It seems like it's easy for eveyone but me

You are not alone.. heck I put it right in my signature line that my weight fluctuates a LOT.. I just had to get used to it.. I snack too much too (by most peoples standards)- and my friends are all eaters.. none of the people in my life watch what they eat, either skinny people or heavy people.. and I get just wanting to be normal like them..

Sometimes snacking at night is because you didn't eat enough in the afternoon ... I do much better at night if I have a snack pack of cottage cheese between 3 and 4. 

Maybe it would help if you were less hungry when you went to these functions so that you didn't have to rely on willpower so much.

I know you have been struggling and I wish I had a good answer.  when you snack but are not hungry, what are you?

bored?

lonely?

anxious?

avoiding something?

feeling sorry for yourself?

what?

I hear ya sister!

I have the most difficult time in the evening.  I had an awful time getting back on track after the holidays.  Why?  Cuz, I didn't want to stop doing what I was doing!  I was eating out most "every" meal and crap too!  Lately I've been eating well most of the time, except when the weekend comes and I eat out all meals, and most dinner meals too!  Crazy...wondering why I gained weight.  So, last Monday I started getting back to some basics, which for me is cooking dinner instead of take-out or dine-out. I feel so good, sleep better, emotions are getting more evened out, thank God!  Still get hungry after dinner, so I'm eating more healthy stuff, sugar snap peas, sugar free popsicles, fresh fruit, just better choices instead of crappy carbs.
I'm loosing weight again....thank God again!  I just feel better again.  One day at a time baby!
Love you!  

Ok, here is a story for you that has nothing to do with wls.

My husband and I are cyclists. I've decided that this is my year to get stronger, so I've started to tackle my nemesis...the hills. I hate, hate, hate the hills, but I know they will make me stronger. Hubs and I have started do a VERY hilly route on Saturdays. Now, hubs is a very strong rider and is usually way ahead of me, if I get too far back, he will either wait for me or come back and check on me.

So we are going up this super steep, super long hill. I am huffing and puffing, going about 5mph, coughing and weaving up the hill. Hubs is in front of me. He is chugging up the hill like a machine, la de da de da, whistling along with no problems (of course, this is just the conversation that is going on in my head) I am thinking 'why isn't it ever that easy for me, he is just breezing up hill and I am about to die' of course, it just makes me mad and I make a lot of faces at him from behind.

Soon enough, he is long gone and I am making my way up the hill by myself. I finally make it up and then I meet up with hubs and the parking lot where the truck is. I get there and he is hung over the handle bars of his bike. He looks up and says 'sorry I didn't go back to check on you, I was about to die and afraid if I went back down the hill to check on you I wouldn't be able to get back up'

Moral of the story...Just because someone else's journey looks easy peasy from the outside looking in doesn't mean it is any less of a struggle for that person from the inside looking out.

I am sorry you are struggling.  You said that you are not hungry but have identified to problem areas for  you, late evening and social occasions.  It seems to me that you need to target those problem areas.  You need a strategy that you use every time and that is proven successful for you.  What works for me, is to drink chai lattes all night long.  i mean I drink more tea than you would every believe.  All night long, I have tea next to me.  I also have foods made in large quantities that are very low cal, like my green chicken soup or Sublimate's chicken salad that are my go to foods at night.  If I want to eat, I reach for them.  Social eating is a problem for me too.  I allow myself to eat socially when I am out with friends, but I have some rules that work for me.  They are no bread or pasta.  I can eat what is served as long as I am done in about 20 min.  After that I drink my tea.  In other words no grazing all night long.  I eat until I am full and then I stop for the night.  If I am there for more than three hours, I allow myself to eat again for about 20 min. Then stop again.  Also, I do not eat socially or off program when the scale is up.  If the scale is up, I bring my own food.  Yes, it is weird, but the truth is I AM NOT NORMAL AND NEVER WILL BE WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD.  That is my truth and my friends understand and love me anyway.  Hey, I put up with their weirdness they can live with mine.  We all have our thing, no need to pretend any of us are perfect.  I actually think they respect me more for dealing with my stuff than if I just continued to pretend I was normal around food.  You know the funny thing is that if you watch how skinny people behave in social situations, you would see that they do about the same thing I do, eat a little and then socialize, not graze all night long.  It can be really eye opening to watch "normal"skinny people eat.

Elina, I do the chai lattes most evenings as well.  Are yours regular or decaf?  Just wondering.

Laura

I just drink the regular, as I am not very sensitive to caffeine. 

I know how hard it is when socializing and late night. One thing I do to help me is I eat a dense filling protein before I go out or we have friends over and I make sure there is at least one thing ( even If I bring it) for me to snack on. We are at parties and get togethers a few each weekend and we also host alot of get togethers. I have found filling up first really helps me. I hope it helps you.

 You are not alone for sure.  I am struggling as well.  Luckily my sleeve is keeping some kind of control.  My goal was 153 and I hit it in July.  I decided that I wanted to go down to about 145 (I'm almost 5'8"), and did get down to 146 for one day.  Right now I am hovering around 155, so would like to drop about 10 lbs but seem to be sliding up a couple of ounces here and there.  I have never lost my hunger.  I still get full on about 4 ounces of dense protein, but am often hungry and hour later.  I am concerned long term.

If you find any solutions let me know!