Snacking at night…

[Muffinman1119 84]

I’m about 3 months post-op and have noticed that some old (bad) habits are starting to creep back into my life. My worst problem pre-surgery was snacking at night. I’ve been slowly doing this again. At dinner, I feel full after 6-8 bites of food, but not snacking. I feel like I’m able to take in a lot more when snaking than regular meals. I know I need to just not do it all, but obviously that’s easier said than done. Anybody else went through these cravings around this time post-op? If so, what did you do/are you doing to curb the cravings?

Edited November 12, 2022 by Muffinman1119

[I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ 808]

Yeah, I was always a nighttime snacker. Now I use it to my advantage, I suppose. I save some of my calories/protein allotment for nighttime. I have yogurt or a proffee at night usually and sometimes I have fruit, it just depends on what I'm feeling that night. I think I consume more protein/calories than most do because I'm extremely active at the gym. Five days of cardio/strength, plus long trail rides on Saturdays. So snacking is fine for me as long as it's decent foods.

What kind of Snacks are you having? You say you feel like you can take in more during snacks than during meals? It's probably dependent upon the types of foods that you're eating. If you're having solid Proteins like chicken, fish, etc during meals, they're more filling and fill you up fast. A lot of "snack foods" ie: chips, Cookies, nuts, etc are slider foods so they slide right through your pouch, and you can consume more of those than Protein dense foods.

[Muffinman1119 84]

1 hour ago, I♡BypassedMyPhatAss♡ said:

Yeah, I was always a nighttime snacker. Now I use it to my advantage, I suppose. I save some of my calories/protein allotment for nighttime. I have yogurt or a proffee at night usually and sometimes I have fruit, it just depends on what I'm feeling that night. I think I consume more protein/calories than most do because I'm extremely active at the gym. Five days of cardio/strength, plus long trail rides on Saturdays. So snacking is fine for me as long as it's decent foods.

What kind of Snacks are you having? You say you feel like you can take in more during Snacks than during meals? It's probably dependent upon the types of foods that you're eating. If you're having solid Proteins like chicken, fish, etc during meals, they're more filling and fill you up fast. A lot of "snack foods" ie: chips, Cookies, nuts, etc are slider foods so they slide right through your pouch, and you can consume more of those than Protein dense foods.

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with the snack items. I need to re-focus on getting all my Protein in as I’ve kind of slacked on that lately. It was hard getting 100+ grams of protein a day before surgery, much less now after surgery. I just need to settle back into things and not forget why I had this surgery done in the first place.

[catwoman7 11,284]

50 minutes ago, Muffinman1119 said:

You pretty much hit the nail on the head with the snack items. I need to re-focus on getting all my Protein in as I’ve kind of slacked on that lately. It was hard getting 100+ grams of Protein a day before surgery, much less now after surgery. I just need to settle back into things and not forget why I had this surgery done in the first place.

I agree 100%. My surgeon said snacking is the biggest reason for weight regain - or for not being as successful at this as you want to be. Saving some calories for a late night snack might help, as someone else suggested. This surgery takes a lot of work - it's definitely NOT the easy way out.

[summerseeker 2,399]

If I have a meat and veg/ salad type meal for my evening meal, I will go back to it and finish it later. I have still no room for potato, rice or Pasta but love veg so I recon its ok and helps get my Protein in. Later I will have a sugar free ice lolly. If I am hungry 2 hours before bedtime, 10pm, I will have either milk, protein pudding or cheese and fruit to help once more with my protein levels. My calories are still low, so my team say its ok

[SleeveToBypass2023 2,681]

I have 2 tricks. I eat half my allotted dinner at dinner time and the other half later that night. I also take an appetite suppressant after dinner so by the time I'm starting to feel hungry it's not too far off from my bed time, so I finish my dinner and then I'm good for the night. Late night snacking has always been my weakness, so I made sure I had a plan for it. Doesn't do much for head hunger, but when I know I have food allotted for later, and I know I'm not feeling hungry, it makes it easier to resist giving in to it and makes it easier to distract myself with other things (I tend to watch true crime youtube videos lol Really works).

[Recidivist 1,141]

I have always had the same issue. I posted this elsewhere, but I have a rather simple trick that usually works for me. After finishing dinner, I brush and floss my teeth very thoroughly, as I normally would right before bed. It sounds odd, but that generally prevents me from snacking before bed. At the very least, I think twice before eater after brushing my teeth, which gives me time to ask myself whether I really need it.

[Arabesque 7,602]

I agree with the suggestions to distract yourself, clean tired teeth & snack on your leftover dinner, a Protein or nutrient dense food. You can try having something to drink too - Water, warm milk, a herbal/green tea. And, yes, most traditional late night snacking foods are nutrient poor sliders which are easy to overeat.

I’d also ask myself why I want to snack. Is it an old habit, an emotional need, are you craving a specific food, flavour or texture? These are all head hungers not real hungers. Recognising them & discovering what to do to manage them is part of our weight loss process. Not easy but worth the effort. If only the surgery removed that part of our brain too.

PS - try not to eat too close to going to bed (leave a couple of hours) especially if you’re eating a dense protein like meat as it can cause GERD symptoms.

[SaraHH 1]

THANK YOU FOR POSTING!!! I am so down on myself the last month has been horrible in many aspects of my life and not in my control. Lost my job etc so I’m a stress eater and have gained 4 lbs back in a month! I feel like a massive failure and so depressed. I have an appointment with a therapist Tuesday but finding it hard to find someone that understands what we have been through on this journey. So thank you for posting about the Protein Snacks at night. I was back to eating junk and could easily have been eating protein items! 💕.
Ps I’m new on here so I hope I have posted in the right spot!

[qtdoll 536]

Brushing my teeth sometimes works, but when it doesn't I'll grab one serving of turkey slices (with good flavoring so they're more satisfying) & that usually gets rid of the cravings for me. Also someone here recommended frozen chicken strips (grilled) & I've been loving those for a quick hot Protein snack. Just a few satisfy that need to just EAT something for me. Quest Double chocolate Chunk Protein Bar is soooo good & VERY filling!

my main advice is to stick to protein based Snacks. Grab one serving, put the rest away & enjoy. Guilt-less snacking is definitely possible!

Edited November 14, 2022 by bbykitty