Often at night I feel like having a snack before going to bed, but this often leads to weight gain. I’m sure that other peeps must struggle with this as well. Anyone have any suggestions to keep from eating before bedtime?
I try to have some herbal tea which helps some.
I already know that eating before going to bed doesn’t necessarily lead to weight gain if the amount of calories ingested is balanced by physical activity.
Have you tried moving dinner time closer to bedtime? That helped me.
That’s genius! I’ll try it. Thanks.
I am going to try sex instead of snacking. I’ll let you know how it turns out. 
They say to keep busy–new hobby? Start a project that you can work on in the evenings? Anything from organising your photographs to learning a new computer program to painting a room.
Apparently the idea that eating food close to bed time is a quick way to weight gain is a myth.
I am yet to be fully convinced of that. Any snacking is going to contribute to weight gain.
I hate to go to bed on an empty stomach, so I snack (something small, with a large glass of milk).
I have always done it. I did it when I was losing lots of weight too.
A similar idea would be to ‘ration’ your eating throughout the day so that your night-time snacking is just fulfilling the last bit of your recommended daily calorie intake.
Snack on things that are healthy and not calorie dense? Like carrots, cucumber, that sort of thing.
With all due respect. And I am speaking only for myself. This advice doesn’t work. It’s like saying “put some water in your fuel tank if you’re running low on fuel”
Low calorie foods are lacking the very thing you are craving - calories!
Popcorn is my favorite snack after the kids have gone to bed. I like to mix a couple tablespoons of M&Ms in to make it sweet and salty. You can have a lot of popcorn for not too many calories.
I have no idea of the caloric intake, but a big ol glass of dark* chocolate milk knocks me right the hell out. Be it before I go to bed or if I wake up in the middle of the night, I’m out like a light within (literally) a minute of downing it.
*By dark I mean milk chocolate hershey’s syrup, but alot of it.
With all due respect, it works great for me. Most of the time, what I’m craving is not calories, it’s something crunchy and filling. Throw some salt, vinegar, Mrs. Dash or low-cal dressing on the cukes and go to town. Eat half a dozen pickles. Have some cabbage.
Hot air or low-cal microwave popcorn is an excellent choice, as well.
Crunchy is good, but I can only really feel ‘fulled’ from something with calories, such as a few slices of toast with butter and marmite. I do enjoy (for example) celery, but not at night because it doesn’t fill me. It’s just a tasty (but not filling) thing to eat…
…for me. I don’t mean for everyone. I apologise if I contradicted you.
Brush and floss your teeth 15 minutes to a half hour after you’re done with dinner. This really helps me. I hate having to brush my teeth twice at night.
If you must snack after dinner, my favorite dessert is low-fat vanilla yogurt and sliced almonds. It’s a good replacement for ice cream. I also second the popcorn suggestion upthread if you like salty instead.
I was soooo hoping this would be a poll of good bedtime munchie suggestions. sigh
Cuz, you know, a whopping big bowl of vanilla ice cream with a monstrous, fresh-baked (or nuked) chocolate chip cookie or five jammed into it is just the thing to guarantee sweet dreams.
This is a tough one. I share your pain. I often doze off, wake an hour later Craving (with a capital ‘C’) something sweet. Tried not keeping sweets around and found myself making toast with maple syrup or sugar and cinnamon. ( Which I suppose is better than a bag of M&Ms or a box of cookies.) Found myself eating the nuts, chocolate chips, or dried fruit that I bought to bake muffins with. Summer is the worst, when I simply MUST have ice cream or I. Will. Die. I’ve weaned myself off the ice cream by keeping my favorite yogurt around - not as good, but cold and sweet. Little individual ice cream cupts are handy. … They are expensive, but you can buy little 1-oz. bags of chips and pretzels and such and allow yourself one at night. If you are like me, you want what you want, and celery sticks ain’t gonna cut it. Small individual portions of what you crave - make room for the calories during the day!
Crystal light in a large water bottle is how i usually handle it when I’m being good about it. That way I get something sweet, and it fills me up a bit.
Oatmeal creme pie cookies for when I’m not being so good.
Sugar free popscicles. Cold, sweet and won’t wreck the calorie count.
When I get late night munchies I either have a bowl of oatmeal with sliced fruit (really helps me go to sleep, too) or, if I want something lighter, sliced cucumbers with moromi miso. Usually does the trick for me.
Nutella Sandwich always does the trick for me
Buy one of those big bags of frozen fruit (grapes, peaches, melon…etc.) These make a great low-calorie snack, as do frozen bananas.
Candy canes are good, too, and you can make them last for a pretty long time!
Frozen Cool Whip!
When my sweet tooth is shrieking for dessert, I can calm it down a bit by having a dozen raisins and a couple of swallows of milk. I know, it’s not the same as a hazelnut gelato or a chocolate chip cookie, but it tames the beast to the point where I can control it. If I try to ignore it altogether, I’ll cave and eat something far more caloric.