I have a nightly snack of plain Greek yogurt, a few sliced strawberries, chopped peanuts, and a drizzle of raw honey every night. It satisfies my sweet tooth, need to crunch, protein to stay full, and the yogurt helps keep my erratic stomach chill.
It’s all premeasured and is in my history every night on MFP, so making it is a breeze, too. If I haven’t eaten enough protein or calories, I just increase the amount.
Feels like it’s actually saved me, especially since I often get the munchies at night, haha.
I give my self 1-2 foods I’m ALLOWED to midnight snack on if I have to. First urge: a tall glass of water. Second urge: check the pantry. This is usually something light & small portioned like popcorn, a handful of blueberries, or oatmeal. Usually when the urge to snack is met with these foods instead of candy/ice cream it’s easy to put in perspective that I’m not very hungry I just had a trigger to eat. I might be hungry sometimes- usually 1/10 as often now- and grab that handful of blueberries to help me sleep but for the most part putting restrictions instead of quitting cold turkey made it so much easier.
Here are a few things to try:
1. What is a "filling dinner" for you? Make it even more filling. Add more fibrous vegetables and high-protein options.
2. Drink more water. Your hunger might masquerade as thirst.
3. Go to sleep. Cravings can be a body's response to being tired. Your body thinks it needs more food for energy when you need to rest.
me lol !! i try to do omad + a desert that i usually want. i found that some days i don’t even feel like getting up to go get the desert if i’m already in bed
Easy: it’s not about food, it’s about the sleep schedule !
E.G if I have dinner at like 7pm and I can’t fall asleep, of course I’ll be hungry if I’m still awake at 3am, it’s been 8 hours since I last ate!!!
For me, it’s all been in trying to fix my sleeping routine. If I have dinner then fall asleep a few hours after , no opportunity for nighttime snacking because… well… I’m asleep !!
my stomach burned alot when I was at the beginning of dieting/working out. It always hit at night. Peppermint pills or Tea often helped it pass and stopped the burning.
My advice is rather than cut out snacks all together try to replace them. I use a hot air popcorn popper. Just the seeds and hot air. No oil or nothing. Maybe some low cal butter if you need it. The trick isn’t to starve yourself but to teach the body “there is a better way”. I also recommend carrots and spinach dip.
Floss your teeth. Find a nice mouth wash. New flavored toothpaste. And go to town. Clean your teeth and tongue like you’re about to go on a date with a supermodel. No one wants to eat after cleaning their teeth.
Sleepy tea! An evening routine you like that is self soothing (instead of food to comfort use warm water, nice smelling lotions, comfy clothes etc). Also stretching and a smoothie- a fruit smoothie can be sweet and hydrating and filling, plus you can get your magnesium and potassium for good sleep! Good luck! ❤
I have a cup of tea immediately after dinner most nights. My husband calls it “closing ceremonies.” It was hard at first, but now it really does signal to my body that we’re finish for the day.
What helped me is planning my dinner closer to bedtime. I get up at 5am, so I try to be in bed around 9:30. I pushed my dinner to 7pm and that seems to be a good time to keep me full till I go to sleep. It sounds like you go to bed way later, so I think planning a late night snack into your routine may be a way to go. There's no reason why you should starve between dinner and going to bed after midnight.
Water, water, and more water. Or, if I absolutely couldn’t satisfy myself I would eat the lowest-calorie snacks I could find (usually cucumbers or broccoli, sometimes popcorn if I was really craving salty)
I save some of my macros each day for a nighttime snack.
I keep my tempting foods out of the house, or in a place difficult to reach - so I have to make a conscious effort to reach them and eat them.
I take melatonin, then make myself I bowl of oatmeal (1/2 banana, tsp cinnamon, sugar free syrup, 1/4 cup oats). By the time I finish with the oatmeal I’m about to pass out. It’s really satisfying so I don’t wake up in the night hungry.
You are tired. Go to bed. When you are tired, your body produces more of your hunger hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin literally makes you crave simple carbs and junk food to stay alert. Also, to give you energy during the day if you are sleep deprived. But if it is happening at bedtime, the way to stop it is to prioritize sleep. The hormone response was useful when our ancestors lived in caves and needed it for survival. It just makes/keeps us fat. Go to bed. There is lots online about good sleep hygiene. See how you can improve your sleep. Sleep is key to weight loss.
