Is it too bad to have night time snack?

[Teaandlipstick]

I eat dinner around 7 pm and by 10 pm, I feel hungry. I sometimes have couple of biscuits, other times some nuts. Is it really bad for weight loss? I can avoid eating in the morning but cannot control the urge to eat snack in the night. Any suggestions?

@Teaandlipstick

I eat dinner around 7 pm and by 10 pm, I feel hungry. I sometimes have couple of biscuits, other times some nuts. Is it really bad for weight loss? I can avoid eating in the morning but cannot control the urge to eat snack in the night. Any suggestions?

Total calories in vs total calories out are what really matters when it comes to weight loss. However if you are eating dinner at 19:00 and are hungry again three hours later it would suggest that there is an issue what what you are eating for diner, too small a portion (not enough veg?), too high a sugar level (leading to a crash in blood sugar a few hours later, triggering hunger). The alternative is that it is just habit for you to eat at that time and you need to break the habit.

Totally agree with @MatildaIThink. The snacks themselves aren’t a problem but you shouldn’t really be hungry so soon after eating. Fry eating more protein with dinner. I have a good appetite and we eat at 7pm and I don’t need to snack before going to bed at midnight

I eat mostly vegetables as I am vegetarian. Problem is I try to restrict my dinner to 400 - 500 calories and there is not much you can do to fill your tummy for long on calorie restricted vegetarian diet. If you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate

@Teaandlipstick

I eat mostly vegetables as I am vegetarian. Problem is I try to restrict my dinner to 400 - 500 calories and there is not much you can do to fill your tummy for long on calorie restricted vegetarian diet. If you have any suggestions, I would really appreciate

More green veg? Whilst it is nutrient dense there is not a lot of calories in a plate full of green veg, so it is easy to add bulk. As mentioned above by Lioness are you getting enough protein? Also, are you having fats in your diet as well, your body still needs them and they are not the enemy, especially when it comes to feeling sated.

How many calories are you having per day? Below around 1,200-1,400 you will pretty much always feel hungry, but it is also more likely you will feel hungry if your diet is nutrient or protein deficient, or if you are getting a lot of your calories from carbohydrates as that leads to fluctuations in blood sugar.

My target is 1200 every day to lose weight but I find it very hard. So I eat between 1200 to 1400 calories a day

I eat salad, lentils, soup, eggs etc. so I thought I am doing okay on vegetables, but I do like bread

Are you having (eg) a plate of steamed veg, or a portion of lentil ragu? One will fill you up way more.

I am vegan and lost over 3 stone Ona similar calorie budget. I stuck to that for about 18 months and had no problem filling up. The trick is to choose high protein foods. So as veggie eggs are good, but I eat a lot of pulses, tofu, nuts, seeds, meat free mince etc. All quite filling, with small portion of potato/ pasta/ rice and half plate veg. As a veggie I would avoid having too much cheese as it’s high cal. Some examples of filling dinners: stew, spag Bol (using red lentils or soya mince, stir fries, salad/ roast veg with hummus, beans, tofu, new potatoes etc, shepherds pie, pasta with roast veg and a little pesto.

Thank you @MelonTits and @EssexLioness for some nice meal ideas. I need to have more protein in every meal. It's been only a year since I became vegetarian and find it very difficult to keep myself full. But I always had a sweet tooth.

Examples of dinner are lentil soup with bread, a veggie sandwich, pasta with vegetables in tomato sauce, tofu & veg stir fry with rice. I can't function without carbs. I love hummus but it's so fattening.

Today I also had 2 small biscuits (60 calories) for breakfast with 2 cups of tea, for lunch, I had 60 gms of Chiabatta bread with 17 gm of camembert cheese, 2 slices of veg salamis and 150 ml of knorr soup. It was about 300 calories. Around 5 pm, I had 200 ml of milk with a tablespoon of Ovaltine, and for dinner an Indian ready meal with 539 calories. I will have a cup of tea with one small biscuit 31 calories.

@EssexLioness, I love hummus. How do you make a meal out of it?

You’re very welcome. I tend to have carbs with most meals but definitely found I am fuller for longer if I have more protein and smaller portion of carbs.
With the hummus, I’m not very imaginative but once a week we tend to have a big salad with some hummus and cashew cheese/ mushroom pate or a few pine nuts. I will then add quinoa/ couscous/ new potatoes or bread, garlic mushrooms/ tomatoes, roast veg etc to the salad too and serve it all mezze style in the middle of the table to help ourselves to each item as we wish.

Another idea for a healthy, filling meal perfect for this time of year: lentil and mushroom stew. Soak some puy lentils overnight and drain. Sauté onions and plenty of mushroom. Add a little liquid aminos and cook for another couple of mins. Then add thyme and plenty of stock to cover and simmer for 20 mins until lentils are tender. Add a little tomato purée and some mash if needs to thicken. I serve it with mashed potato but you could also serve with cheesy cauliflower mash, dumplings or crusty bread