Stop that Munching 4-6?
InGodsHands101
Posts: 2 Member
Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
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Replies
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You could try interrupting the ritual, by eating more at lunch or by being somewhere after work until it's nearly dinner time. Also, it may be worth it to have cut up vegetables in the fridge ready to grab. I know that sometimes I'm eating simply for the act, and not necessarily hunger...I can swap baby carrots for candy and the snacking is still satisfied. Comes down to what is easiest to reach for, lol.6
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Do stuff instead. Go for a walk, clean the bathroom, keep busy in some way. Have a snack and then drink water and more water and more water.
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This is largely habitual behavior. Habits can be broken, but it takes work and unfortunately, there isn't anything other than working at it and being disciplined. I eat dinner later at around 7:30 or 8, so I allow myself an afternoon/early evening snack...but it is planned and it's just one snack, not a multitude of different things. Usually it's just an apple and some almonds. I have an affinity for chips and salsa, so I allow myself that on Wednesday for my lillordag (little Saturday), but I measure out the chips in a cereal bowl rather than a larger bowl or eating straight out of the bag.
I also eat a good breakfast and don't do a lighter lunch...I make sure my meals keep me satisfied and are hearty and healthy. The only reason I even really allow myself a snack is that I eat dinner later...and depending on my lunch, I may skip my afternoon snack altogether. Once upon a time, I was a pretty heavy snacker...like all day and feeling like I constantly needed to feed myself something and I was particularly bad in the afternoons and evenings when I was more or less bored. As weight management goes I find snacking to be counterproductive and limiting snacking was actually a pretty easy way for me to cut back on calories which was helpful for both losing weight and also for maintaining that long term.
Breaking that habit took some discipline but it was made easier by busying myself with other things...whether that was doing some random stuff around the house that needed to get done or a little yard work or going for a walk or a quick bike ride or playing with my kids or whatever. The good news is that it really didn't take more than a couple of weeks to establish a new routine that didn't involve sitting on the couch and snacking. These days my early evenings are pretty busy with both of my boys involved in youth sports and shuttling around to practices and games...I don't generally get home these days until later in the evening and it's just time to get dinner started at that point.
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I should have included in my response, I know a guy who ate his dinner at 4:30 after school (teacher) each day so he'd not snack! I can't do that myself, but it's a thought!4
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I apologize if someone has said this. I have had similar habits myself. I would start by eating breakfast, high in protein. I love starting off the day with anywhere to 2-4 eggs, some parmesan on top, a piece of toast, and maybe some coffee. Skipping breakfast most likely is a result of eating a lot before bedtime, as whenever I ate until I was full before bed, I woke up not wanting breakfast. In conclusion, eating a large breakfast and lunch generally quells my hungers or cravings in the afternoon. Hope this helps.4
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If you have two hours or so between getting home and dinner, that is a great time for a walk or workout or to do something productive in the garden or around the house. If you're starving, eat a banana or apple to hold you over, and then get busy.4
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Eat dinner earlier, plan a snack for that period, don't have a "light" lunch, maybe switch your dinner meal and lunch meal around?3
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InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
sounds like you are backloading most of your calories to later in day. if this is working, turn grazing/raiding into a typical early meal, and maybe later evening snack.
is the random grazing because you're hungry or actually "extra more than you need food"? it is ok to arrange your eating, time and food choices that suit you emotionally and nourish your body
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InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
If you skip breakfast and have a light lunch, its no wonder you're starving by 4pm.
Don't skip breakfast or don't have a light lunch.10 -
Yeah, I agree that if you are not eating breakfast and then eating a light lunch, I don't see how you are going to be anything other than really hungry.
I usually have eaten over 1000 calories before noon. Then I'm good until dinner.
Experiment!8 -
I also get home about that time and am hungry emotionally and physically for a snack. A big bowl of low calorie soup is very satisfying to my soul and my stomach. Or, if you don't want to eat, stick a piece of gum in your mouth while you're preparing supper.2
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InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
I would recommend eating more at lunch. Sounds like you're starving yourself every day until 4:00, then you can't deal with it anymore because, well, your bodies main drive is to find and eat food over everything else.4 -
LifeChangz wrote: »InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
sounds like you are backloading most of your calories to later in day. if this is working, turn grazing/raiding into a typical early meal, and maybe later evening snack.
is the random grazing because you're hungry or actually "extra more than you need food"? it is ok to arrange your eating, time and food choices that suit you emotionally and nourish your body
I would argue that the fact that she's grazing in and of itself means its not working. If it was working for her, she wouldn't be grazing.1 -
Your body is telling you the answer, listen in. Skipping breakfast and a light lunch isn’t enough fuel to make it to dinner time. You need more food earlier in the day.3
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sollyn23l2 wrote: »LifeChangz wrote: »InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
sounds like you are backloading most of your calories to later in day. if this is working, turn grazing/raiding into a typical early meal, and maybe later evening snack.
is the random grazing because you're hungry or actually "extra more than you need food"? it is ok to arrange your eating, time and food choices that suit you emotionally and nourish your body
I would argue that the fact that she's grazing in and of itself means its not working. If it was working for her, she wouldn't be grazing.
