I have the same problem.  I eat great all day long, then come home and all I want is sweets and icecream after dinner.  What I have started doing is bringing something like a sugar free pudding cup, or a peppermint patty to work with me.  I'll have it after I eat lunch, then when I get home, I don't want the ice cream as much.

I have the same problem also. All day I watch what I eat, and then when I get home after school or work, all I want to do is eat junk food. Sometimes even when I'm not hungry. It just occupies me. But what I try to do is keep low calorie snacks in the house. Things like 100 cal Yoplait Yogurt, or sugar free jello or pudding. That way if you do binge, at least it won't throw off the rest of your day. And I also try to put a time boundary on when I should stop eating. I usually go to bed @ 10, so I try not to eat after like 7:30 or 8...that way I have more time to burn it off. Hope this helps a little!

This is a weird suggestion but you could try this:

If you have some old pictures of yourself when you weighed more (or pictures of someone from a magazine that weighs much more than you), tape them to your comfort foods.  That'll force you to look at the pictures every time you go for the food and you'll associate being heavier with those foods. 

Maybe doing that will help you develop sufficiently negative associations with those food to help you avoid them.

I usually work out around 4 or 5 PM.

It makes me not as hungry at dinnertime; plus, if I eat something bad for me, I KNOW it takes away from all the work I put in at the gym.

Um, you guys are amazing!  Tonight I am going to print off HORRENDOUS looking pictures of myself 50 pounds ago and tape them all over my favorite comfort foods!  I think I'll also tape reasons why I shouldn't eat them: You're not really hungry; You're stressed, go take a bath instead; You want to feel godo about yourself, etc.  I LOVE IT.  I'm also going to tell myself that I WON'T eat past 7. 

Thanks, guys!

I have a fridge magnet that says "Fridge pickers wear bigger knickers" which puts me off grabbing anything naughty in there.

I read on here about sliced apple with peanut butter on was nice. I'm now addicted!!! Just don't pile the PB on.

Dont keep that kind of junk in your house.  You are just teaching your kids to eat unhealthy.

i also have to relaly watch what i do after i put my four year old to bed... snacking has turned into quite a hobby...

i have begun making myself a huge pot of mint tea every night, and since it's too hot to just down, i'm trying to teach myself to feel if i'm really hungry or if it's just comfort and boredom - i haven't eaten anything those evenings -

I really like the idea of posting my "fat-photos" on the junk foods (that for some reason keep creeping into my cupboards...:-(

I have the same problem!  MY husband has the metabolism of a greyhound, I swear.  He can eat cookies and cakes and doughnuts all night and never gains an ounce (which is actually due to him having Crohn's and so it all just goes right through him anyhow).  I have spent the past 2 years keeping up with him on his nightly snacking intake, and it's showing in that I'm 2 dress sizes larger!

So now when I get home at night I go into automatic snack mode, which I then get all depressed about because I'm good _all day_. 

I'm totally going to try that picture thing, and tape it to everything unhealthy!

I was a night binger for years!  Now I tell myself that if I'm really hungry, I can eat a grapefruit.  They are so sweet and juicy and take a long time to eat (I peel them and eat them in sections, but you have to remove each membrane).  The taste doesn't make you crave something else when you are done.  Then I make a cup of tea and I feel pretty satisfied.

Original Post by qpx:

This is a weird suggestion but you could try this:

If you have some old pictures of yourself when you weighed more (or pictures of someone from a magazine that weighs much more than you), tape them to your comfort foods.  That'll force you to look at the pictures every time you go for the food and you'll associate being heavier with those foods. 

Maybe doing that will help you develop sufficiently negative associations with those food to help you avoid them.

 That's a really good idea!  I wanted ice cream so bad last night, but I resisted.... and it paid off..lost another lb!  Yay!  But I will have to print up some pictures. 

I can relate.  Sometimes I just want to sit down with 3 PB&J sandwiches and a bucket of mashed potatotes.  LOL.

Try reading that thread titled "omgomgomgomgomg".  That should kill ANY food craving for a while!

I feel a little weird giving advice since I'm a newbie here, but I guess I'm also looking for support. So, here goes:

I teach adult night classes and am in grad school, so I usually get home 9-9:30 p. My H and I both like to cook (and eat), so we somehow got into the habit of having these elaborate meals before bed. Over the last 3 years (since starting school) I've packed on about 20 lbs. (I was overweight to start with.) We both love junk food, and I can easily polish off a bottle of red in 2 - 4 hours. (Yeah - I know.) To compound the problem, I have cerebral palsy, so my mobility has been decreasing while my weight and sedentary hours increased.

