Why am I so..... hungry at night???? I do fine all... day, but when the sun goes down, LOOK OUT. I am grazing all night till bedtime. I hate it I am eating all my calories between 5-9 pm. Anyone else have this problem???

Hi Donna, Yah, I do. I decided a couple nights that all I would allow myself at night would be a can of slimfast, which I am really sick of. I nursed that and felt full when I went to bed. That's worked for 2 nights but I don't know how much longer it will work. I also find that if I eat more in the morning the nights go better.

I think that night eating and cravings are pretty common. I know for me it is very much a habit of many years and that for the most part I am experiencing the horror of horrors "head hunger", which the band will not help with.

Here are some of the strategies I use:

- I have a good Breakfast - freaky, but it does help slightly. I will eat a package of oatmeal, or if I have more time, I will have an egg white omelette with a piece of whole wheat weight watchers toast

- Exercise after work - before dinner. For some reason I am less "ravenous" and am satisfied with less

- delay dinner until about 7:00 pm - less time until bedtime and I know that I am actually not physically hungry

- eat a bag of 100 calorie orville redenbachers smart popcorn - I can eat one kernal at a time and it takes me a long time - a psychological trick, but then again my hunger is psychological too!

- cook up some edamame Beans in the pods - again, as per above take a long time to eat (high in fibre and protein)

- keep busy in the evenings - I find "lurking" on-line to be quite helpful

Thank you both. Great ideas, I will try them all. I just got home from the gym, but alas, I ate a choc bar as soon as I came in. Darn it! I really have to get a handle on this night munching. Donna

I'm not yet banded but I am trying to be mindful of my eating habits. I do my best not to eat after 7pm - but I get those cravings, too!

One of the best suggestions I ever received was to simply drink some broth. I usually do a cup of warm broth by nuking Water until it's warm enough to dissolve the boullion cube. It's savory and usually hits the spot.

I also find that if I focus on eating an afternoon snack and a good dinner it offsets that all night eating. During the evening, I will drink several cups of hot tea and that really helps me since you can get all sorts of flavors in decaf. Also, schedule in your food budget for an after dinner snack. Maybe some hummus and veggies or something like that. I often find that planning ahead and having healthy foods on hand, washed, ready to eat make it easier for me to choose that instead of the "good stuff" I might really want.