Part boredom part habit now. I have a terrible sweet tooth which I try and satisfy with fruit.
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Itās where to find those extra calories without it becoming junk food. Maybe a good quality cerael?
yoghurt and fruit seems to do the trick for me
beer, butter, biscuitsā¦the killer bās
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some great books out there to help with recipes:
- Anita Bean (general nutritional, she was UK natural body building champion)
- Lim and Thomas (Feed Zone)
- Alan Murchison (UK duathlete and Michelin starred chef)
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Do you think this may be part of the problem? You are too strict for a long period of time but when life stress gets introduced or something else rocks the boat then you fall off completely. Iām not saying this is it because I have no way of knowing but itās something to think about. Maybe instead of just going between āIām strict and donāt allow any junkā and āI canāt keep myself from eating junkā, if your tried to be strict most days but then have 2-3 times per week when you can let go a bit it may be easier to keep it going for longer.
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Oh man. I do this too. I am sometimes quite disgusted with myself in the amount of junk food I eat, after my dinner.
I can eat fruit, but Iāll end up eating chocolate and crisps straight after.
What has worked for me previously, is committing to an eating window i.e. no eating after 8pm. I think Iāll try going back to that and brushing my teeth shortly after dinner.
I only want to lose another 2-3kg (currently at 87-88).
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Absolutely the same here. I need a fix 
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Unfortunately I can vote only once to this!
When the hunger is serious a scoop of casein and some nuts / seeds itās a killer! I sleep like a baby 
You can also try to shorten the time before the meal and bedtime.
A bit more of healthy fat at dinner also helps (it slows digestion)
Someone already mentioned Greek Yogurt 0% fat. Itās been a go-to snack for the last 6 years.
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I almost always have cake handy. So when a craving hits, I can take care of it.
And that way I can guilt myself into riding those miles later.
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So, it sounds like you arenāt eating enough.
If weight is not an issue, then I wouldnāt feel bad about a 4th meal.
My go-to evening snack has been Fage plain greek yogurt and some blueberries.
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Some good options here, but IMO this sounds like it has a mental aspect to it as well as a physical, so picking things that are satiating or nutrient-dense isnāt going to be much help if you donāt work on the habit itself.
One thing that I have found helps is asking yourself how you feel at the time. If youāre bored or you find your mind is elsewhere, it might help to change up what youāre doing in the evenings. Set aside some time for a hobby, read- anything that you enjoy or keeps you mentally occupied. If youāre stressed or upset, make an effort to reduce that where you can and/or figure out alternate coping mechanisms. If you feel like your evening snacking is not serving you on a nutritional basis, chances are itās because itās providing you with something else that could be addressed in a more productive way.
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Some great advise here thanks. 
So going forward Iāve started to put a bit of plan together following tips in this thread as well as information from other sources including the trainerroad podcast.
So starting now Iām going to.
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Weigh myself regularly, maybe 3-4 times per week to monitor daily fluctuations. And follow trends.
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Log calories in my fitness pal and increase or decrease calories to suit expenditure.
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Plan meals and snacks ahead of time.
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Only keep high quality foods in the house.
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Donāt eat in the kitchen. Make planed snack then leave kitchen to eat it. Donāt have snack while making snacks.
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Fuel the work on the bike.
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Enjoy some treats in moderation.
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Listen to body.
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Focus on hydration and drink less coffee.
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Focus on recovery.
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Strive for progress not perfection and make small lasting meaningful changes.
Think thatās it for now but sure Iāll think of some more.
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amazingā¦ i think iāll do the same thing
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Yes, absolutely I think that is the problem. Should find balance instead of on/off model. So mostly healthy diet with some treats here and there.
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12: be kind to yourself when it doesnāt go as planned
All else sounds great!
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Iāve found that a cup of hot chocolate is good. Its sweet and chocolate, and a whole cup of it, but is actually quite low in calories (probably depends which one you buy). Also the hot milky stuff helps with sleep.
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Ghirardelli sells dark chocolate in individually wrapped squares about 60 cal each.
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Sorn great tips. Thanks everyone, looking forward to starting a new plan next week
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I used to struggle with a lot of this all the time, now I struggle with a smaller subset but still manage to do almost as much damage. I think I have the root cause nailed down but I have not found a solid answer yet.
#1 by a mile is my willpower and willingness to say F it and go for the hedonistic pleasure foods are massively impacted by how tired I am. If i start eating after 8 its never going to be because I am hungy, its going to be because I want the enjoyment of the food. There is no correlation with hunger, calorie intake, work load, etc. If i am over tired i am just way way more likely to say screw my long term goals I want a bowl of ice cream, and some chips, and some dip and before you know it its 3000 extra calories. Sometimes this would be okay, but the frequency is creeping up to more like weekly and that makes long term goal progress harder than it needs to be.
#2 is related to the first one, but I dont need to eat crap while watching TV. If i am going to eat some crap I dont need just because I enjoy it why am I doing it while watching tv and not even paying attention to the stuff I am eating. Absent minded TV eating is not worth the expense to my goals, adds a TON of calories, virtually no nutrition. This one has almost no redeeming qualities and just needs to go away. If i could just eat at the table and not eat while reading or watching TV i would eat less of the bad things and more of the good things almost by default. I am going to start to implement this one today and see what comes of it. The willpower one i have less ideas for.
If i could just not eat after 8pm except when out with friends for social events I would have met a ton of my goals years ago. I need to find a way to get 9am me to shout at 9pm me.
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