Evening snack cravings

[noonesayscheese]

I don't know why but, like clockwork, I crave snacks as soon as we've eaten tea (I'm northern, I don't call it dinner). I don't even feel hungry. They can be savoury or sugary or both. Last night it was half a tube of Pringles, a giant marshmallow AND a magnum. I'm early 40s and at the top end of the healthy BMI, if that's any relevance, but if I carry on, I'll be in the overweight zone soon. It's almost like an instinct and I can hear the snacks calling to me asking me to eat them. I distract myself with a walk after tea but the craving doesn't go away and I end up fridge/cupboard flirting later on. How can I stop? Hypnotherapy? Or do I just not buy nice things (but DD12 (who is great at moderation and will happily eat a whole head of lettuce as a snack) eats them, and it's cheaper to buy a 12 pack of Aldi Seals than just go the shop when she gets a treat). Or is it plain old willpower? I do exercise btw, walk the dog thrice a day and I jog and I also lift weights, but the apron belly is bothering me, and I'd like to quit the evening snacks. Or, if no ideas how to stop, does anyone have any low calorie snack ideas that'll curb the crave?

That's beyond snacking; you're eating the caloric equivalent of a full meal after your tea. I'd suggest not keeping any craving-inducing foods in the house, and go for abstinence rather than moderation here. As you're already exercising, there is nothing cost-effective about buying a dozen biscuits that causes you to undo all your hard work.

I understand the craving but if your tea has enough protein in it and you are full, it might just be a question of letting your brain catch up with your tum.

Try having a big glass of water after tea, and steeling it out for half an hour?

sugar free jelly- lifesaver! I make a packet and add some frozen berries too sometimes.

I could have written this OP: I struggle so much with this. I can eat like a saint all day and it’s like a switch flicks in my head after dinner and all I can think about is what’s in the cupboard or fridge. Things that have helped in and off are giving myself a time to stop by (intermittent fasting helped a bit here); brushing my teeth to ‘signal’ the end of food intake for the day; and having less damaging snacks on the house. Keeping my hands occupied helps too. But it’s hard OP; I undo so much good work in this way. I have strong willpower in every other aspect of my life but for some reason this is just a huge struggle.

Thank you to all. Honestly, even if there are no 'snacks' such as crisps or biscuits etc in the house, I'd end up making a sandwich or toast or something. I can be disciplined in the day quite easily, lots of protein and good fats, I even make homemade pizza bases for pizza night... but something about evening time just hits harder. I'm not bored and it's not to fill time. Anyway, I'm trying the old fashioned self-control method, again, and I've had a mint options and trying to stick to just that - but I made with skim milk rather than water, I want it to taste nice!

Evening post-tea snacking, heavily verging on bingeing is my huge downfall. I wouldn’t be stopping at one Magnum for example 😔
I’ve recently given up smoking so I’ve been piling it on. For me what’s working for now is closing my eating window at 7pm. Nothing till morning. Sometimes I’ll put myself to bed and fall asleep starving 😑

This is really something that keeps coming up on this board again and again. Why do you keep this stuff in the house? Pringles are crap but I love a good Magnum. So I don’t have any at home. Our village shop closes at 7, at 7 I am cleaning after dinner, reading or playing board games with the kids and then exercising after they’ve gone to bed and then reading with a cup of tea. No time to go to the village shop to get my Magnum.
Being surrounded with all the forbidden fruits is pure torture. If you want to eat well, keep only good stuff at home.

Another thing is to close your eating window at a given hour. It’s hard at the beginning and then it becomes a habit just like snacking in the evening, you don’t even notice it anymore.

I’ve been on a wedding diet since January and I was the same for evening snacking. Share bag of crisps, big bar
of chocolate, tortilla and dip, cheese and crackers… it had to be something!

Its no substitution but for me the only thing that works is having a satisfying tea, if I have calories in my budget I will sometimes have a sweet yoghurt like the cheesecake or Mississippi mud pie muller corners. If no calories left I have a sweet cup of tea. I know the sugar isn’t great but better than eating a bag of mini eggs.

I also have one night off a week which for me is a Saturday. It helps me in the sense that the resisting snacks in the evening isn’t forever. Like today I’m thinking oh I’d love to demolish the pack of digestives today but at least it’s my day off tomorrow. I keep a list on my phone of things I’ve been craving, have them on a Saturday then get back on it on Sunday.

This is me! Convincing myself I deserve a treat every single evening!!

I decided to just go cold turkey a week ago. Decent dinner then that’s it. Have had a Pepsi max a couple of evenings if I’ve been struggling. Hoping I can sustain it and change habits

Why not build a pudding into your days meal
plan but eat it an hour after your tea? You’d be way better sitting down to a bowl of banana and custard, or homemade cake/flapjack, fruit salad and homemade ice cream or greek yoghurt and berries than eating that UPF junk. If you take calories out of the equation for a while and permit yourself to fill your cravings by eating homemade, filling food - even if it’s not “healthy” - you’d still be better off than eating mass produced rubbish that’s never going to be satiating.

Or do it the other way and try adding a starter course to your evening meal? A bowl of soup or some toast and pate to start? Would stretch the meal out and make it feel more like a treat.

Lurking for ideas…
for me no snacks in the house just doesn’t work, I live in a small village miles from anywhere and I have in the past resorted to driving 45 minutes to the nearest 24 hr supermarket late at night!
it’s an addiction and I’ve been struggling for 20 odd years!!!!