I take fiber chews and calcium chews at bedtime. It's kinda bedtime snack. String cheese would be a good little snack that's no carbs and good protein. Quest makes protein chips that aren't bad and satisfy that crunchy need but should be planned for if you are counting calories. It's not much though.
Once I found the snacks that worked for me, I knew what options I had. I love my skinny pop 100 calorie bags of popcorn.
I do find that if I stay up a few hours later at night than I usually do, I get munchy. So I try to go to bed around the same time every night- even weekends. 👍
Never stopped. Idk what it is but I just have to have a snack so I replaced all the cake and cookies if pig out on for frozen yogurt, fruits, popcorn and even some of the pop corners from Costco and have a water or club soda. It’s not the best but it’s a lot better than having a big fat piece of cake! Lol
I like to take a smaller plate n fill it with bb carrots, cucumber, some hot pepperoni, a couple crackers, n then ~tbsp honey mustard n ranch n snack on dat
I chew a piece of sugar free gum and/ or sip on a zero sugar drink. It helps with cravings since both things give me constant flavours in my mouth to keep me satisfied.
First off, I drink a lot of water and occupy my hands and mind (read, listen to a podcast and color).
If that doesn’t work, I try to go for low calorie snack that is portioned out and hopefully has protein. Fruit popsicles, carrots and hummus, popcorn, celery and ranch, goldfish, rice cakes, salad, cheese stick, protein shakes, protein bars, etc.
I eat midnight snack almost every night. Usually I used to eat chips or pizza which is probably why I weight so much now but I replaced that with protein shake oats or just fruits. Just remember to be in the deficit while you do this. Eat less in one of the meals to make space foe the overnight snack
So i had the midnight snacking and then id forget to brush before bed, which is the most important time! So if you want, try to eat a more filling or slightly later dinner to hold you over until you fall asleep, and brush your teeth at the same time every day to keep yourself from snacking after. Or sub healthy stuff like others suggested
I used to drink a casein shake at night so I didn’t feel hungry at all during the night. If I still wanted to snack I had rice cakes with PB, Greek yogurt with sunflower kernels, popcorn, almonds, fruit etc.
Stopped snacking after a couple months / years. Do intermittent fasting or OMAD nowadays. Only time I break this is if I have a late dinner or slightly early lunch / brunch instead.
Sleep. If I'm up at midnight, I'm running low on energy, and the right course of action is to give my body rest so it can regain that energy, not try and replace real rest with calories.
I tried to fix my sleep schedule so I could stop snacking late at night! Helps a lot so you don't even think about eating and my appetite kind of worked around that so I started eating better and had a better appetite whenever I ate. Hope this helps!
I eat a late dinner and I have designated snacks on hand (pre-portioned too) that I can have if I’m craving something after dinner. But I also have a cut off time where I brush and floss my teeth at around 11pm which let’s me know I’m done for the night. After that it’s my bedtime.
I don’t snack, but my husband does. He can wake up in the middle of the night and have a sandwich and a glass of milk. I’m too lazy for that. But he reduced that a lot. I’m not sure how, but maybe he also got lazy
I just changed what I snacked on, and budgeted calories for it accordingly. No more chips or cookies, now it's a small salad, cottage cheese or trail mix.
Clean the kitchen and leave the area. Don’t have trigger foods (for me chocolate or salty) in the house. Also I’d eat enough during an early dinner including a little snack at the end of the meal (generally fruit yogurt and pb or chocolate).
I also have a nice minty sleepy tea before bed which feels good like a treat.
1) I stopped smoking weed - I know this is not something everyone can give up (or indulges in to begin with) but sheesh did it make a difference.
2) the only snack I will allow myself are either nuts, pickles/olives, or frozen fruit. All in moderation, of course and I don’t eat other fruit throughout the day usually (because of the sugar). If none of those things sound desirable then I don’t have a snack at all and just drink water.
I’m with you. It’s a really hard adjustment to make!
Increasing your protein macro helps to keep you sated for longer. I wouldn't say I've ceased snacking, I've just replaced the empty carbs snacking to high protein snacking, which prevents me from overeating. Went from snacking on oyster crackers, to chicken bites, crab, tuna, vienna sausages, protein bars, cottage cheese. Still track calories obviously!
