Thursday, August 1, 2013

An Experiment

I'm trying something new for a few days.  If it feels more like torture or a punishment imposed on myself for being overweight, I'll re-evaluate.  I'm going to make dinner (Supper, if you live in Midwest U.S.A.) the last meal of my day; no snacks after dinner. 

Nighttime is when I crave the things that are the least healthy for my body.  It's when I want potato chips, nachos, and deep-fried cheesy things.  I suspect this is because nighttime is when I feel most vulnerable and needy.  Instead of letting myself have those feelings, and instead of figuring out what is the cause of those feelings, (might just be normal brain chemistry triggered by darkness) I typically choose to numb myself with the computer, carbs and sometimes cocktails.  Actually, I typically drink wine, but I was looking for another "c" word, 'cause I'm clever like that.

It's going to be hard for me to not eat in the evening, so I'll need to replace this ritual with another one.  I'm going to try writing in a notebook when I find myself wanting to snack at night.  I'm not sure what I'll write about.  Maybe I'll write about my day, or maybe I'll try to get in touch with what I'm feeling that is causing me to go foraging in the kitchen.


This is just an experiment at this point.  I was able to not eat after dinner last night.  When I started to feel really hungry I realized that I was probably more likely tired than actually hungry because I had eaten a big dinner, so I went to bed instead of eating.  If it doesn't work out, that's fine, but it's worth trying.  I'll let you know.


2 comments:

  1. That's a good idea. :) I don't snack much after dinner, because we tend to eat around 7.30 or 8.00 and there's not much time left. My snacking mostly happens at work and when I first get home. That's a very bad time, that hour or so when I first get home.

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  2. Oh yeah. That used to be the case for me when I worked too. Now, we eat around 6:00 when my husband gets home, and I don't go to bed until around midnight. Last night it was after 1:00 and I didn't fall asleep until after 4:00. Ugh. I didn't eat after dinner, though. :-)

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