The MakeMeThinner Support Forum

[karmagirl]

I started 11 days ago, lost 9 pounds, and yet I continually find myself "convincing myself" that I can't go through an evening without overeating! I do great all day long but when I come home from work it's back to the same bad habits that caused the excess of 130 pounds.

Are there any suggestions out there for tips on getting through the evening? I eat the legal snacks followed by my foods of habit.

[Jan]

Hi Karma,
I am an evening snacker too. I generally save one meal replacement to have at about 8:00 in the evening -- I call it my dessert. Sometimes I make my oatmeal into cookies and have them with a cup of tea and sometimes I make oatmeal really thick and call it bread pudding. The trick is to eat very very slowly while drinking the tea. It takes you mind about 20 minutes to let your stomach know it has had something to eat. I find if I know I'm getting something at about 8:00 I can hang on. I also drink lots of tea. (generally decaf late in the evening -- otherwise I just keep myself up longer to fight the snacking ) Warm liquids seem to fill us up a little more than cold liquids. I have taken up needlepoint too. It's hard to pop stuff into your mouth when your hands are busy. I find I get into real trouble if I get busy and skip a meal replacement during the day. Must be that my calories are down enough my body gives me the starvation nod and I want to eat!!! As you progress on program evenings do get easier. Our bodies get used to the program and we are able to part with old habits. It's not easy but it does change. You'll make it and by the way most of us have had a "do-over" or two.
I'll be watching you.
jan

[guesthelper]

hey karmagirl

i'm a night snacker by HABIT as well, the ol' stick-it-in-my-mouth-before-thinking kind of snacker

to help, after i finish eating each of my last evening MF meals, first i brush my teeth to get rid of the tastes in my mouth that often leave me craving something else to eat, then i chug alot of water to fill me up - not only do these things help physically, but mentally i've spent enough time doing something else i usually don't want anymore food at this point

hope this helps karmagirl. helk, you've proven you can do it for 11 days (and 9 lbs. gone, whoohoo) so do it for another 11, and another 11...until you reach goal

[DogMa]

I do the teeth-brushing thing, too, sometimes. Maybe also look at what you're doing in the evenings. Are you watching TV? Maybe all the commercials are making you think of food, and you should try doing something else (preferably something that keeps your hands occupied and keeps you away from the kitchen).

If I get really desperate, I'll even clean the bathroom or something. The smell of the cleanser is usually enough to discourage any appetite.

[Suzie2006]

Many times I've resorted to going to bed early to avoid pigging out. It gets easier over time once your appetite is suppressed by this diet.

[24KaratGold]

Find something to do with your hands to keep them occupied. Jan noted that she's taken up needlework -- it's hard to eat when you are doing that, or knitting or crocheting or some such. If you knit, sew, or crochet, and want to do something for our boys in the military, The Ships Project is approved to collect homemade hats, slippers, and other things and send them directly overseas. Google for their website for more info. That wil give you something to do with your hands in the evening, keep you focused on a project (I can make two or three of the crocheted hats in a long evening, so long as I stay with it), and have you doing a good deed at the same time.

Distraction is a key here. Do something to get out of the house once or twice a week in the evenings, to where you won't snack. Join the choir, volunteer to be a scout leader, join a bowling league, or just go out shopping and looking at all the new clothes you'll be able to wear soon!

Good luck!

[Lauren]

Hey, KarmaGirl-

I also go to the gym in the evenings after work. The obvious benefit to going is getting the exercise and burning calories, but to me, the bigger benefit is getting out of the apartment at night. Also, when you return from working out, you are generally less likely to snack (as long as you had ample MF before and right after working out), because you don't want to sabotage the hard work you just did!

I just remembered that you are new, so no real exercise for a couple weeks, but it certainly couldn't hurt to walk slowly on a treadmill or outside. Usually, when we do something really healthful for ourselves, we won't immediatly "ruin" it by snacking.

Just be sure to bookend your exercise with ample water and MF meals, even an extra shake if you feel hungry.

***And by the way, I have always been an insomniac and a night eater. I always assumed I was eating because I was awake BUT it turns out, I was awake because I was eating!!! If you adjust your internal clock a bit, and just "shut down" earlier, you will find there is less time in the evening to snack.

Good luck!

Lauren