Newbie Saying Hi

[scbirch]

Hi everyone 😀I just signed up so any tips welcome. My names Sue, I'm 47 and have been hypo thyroid for nearly 20 years. I became a full time student in 2014 and this seemed to coincide with menopause starting so there's the double whammy easier to gain weight coupled with sitting on my butt most of the day. I walk pretty much everywhere so I clock an average of around 5 miles a day but I'm still gaining weight and it's starting to hurt. I have a generally very healthy diet as I make everything myself from scratch and aim to eat 10 portions of veg a day. So I'm already doing what most plans tell us to do. So what's the problem you ask? Evenings. Why must I pick at crap all evening? ?!! I start off with maybe a banana or apple, then perhaps a chunk of cheese and some bread, then go fridge raiding for leftovers (there's usually a small pot of casserole or chicken curry and rice in there somewhere). This is usually between 8 & 10 or thereabouts. In fact I eat as much in the evening as I do all day! It's a bad habit and I'm hoping you guys can help me break it.

[flavourfiend]

As bigleg says, eating very low fat isn't a great idea. For me, it always leads to craving stuff in the evening.

Many years ago, I was living up in the mountains in Central America eating beans, maize and not much else for weeks at a time. Whenever I got back to the city, I just had to leap off the bus into the first shop I saw, buy a quart of cold milk and guzzle it down - and then hit McDonalds and line up a mountain of greasy food! I just had to eat some fat! I've never forgotten that.

Evening seems to be a bad time for many of us. I've instructed myself that, if I'm at home, I'm not allowed to eat *anything at all* after 8pm, or drink anything with any calories in it. Exceptions are made for parties, dinner out, etc., obviously, or I'd be going bonkers (or more bonkers :-(). And I try and stay out of the kitchen, obvs.

I don't actually get hungry in the evening. It's just a longstanding bad habit of wanting to put something nice in my mouth. If desperate, I brew up some fruit tea (the cheapo ones from Asda that have hibiscus in them are good) and chuck in a sweetener or two. That seems to work. As does getting out of the house and going for a walk, or finding some other distraction - like this forum :-P!

[Zest Healthy BMI]

Hi Sue,

I hope you'll enjoy being part of this forum, it's a friendly and supportive place.

I'd recommend the NHS 12 week plan - you can access the downloadable pages for that plan by clicking on the icon in the top middle of this screen entitled: 'Weight Loss NHS' and following the links to the right place. Let me know if you have any difficulty finding it, but hopefully it is straight-forward.

If you fancy the idea of a weekly weigh-in, then you'd be very welcome to join us tomorrow for the Monday group weigh-in - here's a link to last Monday's post, so you can see if it might be something you'd like to be part of or not.

Whatever you do within the forum, I hope you'll enjoy it, and I'd like to wish you success with your goals and hope that you have a great week ahead.

Here's a link to last Monday's weigh-in thread:

healthunlocked.com/nhsweigh....

Lowcal

[sueper]

Hi Sue,

Good luck

Evening snacking seems to be a huge for so many on here, including me. You do literally have to train yourself out of it. Stock up on fruit, sugar free jellies and drink lots of water. Use them as a crutch whilst you your programme your brain

I tend to eat my dinner, maybe have a yogurt half an hour or so later and then about 8pm a fun size bar of chocolate or a 2 finger KitKat. I find this works really well for me but even this took months of hard work.

[kantara71]

Hi SCBirch,

You sound like a constant craver, which is what I worked out that I was/am

Like you said you know what to eat and you are exercising so it is all the in between bits and fridge raiding going on

I find that if I make just enough food for our meals and try and avoid leftovers, or freeze them right away and write everything down and count the calories then I can show that I have eaten enough so it must just be a craving so i drink water and maybe a healthy snack like a piece of fruit. Make sure there are only healthy things in the fridge so that if you go on a raid it will not set you back.

And make sure you count and write down everything including the veg and fruit, they all count towards your daily target! Good luck - John

[scbirch in reply to kantara71]

That's exactly right, I just need to be constantly grazing. I'll give your suggestions a go, thanks