I've found that I gain my most weight when I don't plan what I eat.  I don't mean planning every detail, but I like to always keep a few low calorie things that satisfie on hand when I need to eat something.  When I don't plan or have these items on hand that is when I get in trouble.  My wife and I have this argument all the time because she doesn' like to eat the same thing over and over again.   While that can get boring, what Iv'e found that works is having a general short menu in your head to go to if you can't think of what to eat, and repeating it as many times as you can.    I always have certain emergency healthy staples on hand, and I am not afraid of eating them at times that you wouldn't normally.   For instance if you haven't prepared a dinner or don't know what to eat, make and omelette for dinner.  Omelttes are high in protein, low carb and relatively low calorie.   I like to stay up late and I will often find mysefl hungry at 11:00 or so.  They say you should not eat within three hours of bed, but if you must (I can't go to sleep with a growling stomach) I will have a can of tuna with Dijon mustard and pickles or relish.   Sometimes I will have a hard boiled egg or make a quick egg salad.   I've done atkins before so even when I'm not on it, I find that following Atkins rules at night really makes a difference.  No carbs after 8:00pm.   Another quick goto are the small single serve cans of Bushes Baked beans 8.3oz.  They have 12g of sugar which isn't great but they also have 5g of fiber and 6g of protein 1 can is 280 calories, which I will have on it's own or with a baked potatoe or sweet potatoe.  It's not the ideal healthy choice, but sometimes when we set the bar too high we wind up not meeting that expectation and then make a really bad choice.   At the end of the day it's calories in and calories out.   A 400 calorie meal of almost any variety (junk food exluded) is better than a huge portion of chicken with veggies that have a higher calorie count, especially at night.