Eat A LOT at breakfast, less for dinner and cereal at night. You'll get used to it within a week. And don't watch TV... It's the straight road to fatness.

You can also take a 15 minute fast walk before watching TV, to avoid the cravings:
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/research/title,1709,en.php

P. S. My replies for the day are over. But yeah, THAT was my problem. I ate too much at night and nothing for breakfast (now I eat nothing, because of this site). That's why I said that it takes about a week to get used to the new routine. Try walking, anyway.
Source(s):
It worked for me.

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I've found drinking water gets rid of the snack habit. Water is also good for you (duh!).
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This question was asked a couple of days ago - lots of answers here:

http://www.mahalo.com/answers/diet-and-exercise/how-do-you-stop-yourself-from-eating-late-a-night-before-bed
Source(s):
www.mahalo.com

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I like the drinking water answer. When you feel "snacky", drink 12 or 16 ounces. Once thing we do at our house for the old man is lock the doors up and hide the key. Must have a family member that is willing to help.
Another option is to get up earlier and go to bed later or exercise more. The body's need to recover will help you sleep through the hunger pains.
Good luck!
Source(s):
Lifes experiences

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I have the same problem. What I do is either to chew gum or drink a healthy fruit shake instead.
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Your problem is not with eating at a certain time of day. Your problem is eating while watching TV. Eating while watching TV is very bad because you do not concentrate on what you eat and you end up over eating. You are eating while you watch TV because you are bored.

Find something else to occupy your mind while you are watching these boring TV programs. Such as knitting, working on a puzzle, writing letters, etc.

Better yet, find something else to do rather than watching TV!
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Keep healthy snacks around--baby carrots, clementines, grape tomatoes...that way you can indulge the urge to snack without doing damage.
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I would advise you to time your dinners well -- usually if you eat dinner within 2-3 hours of bedtime, you will not be hungry when you go to bed. The human stomach tends to process food in approximately 4 hours, leaving you with a renewed appetite after about that timeframe.

Also, just a bit of dietary advice that helped me -- buy fruits and vegetables that you like. I buy gala or fuji apples, grapes, and green salads (to which I add cherry tomatoes and rasberry vinaigrette), for example. Filling up on these things is generally much easier than other foods, and if it is all that is in your fridge, you will tend to eat less while watching TV.
Source(s):
personal dietary experience

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There is the obvious answer of "go to bed" but what you are really looking for is some type of behavior modification - you must first examine what makes you want to eat - if you were to read instead of watch TV do you still want to eat? do you want to eat as a result of finally sitting down and slowing down at the end of your day? are you bored?depressed? have insomnia?
If you can find the cause of or triggers that make you want to snack then you can work on modifying those behaviors.
Some simple and perhaps silly sounding immediate answers:
MATH. That's right - math - a simple 3rd grade worksheet that takes you 60 seconds to complete uses a completely different pathway in your brain than the pathway that is making you want to eat.
A Rubber band - placed around your wrist like a bracelet - when you want to eat late at night you "snap" it - it is not and extremely painful stimulus but it works as a simple form of "thought blocking" that redirects the subconscious and makes you ask yourself why you did that.

Behavior modification can help everybody make virtually any changes in life that they wish - just takes some commitment.

Google "Thought blocking" and basic Behavior modification techniques. The goal is simply to redirect your mind when it wanders into the realm of whatever it is you wish it NOT to.
Source(s):
Many years working in a Psychiatric/Behavioral Health Inpatient Hospital.

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Brush your teeth before watching TV. After a few weeks your routine will be broken! Also, try going to sleep earlier.
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I'm a real night owl, so I'm working on this problem too. I have to say that chewing gum is a great way to do it. If I remember my basic science, the act of chewing releases a chemical in your brain that causes peaceful feelings. This should handle it.

Another good option is to just fill a glass with ice cubes and suck on them all night. That's a good way to distract yourself without gaining any weight.
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Most people will agree that it's best to eat a healthy breakfast. I always find that I'm less hungry later in the day and eat smaller meals for lunch and dinner if I ate a healthy filling breakfast. It's tough if you're not used to eating a meal in the morning but maybe you can start with something small like a banana.

In terms of a habit of eating late at night with TV and snacking, it's exactly what you said, a habit. Habitual eating is much harder to fix since it generally isn't specifically aimed at quelling hunger. If it's hard for you to stop cold turkey by just telling yourself you CAN'T eat in front of the TV, perhaps you could start with substitution by allowing yourself to have a bag of baby carrots. They will take longer to chew and also make the habit seem less attractive. You'll also give up after eating fewer calories :-) Calorie dense foods like chips, chocolate and other snack foods are far too easy to get into trouble with.
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starving yourself at night will make you obsess about food even more...
take away part of a meal or a little snack earlier in the day that you do not need as much, and then give yourself a small snack at night that you can look forward to, this will help avoid possible binges, and satisfy you while you are bored and have the time to think about the food you could be eating at night
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A while back, my mom found that she was way too fond of her midnight cereal attack.
She decided that, for one month, she would not eat after 8pm.
After starting, she noticed that she was more hungry during the day so she would eat more which worked out because that was when she was using up the most calories.
Eating more during the day made her lose all desire for her midnight snack
So this was one of those positive spirals.

In the end, she wound up losing ten pounds in two weeks and extended her diet for another month.
Source(s):
Experience

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You're probably being too strict on your diet and not eating enough. That's why you're getting hungry. You need to eat more protein at dinner. Protein tends to keep you fuller longer. And if you still want to munch on something at night while watching TV, make it something healthy like grapes or light popcorn. Also, don't stay up too late. You can't eat if you're asleep!
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I have found that brushing my teeth when I have the urge to eat late at night helps to discourage me. I used to do the same thing, so now I do not watch TV when I get home.
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I eat a few whole grain crackers at night when I get the urge to munch. When I have a "sweet tooth" sometimes I have a small bowl of cereal. Going to bed feeling hungry is no fun....but a little snack can curb the appetite without piling on all the calories of a sandwich, etc.
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First, turn off your TV! =D

Second, are you hungry? you could be, if you are very strict during the day...
the question is don't you need more food, or more carbs? Some ppl have 6 to 8 meals a day, without overweight issues.
If the food you choose is healthy, and you're hungry...
I mean just re-evaluate your amount of daily food/calories, with the good ratios of proteins, carbs and fats : )
In my french nutrition office, my best advice for dinner: carbs/veggies! to avoid hunger in the night, and my patients are losing weight, that's true!
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This was a big problem for me. One of the things that worked the best for me was to say, "I will not eat anywhere but at the kitchen table. No TV in the kitchen." When you eat in front of the TV, you eat mindlessly, and even if you're eating out of hunger, you soon eat more than you are hungry for just because you aren't paying attention. But most of the time it's just something to do. If you have to "give up" something you like (watching TV) just to have your snack, it will make you think twice about eating late at night.

If you want to get even more radical, you can say that not only do you not eat in front of the TV, but you have to eat in front of a mirror so you can see yourself eating. Then you really realize what you're putting into yourself. Most people don't need to go that far, however. But if you have a hard time, it can be effective.

Hope these help!
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I have this problem and I will tell you the one thing that has worked for me and has helped me lose weight too....don't laugh.

Dill pickles.

You eat one and it's sour, you don't want to eat anything else. It is a lot of liquid so it fills you up. You don't snack before you go to bed and there is nothing in a pickle so it's not like you are storing fat at night! Try it and see. :)
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just take some interesting book and go to bed.Read and read .ok
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