In preparation for a recent religious holiday, I did my usual pre-festal shopping. I knew I wouldn't be able to get through a large superstore, so I chose to try and hurry through a small neighborhood grocer. I just couldn't make it. I had to sit down twice, sweat pouring. We always joke about how the electric shopping carts are waiting for me at the supermarket. Well-meaning clerks offer them to me sometimes. But I always say that I'm years from needing them. That day, I was moments away. Aching footsteps away. A (really rapid) heartbeat away. I knew I had to change.

I started walking around my sub 3 wks. ago. Along with my CP, I've developed aching pain (vascular, I think) in both legs, so it was all I could do to make it to the end of my block, turn around, and get back to the house. My husband had to hold my hand in order for me to make it. Honestly, more than once, I was sure I'd stroke out before I made the front door.

Today, I can make a 30 min. mile around the sub, using two 5-min. breaks. The pain in my legs has decreased, and I can handle that long in the store. To help motivate myself, I even signed up for a 5k walk in October. I wasn't loosing any weight, however, so I decided I'd better find an on line tool to help me count cals. That was 3 days ago. Since joining this site, I've lost 3 lbs!

I guess my point here is that we all have obstacles to - as Oprah would say - living our best life. We all have demons to battle. Yes, my physical obstacles are unique to most, but my internal ones are the same. So, do whatever it takes: post your pictures, count your grams, whatever, and I'll leave you with this:

Everybody knows the names used for people with disabilities: gimps, crips, ___-challenged... But we have names for the other side, too. My favorite is 'TABs': Temporarily Able-Bodied.

I wish you the longest, happiest, healthiest, cart-free "temporary" possible.

Have you ever thought that one of the reasons that you eat this stuff is because you're hungry?

I do the same thing too, but I've found that if I eat at LEAST 5 TO 6 times a day, I'm not as prone to eat crap at night. My blood sugar levels are even throughout the day, so I don't "crash" at night.

It's weird eating so much throughout the day at first, but if you limit every meal to around 300 to 400 calories, you're only looking at 1500 to 2400 calories a day.

I try and eat breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, dinner and desert.

I know one woman who not only lost 92 lbs doing that, but she's now competing in fitness competitions!

I suggest you go to www.bodybuilding.com  also. They have literally THOUSANDS of people who have lost weight, kept it off, and will help you with advice in whatever area of weight loss, exercise, support, whatever you need.

another one that might "help" is to brush your teeth thouroughly with really minty toothpaste - it makes me not want to eat again (my teeth are clean and also: foods don't taste so good with that exploding minty-ness!)

keltonsmama if you know that you are bingeing for comfort you could try finding other things that bring you comfort in stead of food. sometimes i feel myself needing comforting and know i could just slip into the kitchen but instead ive identified some other things which feel like a big hug. for example, having a big hug with someone! hot water bottles, cups of tea, curling up in a duvet with a dvd on, cuddling my teddy bear (cringe!), even watching cartoons... find some things that bring you comfort and try them out next time you feel you're going to turn to food. if it doesn't work then perhaps you are eating for a different reason than comfort. 

good luck! 

try eating some fruit at night, or even a bowl of cereal, like all-bran. My daughter eats Special K, with cinnamon and pecans!!! Some skim milk and you are good to go!!!

There are a lot of good ideas on here.  I find that at night I want to snack, too.  I've been a little blue lately and I think that's contributing to it. I try to stay as busy as I can until bedtime....dinner, cleanup, playtime with baby, bathtime with baby, bedtime with baby, laundry, etc.  I think I might try sipping some hot tea while looking at my fat pics taped on the oreos and peeling a grapefruit!

I am relativly new here and my no means a "super star" of weight loss but here is my imput on this subject.

The idea of never eating junk food again in the evening made me sad (stupid I know) so now I keep a basket of single portion "junk food" in my pantry.  About 50 -100 cals per bag.  in the evening when the rest of my family is happily snacking away, (I have teen boys and a husband who can eat anything and not gain weight) i pick anything from that basket I want and eat is nice and slow.  If I want ice cream, I have a fudge cycle (40 cals no sugar) or a jello cup. 

My point is that if I completely restrict myself from what I like I just end up bindging on a day that I am not so strong.  what I find is that I am satisifed at the end of my one portion but if I eat from the bag or put some in a bowl at the time I am feeling weak, it is always more then I should have.

Not sure if this helps at all...