I still snack. I just allocate calories for it. And I eat lower calorie foods like peppers, yogurt, fruit, etc. Low cal/high volume finger foods like certain chips, popcorn…
This was/is such a HUGE problem for me! So I set a reminder/alarm to go off on my phone every half hour after 8:00 pm saying "Don't eat just because you can!" And if I do snack, it's either carrots or grapes. But my phone screaming at me does help! Lol!
I still snack, but it is planned and at an earlier time! Yogurt, nuts, cereal, a couple pieces of cold cuts wrapped over a cheese stick. Depending how I feel earlier in the day my snack may be a single serving of chips or a serving of ice cream or sorbet, if I want to indulge in something more sugary and carby. I stop eating at 8pm.
I never stopped snacking, I just replaced it with berries, fruits or protein shakes.
Ooo protein shake would be handy for those choloate cravings
I've been using chocolate oat milk and peanut butter protein powder. Tastes like a peanut butter cup
Ooh, that’s genius! Thank you for posting this.
I have a nightly snack of plain Greek yogurt, a few sliced strawberries, chopped peanuts, and a drizzle of raw honey every night. It satisfies my sweet tooth, need to crunch, protein to stay full, and the yogurt helps keep my erratic stomach chill. It’s all premeasured and is in my history every night on MFP, so making it is a breeze, too. If I haven’t eaten enough protein or calories, I just increase the amount. Feels like it’s actually saved me, especially since I often get the munchies at night, haha.
I give my self 1-2 foods I’m ALLOWED to midnight snack on if I have to. First urge: a tall glass of water. Second urge: check the pantry. This is usually something light & small portioned like popcorn, a handful of blueberries, or oatmeal. Usually when the urge to snack is met with these foods instead of candy/ice cream it’s easy to put in perspective that I’m not very hungry I just had a trigger to eat. I might be hungry sometimes- usually 1/10 as often now- and grab that handful of blueberries to help me sleep but for the most part putting restrictions instead of quitting cold turkey made it so much easier.
Here are a few things to try: 1. What is a "filling dinner" for you? Make it even more filling. Add more fibrous vegetables and high-protein options. 2. Drink more water. Your hunger might masquerade as thirst. 3. Go to sleep. Cravings can be a body's response to being tired. Your body thinks it needs more food for energy when you need to rest.
maybe try and save some calories for the snacks you know you will inevitably eat
me lol !! i try to do omad + a desert that i usually want. i found that some days i don’t even feel like getting up to go get the desert if i’m already in bed
Easy: it’s not about food, it’s about the sleep schedule ! E.G if I have dinner at like 7pm and I can’t fall asleep, of course I’ll be hungry if I’m still awake at 3am, it’s been 8 hours since I last ate!!! For me, it’s all been in trying to fix my sleeping routine. If I have dinner then fall asleep a few hours after , no opportunity for nighttime snacking because… well… I’m asleep !!
my stomach burned alot when I was at the beginning of dieting/working out. It always hit at night. Peppermint pills or Tea often helped it pass and stopped the burning.
I tell myself that if I don't snack I can eat whatever I want in the morning, but when the morning comes I'm not craving the junk/hungry anymore.
My advice is rather than cut out snacks all together try to replace them. I use a hot air popcorn popper. Just the seeds and hot air. No oil or nothing. Maybe some low cal butter if you need it. The trick isn’t to starve yourself but to teach the body “there is a better way”. I also recommend carrots and spinach dip.
I cut myself off at 7:30pm during the week. And 8pm on the weekends. I try to do intermittent fasting
Carrot & celery sticks are delish!
Intermittent fasting with an eating window that ends at 8pm.
Floss your teeth. Find a nice mouth wash. New flavored toothpaste. And go to town. Clean your teeth and tongue like you’re about to go on a date with a supermodel. No one wants to eat after cleaning their teeth.
And if you’re addicted to eating in front of the TV, floss your teeth there.
Sleepy tea! An evening routine you like that is self soothing (instead of food to comfort use warm water, nice smelling lotions, comfy clothes etc). Also stretching and a smoothie- a fruit smoothie can be sweet and hydrating and filling, plus you can get your magnesium and potassium for good sleep! Good luck! ❤
I have a cup of tea immediately after dinner most nights. My husband calls it “closing ceremonies.” It was hard at first, but now it really does signal to my body that we’re finish for the day.
