Afternoon Crash

Withwings137

It seems like every afternoon I crash. I always eat breakfast at 8 (1/2 cup yogurt with 1/2 cup granola and a drizzle of honey) and lunch (half a two egg sandwich, carrots/hummus, apple, 1/4 cup honey roasted peanuts) at 11... before I even get to snack time at 1:30, I'm usually starving and exhausted.

Does anyone have any advice on how to avoid the afternoon crash?

ruggedshutter

Increase your lunch calories and protein. I aim for about 500 calories for lunch with around 20-30g protein.

Khukhullatus

Are you a coffee drinker? I used to have something sort of like this happen when I wasn't sleeping right and was using coffee to get me through.

I used to grab some kind of fruit juice. I loved those naked ones. Just be careful. Those things are loaded with calories.

*starting timer till someone says something ridiculous about fructose . . . now

VeryKatie

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

Are you a coffee drinker? I used to have something sort of like this happen when I wasn't sleeping right and was using coffee to get me through.

I used to grab some kind of fruit juice. I loved those naked ones. Just be careful. Those things are loaded with calories.

*starting timer till someone says something ridiculous about fructose . . . now

Fructose comes from cows.

cwolfman13

I would eat a more substantial lunch...

rand486

It's called Circadian Rhythm. We all go through a 3 o'clock crash - very normal in office type settings.

Increasing your calories a few hours before will help, but ultimately, it's just part of the normal fluctuation of our body's sleep cycle.

I usually have an afternoon coffee to deal with it, but some people just take a quick walk, or deal with it.

There's a reason so many people take a break around that time.

AmazonMayan

I agree with the more protein suggestions. I would be starving if I only ate what you did.

LeslieB042812

There's a lot of carbs in the foods you listed (honey, granola, bread, apple). Before people jump all over me, there is NOTHING WRONG with carbs, but they do tend to provide an energy spike and drop. Also, the other thing I noticed is that those are all pretty low volume foods (high calorie density). While they're nutritious, they won't be as filling as high volume foods (foods that have low calorie density). Try having your eggs and carrots over greens instead of with bread. You can have mountains of greens for the same calories as a slice of bread! Also, choose peanuts or hummus, rather than both and use the extra calories for something else with more volume (such as broth based soup). I also find that focusing on higher protein "whole" foods is much more filling for me, personally. On that note, I could eat a whole tub of honey roasted peanuts and still feel hungry, but plain ones fill me up faster, and raw almonds are even more filling. Just my 2 cents!

Jruzer

VeryKatie wrote: »

FoCoAlphaNerd wrote: »

Are you a coffee drinker? I used to have something sort of like this happen when I wasn't sleeping right and was using coffee to get me through.

I used to grab some kind of fruit juice. I loved those naked ones. Just be careful. Those things are loaded with calories.

*starting timer till someone says something ridiculous about fructose . . . now

Fructose comes from cows.

Had to read this carefully - well done!

frksfrau

AmazonMayan wrote: »

I agree with the more protein suggestions. I would be starving if I only ate what you did.

Same!

atypicalsmith

I'm trying to gauge how many calories you're eating from your description. Assuming you're eating regular yogurt and not low cal, thats about 100 calories. 1/2 cup of rich granola is about 250 calories. A drizzle of honey about 50 calories. Assuming half a two egg sandwich is one egg and one slice of white bread, that's about 175 calories at most. Carrots/hummus, maybe 5 tops. An apple, about 90. A quarter cup of peanuts, about 160. So for the morning you've consumed over 800 calories and you're still hungry.

The 1/2 cup granola and 1/2 cup of peanuts is what's killing you - over 400 calories! You could eat something much more filling that that. I would suggest you reduce them both by half and eat a two egg full sandwich instead. Skip the drizzle of honey as well, and you will have lots of calories left over for dinner and will probably feel fuller.

AdelleDazeem

More protein, more water, and a 20 minute lunchtime walk outside (rain or shine) really helps me stay alert every day. I used to get so tired before that. I think the water and the walk are the most important for me.

CaffeinatedConfectionist

Maybe try playing around with your meal timing a bit? Or as others have said,
changing what you eat for the earlier meals.

I have found that I crash pretty hard if I eat breakfast/lunch. I do much better when I stick with intermittent fasting and not eat until I get home from work. I tend to have pretty sustained energy levels throughout the day this way, although I do start to get hungry right around the time I leave work.

Of course, the downside is if things get hectic at work and I'm stuck putting in a few hours of OT. Then cannibalism becomes a legitimate consideration.

segacs

What do you mean by crash?

There could be a lot of things going on here. Maybe you have issues with your blood sugar -- have you been to a doctor for a check-up lately? Had your glucose levels checked?

You could simply have trained your brain to expect a 3pm snack, and be not used to waiting until dinnertime to eat. In that case, it's just about training yourself into new habits -- the "crash" is in your head and you should stick it out until things change. Or eat less at breakfast and lunch, and save some of those calories for a 3pm snack. They're your calories; you can space them out during the day however you choose.

You could be not getting enough sleep, and your morning cup of coffee runs out around 3pm and you have a post-caffeine crash. That's easily solved by taking up the habit of a cup of tea in the afternoons. Or by getting more sleep. Or both.

What sort of job do you have? Are you getting any natural sunlight or daylight during your day? Try going out for a short walk every day at lunchtime and getting some fresh air.

Withwings137

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I kinda figured my food choices were probably an issue. I was focusing more on trying to eat healthier foods, not really how they were affecting me. I'll rework my breakfast and lunch and see what happens.

I'm sure that sleep has something to do with it. I have an 8 mo old and a 2.5 year old. I'm getting more sleep now then I have in the past few months (it feels wonderful!!).

I don't drink caffeine often, sometime in tea but no coffee. I have thought about taking up the habit but I figured that was a band aid and not a solution.

segacs

Withwings137 wrote: »

I have an 8 mo old and a 2.5 year old.

Aha, I think we may have identified the culprit. Or, in this case, culprits.

Seriously, congratulations, and also, the long term sleep deprivation could be just catching up to you now. I'm sure other parents will weigh in here with how long it took them to start feeling rested again. (18 years?)

Withwings137

I feel like this wasn't an issue until I started trying to eat healthier. Although in hindsight, I did eat when I was tired. I've stopped doing that so I was probably just masking it before.

Sued0nim

Is there a reason you don't eat more at lunch / use some calories in the afternoon

Liftng4Lis

Eat a bigger lunch, with added protein.

Withwings137

I thought I was eating a decent sized lunch. I eat 4 meals, between 300-500 each, aiming for 1700 cals (at 8am, 11 am, 1:30pm and 4pm). If I'm short I add a small 100-200 cal snack at 6:30pm.

abk1968

Used to be like this split my day into 6 smaller meals so have " high tea" about 1530 all is accounted for its rare for me now to feel hungry all day

Withwings137 wrote: »

I thought I was eating a decent sized lunch. I eat 4 meals, between 300-500 each, aiming for 1700 cals (at 8am, 11 am, 1:30pm and 4pm). If I'm short I add a small 100-200 cal snack at 6:30pm.