Late afternoon cravings help!

amusedmonkey

I don't have a 3 pm slump because I have a very satisfying lunch at 2 pm (my biggest meal of the day). Have you tried experimenting with timing your meals? Having lunch be your largest meal may not be an option for you, but pushing your meals forward an hour or two may be.

Would you say it's more of a habit than a physical sensation? Sometimes it is. Your mind basically knows "it's 3 pm, time to start the craving process as usual". Are you doing anything in particular around that time? Is doing something else around that time an option? Usually, a short session of moderate intensity exercise when I have unpleasant feelings about food does me lots of good because it kind of dulls the appetite for me.

ETA: as a general rule, mild hunger is easier to handle than cravings. If you move your "hungry" time (time you're not eating) to the time you crave random things the least, you may be able to wait out hunger and have a more substantial meal closer to your trigger time.

For example, I have breakfast whenever I get hungry after waking up. This can be anywhere between 8 am and 12 pm (or later in some cases). If I happen have my breakfast at 8, that leaves about 6 hours between breakfast and lunch and I can usually easily wait it out if I get a little bit hungry before lunch.

kommodevaran

TavistockToad wrote: »

is there a medical reason you need to cut back on sugar?

Jaymie wrote: »

No medical reason, I don’t mind the odd cake or slice now and then, but not everyday. Sugars can give me a crash not nice

Instead of vilifying sugar, and vaguely wish to cut back on it, which only makes you crave sugary things even more, you need to have a solid plan that makes you not crave sugary things like mad. Your problem is that you head for the pantry or the café, and there is no stopping you when you've decided.

Panini911

honestly, i plan for a mid-afternoon snack on work days (I don't always need it on weekends which is a bonus as I add those cals to dinner). I pre-log/pre-plan my meals.

LeLum5

Check out the keto diet...bread/carbs/sugar cause cravings ...I was a sugar-holic! Candy cookies bread cake just sweets period and I was always craving... Started keto.. No craving not even hungry at all most of the time .. If you want more info on it check out Dr Eric Berg on YouTube lots of videos on the subject

Jaymie

amusedmonkey wrote: »

I don't have a 3 pm slump because I have a very satisfying lunch at 2 pm (my biggest meal of the day). Have you tried experimenting with timing your meals? Having lunch be your largest meal may not be an option for you, but pushing your meals forward an hour or two may be.

Would you say it's more of a habit than a physical sensation? Sometimes it is. Your mind basically knows "it's 3 pm, time to start the craving process as usual". Are you doing anything in particular around that time? Is doing something else around that time an option? Usually, a short session of moderate intensity exercise when I have unpleasant feelings about food does me lots of good because it kind of dulls the appetite for me.

ETA: as a general rule, mild hunger is easier to handle than cravings. If you move your "hungry" time (time you're not eating) to the time you crave random things the least, you may be able to wait out hunger and have a more substantial meal closer to your trigger time.

For example, I have breakfast whenever I get hungry after waking up. This can be anywhere between 8 am and 12 pm (or later in some cases). If I happen have my breakfast at 8, that leaves about 6 hours between breakfast and lunch and I can usually easily wait it out if I get a little bit hungry before lunch.

I think it is a habit - when Im at work 3pm is when I get a chance to sit down and write up reports, if Im not at work 3pm is when I pick the kids and they have their afternoon tea. I like the idea of shifting my eating time, as I am only mildly hungry at lunch time, I could push Lunch till 2pm.