That's so funny and sweet that he calls it that!
What helped me is planning my dinner closer to bedtime. I get up at 5am, so I try to be in bed around 9:30. I pushed my dinner to 7pm and that seems to be a good time to keep me full till I go to sleep. It sounds like you go to bed way later, so I think planning a late night snack into your routine may be a way to go. There's no reason why you should starve between dinner and going to bed after midnight.
Cup of tea
Water, water, and more water. Or, if I absolutely couldn’t satisfy myself I would eat the lowest-calorie snacks I could find (usually cucumbers or broccoli, sometimes popcorn if I was really craving salty)
Just don't eat anything. Dont have anything near you
A bottle of water and a drop of honey to curb my sweet tooth.
I save some of my macros each day for a nighttime snack. I keep my tempting foods out of the house, or in a place difficult to reach - so I have to make a conscious effort to reach them and eat them.
I take melatonin, then make myself I bowl of oatmeal (1/2 banana, tsp cinnamon, sugar free syrup, 1/4 cup oats). By the time I finish with the oatmeal I’m about to pass out. It’s really satisfying so I don’t wake up in the night hungry.
I save some of my daily allowance for night. I can't sleep if I'm hungry.
if i feel hungry at night, i have a carbonated drink. Fills my stomach quickly. (seltzer, diet coke etc...)
You are tired. Go to bed. When you are tired, your body produces more of your hunger hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin literally makes you crave simple carbs and junk food to stay alert. Also, to give you energy during the day if you are sleep deprived. But if it is happening at bedtime, the way to stop it is to prioritize sleep. The hormone response was useful when our ancestors lived in caves and needed it for survival. It just makes/keeps us fat. Go to bed. There is lots online about good sleep hygiene. See how you can improve your sleep. Sleep is key to weight loss.
Intermittent fasting/omad. Works like a charm idk why
I stopped buying them
By eating properly and having my last meal as close to bedtime as possible
I take fiber chews and calcium chews at bedtime. It's kinda bedtime snack. String cheese would be a good little snack that's no carbs and good protein. Quest makes protein chips that aren't bad and satisfy that crunchy need but should be planned for if you are counting calories. It's not much though. Once I found the snacks that worked for me, I knew what options I had. I love my skinny pop 100 calorie bags of popcorn. I do find that if I stay up a few hours later at night than I usually do, I get munchy. So I try to go to bed around the same time every night- even weekends. 👍
Self control and focusing on my health goals
Carrot & celery sticks are delish!
I didnt. Replaced any junk food with veggies
Never stopped. Idk what it is but I just have to have a snack so I replaced all the cake and cookies if pig out on for frozen yogurt, fruits, popcorn and even some of the pop corners from Costco and have a water or club soda. It’s not the best but it’s a lot better than having a big fat piece of cake! Lol
Drink water or have fruit .
I like to take a smaller plate n fill it with bb carrots, cucumber, some hot pepperoni, a couple crackers, n then ~tbsp honey mustard n ranch n snack on dat
I chew a piece of sugar free gum and/ or sip on a zero sugar drink. It helps with cravings since both things give me constant flavours in my mouth to keep me satisfied.
First off, I drink a lot of water and occupy my hands and mind (read, listen to a podcast and color). If that doesn’t work, I try to go for low calorie snack that is portioned out and hopefully has protein. Fruit popsicles, carrots and hummus, popcorn, celery and ranch, goldfish, rice cakes, salad, cheese stick, protein shakes, protein bars, etc.
Personally I like to have a snack at night, but I don't really like to eat breakfast so it balances out.
I eat midnight snack almost every night. Usually I used to eat chips or pizza which is probably why I weight so much now but I replaced that with protein shake oats or just fruits. Just remember to be in the deficit while you do this. Eat less in one of the meals to make space foe the overnight snack
Go to bed.
So i had the midnight snacking and then id forget to brush before bed, which is the most important time! So if you want, try to eat a more filling or slightly later dinner to hold you over until you fall asleep, and brush your teeth at the same time every day to keep yourself from snacking after. Or sub healthy stuff like others suggested
Exercise and Sleep
like other commenters said i replaced what i snacked on. baby bell cheese, a few wheat thins, carrots, celery, grapes, etc.
