you should not eat

 as soon as you get home get undressed and give your car keys to who ever you live with so that it is a pain to go out and get something to eat , make the kitchen off limits except during meals , and track anything at all that goes in your mouth, even those annoying little flies lol , if it goes in there you have to track it no exceptions

i made it that my hubby has to approve my meal plans every day , and he does most of the cooking so every thing is measured 

he gets mad at me if I cheat , but he has been so supportive  of this whole process, going to all the doctors with me holding my hand during all the tests (I hate iv's )going to all the support groups ect so he earned the right to be mad at me sometimes when I deserve it 

try taking up a hobby that keeps your hand busy its hard to eat while knitting

I wish I could keep all bad food out of the house but I would be laughed right out of the house if I suggested that! LOL

I do like the idea of keeping the kitchen offlimits except at mealtimes and I track all my little bites... and they add up quick!! That's how my carbs went from around 30 to almost 50... those bites are nothing but no good carbs.

I also try not to sit around and watch TV much at night anymore because it makes me want to eat the moment that thing turns on.

Thanks for the suggestions, girl! You are doing so great!

How old are your kids? Ol enough for slave labor?? Time for someone else to do kitchen clean up - seriously! Make some kind of deal with hubby if you have to so that he is cleaning up the kitchen - or at least on nights where there is something particularly tempting. Or at least him to bag up food or have everyone toss their plates if its not being saved etc...

I use gum for the same purpose....

They are 13 and 15... and then I have another child that I am married to who is 39.  If I fall asleep before the kitchen gets cleaned up, I will wake up in the morning to all the lovely food still sitting in the pots or on the counter. I have tried instituting chores but they only do them on the weekends when I have time to browbeat them into doing them.  Its always an ordeal.  They are stepkids and just came to live with us a little over a year ago so I didn't raise them.  They do put their plates away but the putting of the leftovers away is usually left to me unless I ask my husband to do it. If I ask, he will but he couldn't imagine thinking about doing that on his own! Heavens, no! Can you tell they are all irritating me today??? Thank god it's Friday and I can get out of the house tomorrow (I work from home M-F so I am here ALL. THE. TIME. plus husband is home recouping from surgery so he has been home all day also for 3 weeks....) or you might see me on the news for triple homicide MURDER!!!!!!!!!! If anyone out there is lonely, come live with these 3 knuckleheads for a week and you will be running back to your solitude.

LOL Sorry to vent on your reply, Alison... I needed that, I guess!  I will try gum after my dinner if I'm still craving the starchy stuff the boys are eating. :-)

My 15 yr old nephew is coming to live with me for a while - he knows he is going to be working his butt off lol. I have no objection to child labor! (but its a worthwhile trade off for him to live with me and be my slave lol)  Im already dreaming of a summer of not having to do dishes, sweep and mop, and clean bathrooms. I guess I'll lose a few calorie burning opps but ohhhhh well. 

 

 

Hi Kitty,

I haven't had surgery yet but am mentally getting ready. I usually post on the VSG board, but found this forum to be very helpful as well. I can't imagine going through the surgery you just went through and not having the support you need from your family! When I have gone on diets in the past, I have explained in a nice way to my boyfriend that if he wants to continue to eat sweets, chips, ect, that he needs to buy it and eat it somewhere else, work, outside the house, local park, ect, because those things were triggers for me, I explained that at some point I may be stronger and able to resist having them around, but at first it would be too much for me to deal with. If I had to keep repeating myself I would get louder,and as annoyed I was at repeating myself, he would get even more annoyed listening to it, and eventually would find it easier to just get with the program. Do you do the cooking? If so just start making meals that you can eat, nothing you eat is going to hurt your family, in fact it would be better nutritionally for them. They can either eat what you make or make their own meals, meanwhile you can freeze leftovers and eat them later yourself. And if you did sneak a bite at least it would be protein or vegetables so it won't hurt you. Me and my boyfriend are both disabled so we are on a very limited budget, but once we get a little closer to surgery we are going to clean out the kitchen and get rid of all the sugar and carbs. It makes me sick to get rid of it, it's like throwing away money, but it won't do us any good to eat it, I thought about giving it to the food bank or someone, but I'm not sure that is a good thing. If you could afford it, maybe you should clean out the cupboards and get rid of all the bad stuff and explain if it comes back in the house it goes down the garbage disposal and then the trash. I had an x that used to sabbatage my diets by buying ice cream and any of the things I had a hard time saying no to, he liked me fat and unattractive to other men, it took me a while to figure out what he was doing, but when I did, I threw the ice cream in the garbage disposal, he didn't like that and he stopped doing it. I don't want to say these things and get you in a fight with your husband, but you have every right to live in a home where you don't have constant triggers, you have to learn coping skills, but there's no reason your family can't support you until you are able to have some of those things in the cupboard without it bothering you. Marriage is a compromise and there should be a way that you can both be happy with the food choices you make. You shouldn't have to be taunted every nigh****ching them eat Mac and cheese while you get a piece of chicken. You know? It seems if you explain how hard it is mentally, and explain what it is like to be overweight, I have been overweight my whole life and going through jr high and high school was a nightmare, along with all the health risks, maybe they could understand where your coming from. I will get off my soap box now, but I hope some of this helped. Remember it's your life to and you have been living your life his way for the last 20(?) years, so now it's his turn to live and eat your way. Knee ner knee ner

Thoughts are with you
Lisa

Hi again

I just looked at your profile and didn't realize you are so young and so pretty. The way you talked it sounded like you had been married for decades, sorry

Lisa

Hi Lisa!

Thank you for the suggestions and the support!  And also the compliments. :-)  I have been with my husband about 3 1/2 years and he is a very stubborn Italian man. LOL  He is a sweet guy and if I really freaked out and said we couldn't have bad food in the house, I think he would let me have my way. But I just can't do that.  We have cut back on the junk food some and the meals we make always have things I can eat.  We don't do big pasta dinners like we used to.  I will make meat and veggies but then also have a starch with it for the boys and Jason.  Most nights I can resist.  If I lived alone, I know I would be able to keep my house completely free of temptations but at the same time, I know temptations will come up in other places too. I feel like at least this is preparing me for the real world... Sink or swim. LOL 

The boys just came to live with us a little over a year ago so making them eat only the things I can eat just isnt going to happen. They were raised by a mom who was absent a good bit and so Ramen noodles, pizza rolls and kraft mac and cheese were the staples.  The youngest one refuses to eat any fruits or veggies... i recently have him eating bananas and that is the ONLY fruit he will eat.  He will literally starve himself if he doesn't like the food.  He just turned 13 and weighs 76 pounds!  So we are trying but it takes time.

Thanks again for your reply! Have a great week!

I am a night owl and like to eat late. I have gotten in the habit of buying SF gum, the dessert kind...I can't remember the brand though. Right now I have lemon merangue, raspberry cupcake, and apple pie at home.

It keeps my mouth busy and I feel like I have had a treat without screwing myself up!