[GrannyGoodWitch]

Thanks so much to all who have replied to my message. It has helped a lot. I am beginning to see that "Mind Over Matter" and one's "Attitude" are keys to success.

[IPurrsia]

I really understand the sugar thing. If I have too many refined carbohydrates, I'm a gonner. http://boards.dietwatch.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif It's just so much easier not to even get started. After many, many years, I hope (I think) I'm finally learning my lesson and just avoiding those things as much as I can. Last night though, I was really hungry and all I could think of was Good and Plenty candy. Fortunately, I didn't have any around.

[knees2]

I posted teh following in the "On Board" in response to a comment from Linda. I think here it finds the night snackers:

Hi Linda, glad you made it on baord! About the night snacking: I have given up looking for excuses such a low blood sugar, not enough caloeries during the day, and other issues. I have decided it is JUST a bad habit and am approaching it that way. And when it works, it feels wonderful. Distraction and determination. Works best. And gets easier all the time. I have truly made a great discovery when I decided that I CANNOT have chocolate. I feel so much better and have "fallen" only twice in a very minor way (that is since my Eatser disaster). I feel great and hardly think about it any more. Maybe I get to where I can apply that to night snacking as well.

[LoseandWin]

When I was alone after my first husband died, the evenings were the toughest time for me too.

I found a support group through my church, and every night we would either get together to chat, go to a movie, play cards, or do volunteer work.

Even after I moved (because of a job transfer), I went to the local hospital and signed up for volunteer work that would keep my evenings full. I found that this also helped my self esteem, and made me less introspective. The sense of achievement and happiness I got from these activities gave me the confidence to take charge of my life in other ways as well. And so here I am today, much happier and healthy (and once again married to a wonderful man).

So don't give up hope. See what support groups and / or volunteer groups are active in your location, and promise your self to make one phone call each night until you are really involved. Good luck, and keep coming back to Golden Years!

[YogaTeach]

One thing I did was to find something more interesting to me than tv, for example, messing around on this site--reading various boards or taking a class or finding a really good book. I had friends who put their tv in the closet for awhile, making it a major pain to get out and watch tv.

I know it's really hard to break the habit.

Another thing for me was realizing I wasn't going to change my habits until I was ready, until I'd made a decision to, and that, until then, beating myself wasn't going to help. It would only make it worse. This helped me to enjoy what I was doing more, feeling more satisfied from it, so I would eat somewhat less.

[GrannyGoodWitch]

I read Kat1106's plea for help in breaking the bad habit of night time eating. This is my biggest problem. Many of the replies were right on, but easier said than done when the night eating habits have been in effect for so many years. Why if it weren't for night time eating, I'd be a shadow of my former self. It's so very hard to turn off my brain, my thoughts of chocolate, ice cream, and all the other no-no goodies. I sometimes believe there really could be an actual "addiction" to sugar. This craving of mine for goodies has become "linked" with watching TV, a MAJOR bad HABIT! I know these no-no comfort foods are a way of me substituting for other things that are missing in my life like self validation, comfort and love. I live alone and during the day, if I stay busy, I'd never have any problem, it's after 5-6 pm that I do all my damage. If I could find a way to just go into a coma from 5 PM to 7 AM this may help. Oh, how can I break such a bad habit and re-train my brain when there is no-one here to help me stay motivated? Does anyone relate to this? If so, how did you "FORCE YOURSELF" to just do other things, like go for a walk, or eat celery instead of ice cream?