No snacking after dinner! Who's in??

[summerisacoming]

I'm not very good with diets and I really don't want to try one then have it fail. So this is my plan:

As soon I have finished dinner, I'm going to brush my teeth and make sure I don't eat anything else that evening. Simple.

Ok, it's not the most imaginative of plans, but here's why I think it will make a huge difference:

1. My worst snacking is in the evening
2. Eating chocolate in the evening makes me stay up late (caffeine) so I'm tired for work the next morning
3. Am I right in thinking that eating right before bed makes you store more fat?

I am 5'8'' and since having kids I now weigh around 12 stone (size 12/14). I want to be a size 10 again!

I'm going to start small and do this for 1 week, starting today. If all goes well, then I'll aim for a month, then two months (should be a well-formed habit by then), then drop sugar.

If you're in, let's report back every evening right before we go to bed to confirm that we didn't eat anything after dinner.

So who's with me?? Come on!😁

Well done everyone! I fear tonight will be hard.....what tips has everyone got to keep our fingers busy? If we can conquer a weekend we've smashed it 💪

Aaargh I screwed up last night. I was craving sweets so badly. I gave up smoking years ago and that was bad, but this is worse! I didn't go and buy chocolate but I had a leftover portion of veg and 2 frozen bananas as an 11o'clock snack, so at least it was healthy. Back on the wagon today.

I had a sugary chai latte last night in the evening, so not great. Happy not to tonight as I had a big dinner and quite late. Oh and DH was doing bedtime so I’m not wrung out!

Day 5

I cheated a bit tonight: my daughter and I made banana bead with choc chips and she wanted us to have some for dessert. So my arm was twisted 😅

I only had a little bit though, and I genuinely felt bad about it. I feel like this is huge progress. Normally, I'd wait until they've gone to bed before eating at least half of it.

@DontBeGrossTammy Likewise, I'd say "having a leftover portion of veg and 2 frozen bananas" really isn't that awful. Frozen bananas though? I only ever use those for smoothies, hadn't thought to eat them on their own. Makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it - is it nice?

I watched documentary last night, which was quite interesting.

In particular, so many of them talk about eating without thinking in the evenings, which I could definitely relate to.

Also, a quote I'm going to try and remember: "Don't get in the ring with sugar. You won't win."
[By which she means, "people who are addicted to sugar shouldn't try to have it in moderation, in the same way it's not realistic for a heroine addict to have just a little a day."]

@DontBeGrossTammy So interesting you say that; I always thought smoking would be much harder to give up. I wonder if an ex-drug (heroine?) addict would say the same?! I'm trying to build myself up to quitting sugar. I've done it before for a couple of months and felt amazing, then I just slipped right back.

Hi, everyone. Going to give this a go too. But will have to watch my calories during the day too as have a lot to lose. Will allow myself one skinny bar earlier in the day. Fingers crossed 🤞

2lbs down after just a few days of no snacking after 6/7pm. Very happy with that! Not calorie counting and eating big portions at dinner time but my meals are on the healthy side.

Day 6

I did it... just.

I actually got so far as opening a box of biscuits, staring at them, then realising that would be it. It would all be over. And I thought of either never returning to this thread, or lying to you lot. So, thank you! Having some random people, I'll never meet, do this with me has genuinely helped me. How is everyone else getting on? Let's do this for the summer! And for the rest of our lives, actually. 😁

@maimeo Great, join us - let's do it!

@Lemoncurdslice That's brilliant - well done! I'm not weighing myself, but I do feel more mindful of what I'm eating during the day.

Great willpower Summer. I get that you don't want to weigh yourself, I'm not sure how much doing so helps given I think we all know this is about changing habits and not a rapid loss.
However, I couldn't help myself and stood on the sad step this morning....1lb off!

That’s honestly a really big achievement @summerisacoming and I don’t mean that as patronisingly as it sounds! I do think that having a bunch of random strangers to be ‘accountable’ to really helps. We had visitors yesterday and lots of delicious food/leftovers so I’m afraid it was a day of constant grazing for me but back on it today.

Day 7

Woop woop, I did it! One week, in the bag!

Looking back, the week went surprisingly quickly even though some evenings took an eternity. I just reread my original post to try and remember my plan 😄, and I said that after one week I would aim for one month. However, one month still seems like a bloody scary prospect right now, so I'm going to dial it down to two weeks...

Who's with me? Let's make this stick.

