I am entering 20 days after surgery and I find my self craving food in the evenings. I have always had bad habit of eating late at night. I am trying to drink fluids but now that I can have some crackers I find I'm binging. Any one else falling into this situation and how are you dealing with it?? What are your suggestions to help me with this.

I have that habit too. I haven't found a way to stop it though. I tend to use food as a sedative. On a good note though, studies have shown that eating protein like string cheese or Greek yogurt before you go to bed helps build, repair and nourish our muscles, and maximize our workouts. Pistachios and cherries are good at night too. Those help with sleep

Ideally, you wouldn't eat right before bed, but we don't live in an ideal world. The thing for you to figure out is are you really hungry, or is it head hunger due to habit or maybe self soothing?

For head hunger, most of the time I just have to find other distractions. Especially ones i don't associate with food. I'm not really a TV watcher, but I know a lot of people tend to mindlessly snack when watching TV. If this is you, find something else to do.

If you really are hungry, then do as @Tomo suggested and look for healthier options.

6 minutes ago, SpartanMaker said:

Ideally, you wouldn't eat right before bed, but we don't live in an ideal world. The thing for you to figure out is are you really hungry, or is it head hunger due to habit or maybe self soothing?

For head hunger, most of the time I just have to find other distractions. Especially ones i don't associate with food. I'm not really a TV watcher, but I know a lot of people tend to mindlessly snack when watching TV. If this is you, find something else to do.

If you really are hungry, then do as @Tomo suggested and look for healthier options.

Head hunger is what I call my fat brain. I'm trying to select new and better items. Protein and it was suggested warm milk. Thank you for suggestions. I will try them. I'm kinda glad I'm not the only one with this struggle. Thank you..

i’m kinda the same way so i save my favorite proteins for that part of the day. usually a chobani yogurt drink or babybel cheese. yummmm

I seem to want to snack after dinner as well and I try to eat things that are very low calorie like popsicles or pickles depending on what I am craving. If you are actually hungry of course a protein snack would be your best option.

Oh wow - I also cannot go to bed hungry. I thought I was alone in this (seems so weird but I just cannot sleep if I am). I would rather be hungry all day than risk not being full at bedtime.

So - as soon as I could eat solid food after my sleeve I purposely hoarded calories to eat at bedtime. Probably 20% plus of my daily allowance. And ideally carby - so, porridge with fruit, or toast, etc.

I kind of relate this to my night owl metabolism generally.

I know that morning people (larks) mightn't understand that but as a fellow night owl I totally totally do. Chronotypes are real and they have an impact on weight loss.

Breaking those habits & identifying what may be behind the head hunger is one of the hardest things you’ll have to do. I go to mum’s & I want to nibble in the afternoon - 4 o’clock is the devil’s time. It’s not that we don’t get on but we can have interesting discussions. A lot of it is years habitual pre dinner drinks eating. I’ll visit my brother & his wife & family to get out of the house for a while - a distraction & a break from my mum ?.

You’ll find ways to take your mind off your desire to eat. Go for a walk, water your garden, check your socials or this forum, read, craft, play a game. Since your devil time is at night, try having a shower or even cleaning your teeth can act as a distraction & the the minty taste can be satisfying.

This might sound strange, but I've found that if I brush my teeth and floss right after dinner, I'm less likely to snack in the evening. It might not work for everyone, but it has for me.

Maybe chew gum? I've been an ex-smoker, for years and I've got quite the gum habit. I've been told that once I'm 6 weeks out, I can have gum again.