--edit: On reflection, it's probably better to avoid snacking. I acknowledge that a later-night snack can sometimes help people fall asleep, so if you are going to do it go for the lower carb stuff. My weight loss seems to progress better when I don't eat late though.
-- original post below:
TLDR? --> Cup of decaf, or a couple of pieces of cheese!
I decided to stop fighting my usual urge to have some kind of snack later in the evening. If you follow people like Jason Fung, this is a sacrilegious statement. However, my feeling is that if you don't spike your insulin at 8pm, and you don't take on a monstrous amount of calories, there is little problem with scratching that snacking itch.
I was doing this pretty well in the winter and in the early Spring. I would head down to Wawa (it's also nice to take a ride in the evening and get out of the house), and get 2 or 3 pieces of string cheese, and/or a smallish cup of decaf coffee. However, as the seasons started to get warmer, Wawa started carrying little individual servings of strawberries and blueberries. Up until that point, I had had to go to Whole Foods to get that, but now it was there all the time. My weight loss stalled.
Dr Westman reportedly has a sign above his waiting room that says "fruit is nature's candy'. I was in essence, eating candy every night before going to bed.
I'm reverting back to the previous pattern. Rather than trying to clamp down entirely on having that snack, I'm going with what worked in the past and returning to the very low carb snack or coffee drink.
