It’s not easy to escape cravings when you’re trying to lose weight.

For many people, those temptations are wide awake when night falls, and Becky Hand knows what it’s like to fight the munchies after dinner.

“Those kids get to bed and there’s downtime, and that’s when I want to eat,” says Hand, a registered dietitian at SparkPeople.com, a diet and fitness Web site. “It is not hunger at all – it is strictly a stress reliever.”

Many people tell Hand that they can stick with a healthy eating plan all day, but at night they’re ravenous.

“Some people save calories earlier in the day because they’re afraid of what nighttime might bring,” Hand says.

Hand says that’s not the best approach. It’s important to spread calories throughout the day so you never get incredibly hungry. She recommends dividing the day’s calories into three meals and a couple of snacks.

“If you eat too many calories at night, plan that evening snack,” she says.

Hand takes her own advice, and that planning pays off for her.

“I know if I said I wasn’t going to eat after 6, that would be terribly difficult for me,” Hand says. “It would feel like a punishment. So I have a list on my refrigerator of snacks that have about 150 calories – some nutritious, some not so nutritious.”

Hand’s list includes snacks in several categories like salty, sweet or crunchy, so she can have some of whatever she’s craving that night.

“I didn’t deprive myself, but I didn’t sit down and eat the whole bag of chips,” she says.