Evening Snacking?

I was on SparkPeople tonight and one of the message boards asked what you do about night-time snacking. Here is my answer:

I have two different strategies. The first is to plan ahead; if I have done this successfully, I will grab one of those (ridiculously expensive but very convenient) 100 calorie packs of my favorite junk food. I eat them very slowly, savoring each flavor in my mouth and I always eat at the table. Drinking a full glass of water before I do that is even better. The other snack I have are the 100 calorie popcorn bags. I always seem to crave junk food at night (which is when I did all my binge eating...kids are in bed and I don't have to share or explain myself) so eating a banana or something so "healthy" doesn't always work. Even still, often times, I don't plan well enough and am left with no free calories for snacking.

In THAT case, I drink a large glass of cold water, brush my teeth (try varying your toothpaste flavors...even including the "sweet" kids versions) and go to bed! I plan to eat my snack in the morning, after breakfast. Most of the time, I have already planned on a sweet breakfast (lots of fruit and yogurt for breakfast) and I forget about the extra snack. This works well during the day too. Just promise yourself to wait an extra hour before snacking, drink a large glass of water and distract yourself with a hobby or some entertainment. Don't make a point of remembering to snack, but allow it if you remember. I always like to keep controlled quantities of snacks, so I don't have to do any thinking.

Being hungry for a short period of time isn't the worst thing in the world- I know I am going to eat the next day, so when I am feeling REALLY low, I begin to pray for the people who are hungry and DON'T KNOW if they will eat in the morning. That usually puts my cravings into perspective.

So, I am using options two and three right now, going to bed hungry praising the Lord that I don't have to hear my kids crying because they are hungry and I have no food, thankful that I can wake up (God-willing) and eat more food to nourish and sustain my body.

What do you do?