Anonymous wrote:
IF was the cure for me as well. I needed to to get control of my hunger and appetite. I did 16:8 and only lost 5 lbs, but it put me in control rather than being a slave to hunger pangs. Then I switched to a very low calorie diet and lost another 22 lbs. I'm trying to get to a BMI of 19 and so I will lose another 8-10 lbs.

May I ask why you want to get such a low BMI? My BMI is 21, and I work out a lot doing HIIT and strength training, so I have a good bit of muscle. I couldn't lose enough weight to hit a BMI of 19 without destroying muscle. Do you exercise?

I agree with the PP who said you need to go to sleep earlier so there is less time for snacking.

What would help you eat better at night? Are there any fruits you especially like that you could splurge on (you can buy frozen or pre-cut fruit). Could you do a big mug of non-caffeinated tea or even hot cocoa with skim milk? Does buying things in individual packages help, so you eat one small bag of chips each night instead of serving yourself from a giant bag?

I'd suggest if your kids go to bed at 8:30, use 8:30-9 to clean the house and make things as easy as possible for the morning (premake breakfast and lunches, pack your bag, whatever helps). Try to drink a glass of water while you do this so you will be less hungry later on in the night. Then by 9, portion out your snack and cup of tea and LEAVE.THE.KITCHEN. If you have another floor of the house, go to it with your snack and do not come down until morning. Watch TV, check your phone, do whatever you do to decompress while you snack. By 9:30 or 9:45, be done with your snack and BRUSH YOUR TEETH, put pjs on, and get into bed without any screens. Try to have lights out by 10pm.

Once you have this routine down and you are sleeping 8 hours a night, you may feel more motivated to add in a workout.

Anonymous wrote:Intermittent fasting is how I broke this habit. It was really hard the first few nights but I just didn’t allow myself to eat after 7pm. I had tried only allowing myself healthy food but that didn’t really work for me. I had to break the habit completely.

IF was the cure for me as well. I needed to to get control of my hunger and appetite. I did 16:8 and only lost 5 lbs, but it put me in control rather than being a slave to hunger pangs. Then I switched to a very low calorie diet and lost another 22 lbs. I'm trying to get to a BMI of 19 and so I will lose another 8-10 lbs.

OP, are you eating a good dinner? I used to snack, but I also used to diet. I was hungry or thinking about food all the time.

Now I eat two real meals a day that are satisfying, plus a light breakfast. I don't snack after dinner. It was just a habit I had to break. Took a few weeks. I made fulfilling as well as filling dinners, ate 2 squares of dark chocolate and that was it. Herb tea if I needed more.

also, once the kids are down I stay upstairs. I read, do email, take a bath but I dont go to the kitchen. I don't really watch tv except watching a show on the treadmill, but for some people that's a habit they need to address-decoupling food from tv.

I think you really need to change your head and beliefs--that you 'need it', that you have no control, that you 'can't stop." Actually, you can. Don't eat a small dinner in anticipation of snacking .Eat a good dinner, brush your teeth and get into bed early with a book. Wokr through the temptation. after a week or two it won't be so hard.

and, in case this isn't obvious, for a while, keep the favorite snack food out of the house if you can.

As for IF, a 12 hour window that is much easier to strictly keep week after week, is better than a 14+ hour window that you end up breaking twice a week.

Yes, breaking the 14+ hour window might still leave you with a 12 hour window technically, but thinking you missed your goal that often hurts sticking to IF long term.

"That's why I run. I'm not going to stop eating. I'm on my third sugar cookie and it's only 830am. I love to eat and I'm a snacker. So I run. It's the fastest way to lose weight. And if you run consistently, you'll stay thin. I can't keep weight on if my milage is above about 20 miles a week. As long as I run three or four times a week, I can eat anything I want."

Just be careful to do different exercises as well as running. For 30+ years, into my middle 40s, I could run off anything. Then muscle imbalances from sitting at my desk too much caught up with me and I had a series of injuries that prevented running. Before I knew it, I put on enough weight so that the pounding of running made recovery from the injuries much harder. I'm 53 now and I think I have it all under control but it has taken input on all fronts including eating better.

^^

that should be IF (intermittent fasting) , not IM.

IM: start with a 12-hour window -- eg above, only eat 10am-10pm. Then see if you can hold off til only eating noon-10pm. You get it. Or get get the h*ll out of the house in the evening and go to the gym for an easy workout before shower and bed.

Anonymous wrote:Intermittent fasting is how I broke this habit. It was really hard the first few nights but I just didn’t allow myself to eat after 7pm. I had tried only allowing myself healthy food but that didn’t really work for me. I had to break the habit completely.

+1 Try 16:8 intermittent fasting. If you make your eating window 2pm-10pm, you should be covered for what you're currently doing. Then you'll immediately take the guilt away from eating late because it's within your "approved" eating window. After you get that routine down, then swap out to healthier snacks and move your eating window up so that it's further away from bedtime (1pm-9pm, then 12-8pm, and eventually 11-7 pm).

Sidenote, keto helped me stop snacking completely. The fatty meals keep me full and I lost my previously uncontrollable desire to snack.

Go to bed before the snacking hour hits.

Can someone explain Medifast?

I was you about 3 months ago. I started doing Beachbody workouts - so nice because it’s at home! I also notice that I want to snack less because I like seeing the weight loss, but if I feel the urge, I start with a big mug of tea. If I’m still feeling like I won’t be able to sleep because I’m hungry, I either have a 50 calorie pack of pretzels or 1/2 apple with a little pb. I also cut the wine down to a glass 2x a week. It’s working so far!

Not having the eating under control is no excuse not to exercise.

Exercise benefits your mind, your body, your overall health, your peace of mind.

OK, you don't have the snacking under control at the moment. But using that as an excuse not to exercise is just complete BS, and you know it.

It sounds like your dinner may not be that satisfying. What do you typically eat? If it really is the actual of act of snacking that needs to continue, then I agree with the above posters that either find something else you like to do during that time (maybe talk on the phone to friends of family) or eat healthier snacks and smaller portions of them.

Intermittent fasting is how I broke this habit. It was really hard the first few nights but I just didn’t allow myself to eat after 7pm. I had tried only allowing myself healthy food but that didn’t really work for me. I had to break the habit completely.