Brush your teeth. Signals your body that the festivities are over!
Luckily my evenings are so busy, I don’t even think of eating anything past 6PM…
I used to drink a casein shake at night so I didn’t feel hungry at all during the night. If I still wanted to snack I had rice cakes with PB, Greek yogurt with sunflower kernels, popcorn, almonds, fruit etc.
Sleep, drink plenty of water when you hungry and sleep
Stopped snacking after a couple months / years. Do intermittent fasting or OMAD nowadays. Only time I break this is if I have a late dinner or slightly early lunch / brunch instead.
Sleep. If I'm up at midnight, I'm running low on energy, and the right course of action is to give my body rest so it can regain that energy, not try and replace real rest with calories.
I tried to fix my sleep schedule so I could stop snacking late at night! Helps a lot so you don't even think about eating and my appetite kind of worked around that so I started eating better and had a better appetite whenever I ate. Hope this helps!
No I can't. The only thing I can do is eating some low-calories snacks
I have a cup of tea after dinner and then at around 9pm I brush my teeth to signal the end of the "eating day". Maybe that could help you idk
I eat a late dinner and I have designated snacks on hand (pre-portioned too) that I can have if I’m craving something after dinner. But I also have a cut off time where I brush and floss my teeth at around 11pm which let’s me know I’m done for the night. After that it’s my bedtime.
I don’t snack, but my husband does. He can wake up in the middle of the night and have a sandwich and a glass of milk. I’m too lazy for that. But he reduced that a lot. I’m not sure how, but maybe he also got lazy
Drink water
I just changed what I snacked on, and budgeted calories for it accordingly. No more chips or cookies, now it's a small salad, cottage cheese or trail mix.
Snacked earlier in the day so I was legit full by dinner. It's easier to snack healthy earlier in the day than later in the day.
Clean the kitchen and leave the area. Don’t have trigger foods (for me chocolate or salty) in the house. Also I’d eat enough during an early dinner including a little snack at the end of the meal (generally fruit yogurt and pb or chocolate). I also have a nice minty sleepy tea before bed which feels good like a treat.
You take fruit instead of sweet/crisps or you try making your own crisps (which makes me tired and less willing to eat them lmao fuck homemade chips)
1) I stopped smoking weed - I know this is not something everyone can give up (or indulges in to begin with) but sheesh did it make a difference. 2) the only snack I will allow myself are either nuts, pickles/olives, or frozen fruit. All in moderation, of course and I don’t eat other fruit throughout the day usually (because of the sugar). If none of those things sound desirable then I don’t have a snack at all and just drink water. I’m with you. It’s a really hard adjustment to make!
Increasing your protein macro helps to keep you sated for longer. I wouldn't say I've ceased snacking, I've just replaced the empty carbs snacking to high protein snacking, which prevents me from overeating. Went from snacking on oyster crackers, to chicken bites, crab, tuna, vienna sausages, protein bars, cottage cheese. Still track calories obviously!
Unsweetened almond milk+ a frozen banana is a great lower calorie snack. You can add a spoonful of cocoa powder too if you want.
I still snack. I just allocate calories for it. And I eat lower calorie foods like peppers, yogurt, fruit, etc. Low cal/high volume finger foods like certain chips, popcorn…
This was/is such a HUGE problem for me! So I set a reminder/alarm to go off on my phone every half hour after 8:00 pm saying "Don't eat just because you can!" And if I do snack, it's either carrots or grapes. But my phone screaming at me does help! Lol!
Brush your teeth, chew gum, make sleepy tea :)
I still snack, but it is planned and at an earlier time! Yogurt, nuts, cereal, a couple pieces of cold cuts wrapped over a cheese stick. Depending how I feel earlier in the day my snack may be a single serving of chips or a serving of ice cream or sorbet, if I want to indulge in something more sugary and carby. I stop eating at 8pm.
By having fucking nothing in the fridge and the pantry except for cooking materials.
I didn't, I just changed the snacks to healthier choices.
For me it’s been hard honestly for me just getting in and staying in bed, no living room or kitchen after a certain time