@Badatmostthings I'm a bit annoyed now that I don't have scales because I'm curious to know if I have lost any weight (the amount of calories I haven't eaten this week compared to normal must be substantial). And in this heat, I'm only wearing loose clothing, so I'll only really know when I next come to wear a pair of jeans. Well done on 1lb - it all adds up!

@Lemoncurdslice Thank you!! Yes, I also think accountability is a huge thing - AA use mentors, etc. Also, I read about a study once that said office workers who had a mirror placed on their desk tended to snack less (like they were holding themselves accountable - or just didn't like how they looked eating 😅). Join me for the second week!

Day 8

Alright, week 2 here we go!
Anyone still with me? I'm still going, so even if I'm just putting this out into the ether, so be it 😅

I’m here! Although I had a slice of toast at 8pm- but that’s heaps better than before. Brushing teeth early definitely helps I think.

Day 4 for me and I'm still doing ok. Helps that I don't eat dinner until 7pm usually. I'm motivated enough to be pretty careful about what I'm eating during the day also. So far so good 😊

I think this may be day 7 for me, I’m getting into it, having a herbal tea when I sit down after kids to bed. I’m enjoying that feeling of being just slightly hungry before bed - feels healthy compared to feeling all dehydrated and weird tongue from eating too many crisps! Thanks OP and massive congratulations to you and everyone for all your achievements.

Day 9

Done 😀

Great to have you both still here!

@Lemoncurdslice Exactly, focus on the huge progress! Whenever I think about how I could have eaten more healthily during the day, for instance, I just remind myself how much better my eating is overall, because I'm not eating literally hundreds of calories each evening by snacking.

@maimeo Brilliant! I'm just focusing on the evenings for now, so not being too hard on myself if I unhealthily snack during the day. But hoping this will get better when I'm able to focus on it at a later date.

Weirdly, I'm slowly becoming used to going to bed feeling quite hungry. I'm wondering if my kids feel this empty feeling also when going to bed, or if I used to as a kid, because they don't eat anything after dinner. Or maybe it's just a completely normal feeling that I haven't felt for years, due to my unhealthy evening snacking?

I'm in too. I did well last week then lost it over the weekend. But I've been back on it since Monday...

Ooooo can I join. I’m desperately trying to eat tea then stop!

my weakness is cereal at bedtime.

or chocolate.

Or cheese and biscuits.

im determined to stop in the evenings.

Will have to start tomorrow though as I ended up cutting up a pineapple that needed eating and scoffing a load of that.

Does fruit count though? My problem is biscuits!

I think a bit hungry is probably quite normal in heathy eaters. Now that I am doing this it reminds me of previous bouts of weight loss/ healthy eating and how it’s like learning to be less afraid/intolerant of hungry feelings, and see it as a wholesome, clean feeling. Not talking starving though, just the sense that my body has had space and time to digest completely without me adding more on top. I once read something about eating between meals being a slow cause of death given the extra strain on your system never getting to rest. Who knows if that’s true but I feel accomplished giving body it’s rest time!

@Beginningless I love this! What a great way to think about it, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it was true.

@Whyjustwhy123 Funny you should mention cereal, because before I started this, I would sometimes make a deal with myself in the evening that I could have cereal if I didn't eat chocolate/biscuits. But then I'd end up having 2/3 bowls, so pretty sure it wasn't healthier! 😅

@WhiskersPete it was mixed with double cream. 🤣

Hello, I just thought I’d pop on and offer you some inspiration. After awful bingeing etc in my 20s and not really having any control over food I’ve finally got to mid 40s with a healthy BMI and a really good diet. It’s been a slowish process but I don’t deny myself anything and that has been the trick for me to stop things spiralling. So I have a couple of squares of chocolate and a bag of crisps every day. My desire to eat this stuff is then satisfied and I don’t get silly. I did have to tell myself for a while that that is enough, that I don’t need more, that my clothes fitting and being healthy is more important than having more of these types of food.
if I had completely denied them though, it wouldn’t have worked.
also, just to say snacking in the evenings is just a habit. You just need new habits. If you’re hungry then tell yourself it’s fruit only in the evenings. And keep yourself busy - TV, magazines, painting your nails..
soon you will form new habits, bodies are good at forming habits!

I've done 16:8 for 3 weeks and have lost half a stone. Finish eating at 7pm and eat about 11.30am. Still had alcohol, cream, crisps.
It suits me and my lifestyle. I know I eat out of sheer boredom