There's nothing wrong with grazing per se, IMO. Timing of food is personal. One meal, two meals, lots of small meals/snacks - doesn't make much difference, at equal calories - different variations can work for different people. IOW, it can make a difference individually, via feeling full vs. crave-y more often.
OP, I'm in the "experiment with a different pattern" crowd.
Personally, I do better with a big protein-rich breakfast, then I sometimes graze lunch over a period of hours (small bits of stuff), then eat a bigger dinner. Sometimes I skip lunch, sometimes I make an actual lunch, sometimes I make a plate of raw veggies and nosh on those while I cook dinner. Try a different pattern.
I do feel that folks may have something, when they say that small/no breakfast, small lunch, is going to be a pattern that results in more late afternoon appetite for quite a few people. As we move through our day, we become more fatigued, from the simple fact that it's been longer since sleep. Fatigue triggers energy-seeking, i.e., can spike appetite. Getting a little more fuel earlier in the day could have benefits. Only one way to find out: Try a new pattern for a few days, see if it helps.
There's also an effect of habit, that if we're used to eating at a particular time, we tend to feel crave-y then. In that sense, the distraction/alternative afternoon habits ideas may help, or even just using white-knuckled will power for a couple of weeks to break the trend (usually alternative habits are an easier route, vs. sheer will, I think - but maybe that's because I stink at will power).
Weight management, for those of us with a history of excess weight, really is a process of problem identification, experimenting, finding solutions. Keep experimenting, you'll find a route.6 -
Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
This is me too! Them 2 hours are h*ll!1 -
Any rules about having your dinner earlier?
And any requirement to actually have dinner (or as large a dinner) when no longer hungry?
*Yes family coordination is an issue
*Eating an apple while cooking and logging is what I often did while losing weight
*Drinking a can of Coke Zero or two (or a ~10% of my tdee item) is what I often do now
Really the answer is that intake or expenditure has to partially time shift.1 -
A lot of good suggestions above. What had helped me break that "get home from work" snack habit when I used to work was that my workout was scheduled for just before dinnertime. My stomach sort of rebels when I workout and I've eaten something within a few hours.
Now that I'm not working, I have more flexibility with my mealtimes and with what I eat. I generally do a 16:8 intermittent fast so I don't eat my first meal until after 12pm, but tend to push it out closer to 1pm. It's usually a pretty full and balanced lunch when it comes to macros. For example, today's lunch was a full-size salad, a slice of fritatta, and a non-fat, plain greek yogurt with berries and walnuts. A lot of days, I'll have the yogurt closer to 2 or 3pm, which keeps me satisfied until dinner. Now, if it is mindless grazing that is derailing you, I often will drink a large glass of water and then chew some gum, which is a trigger to myself to see if I'm really hungry or not.
If you like to participate in some of the challenge groups here on MFP, I know there is one for late night snacking that you could model your own challenge for afternoon snacking. I'm motivated by streaks so these challenges help me at least establish or break habits and then it becomes more intuitive.4 -
Like the others said - if you skip breakfast, and have a small lunch, surely you need to eat lots in the evening? Unless you have some ridiculously low calorie goal?1
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I eat four times a day. Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner. Nothing wrong with that routine.
Just plan for it and log it.
If it fits in your calories and your macros, then why not eat it?
For my afternoon snack, I typically have a protein shake.0 -
Eat an earlier dinner. Listen to your body regarding when it wants to eat. I'm not an evening eater, and if I've had a big enough lunch, I can happily skip dinner altogether. Often have dinner at 4:30, and don't need to eat again until morning.0
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Looks like we've lost the OP, but I agree with others. I don't typically eat breakfast either, but lunch is my biggest meal of the day. I eat dinner early, like around 4pm, and just try to fit in what I need to sustain myself until bedtime, and I'm good for the rest of the day. If you are constantly finding you need to eat midday, then eat more at lunch. Also, snacking is okay, as long as you chose healthy snacks, like vegetables. Don't keep anything around that is going to trigger uncontrollable hunger like cake. If I have cake or similar, then I just want to keep eating. Better just to not have it on hand.0
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If I ate that little during the day, I would be sure to have a healthy, hearty snack already prepped and waiting for me to devour when I walked in the door.1
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InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
Do you sit down when you get home form work? If so don't, do something. Hard to eat when moving. The couch or recliner is your enemy.0 -
If I skip breakfast same thing Im snacking in the afternoon. I would suggest not skipping breakfast or having a much larger lunch.
I tried intermittent fasting and it just made me want to binge. Idk if thats your goal by skipping breakfast or not but thought Id add that in. Skipping breakfast backfires for some people.0 -
Theoldguy1 wrote: »InGodsHands101 wrote: »Every day I get home from work, I munch.. on fruit, yoghurt, granola, cake.. and by the time I am done I don't really want dinner. How on earth do I break this cycle? I can skip breakfast, have a light lunch but then cave in mid afternoon till 5pm.
Do you sit down when you get home form work? If so don't, do something. Hard to eat when moving. The couch or recliner is your enemy.
It so so so isn't that hard.
Hell, right now I'm doing a walking dvd, eating, and reading the mfp forums.
I agree with the others who say the op should try eating more during the day.
Or maybe add a little protein in there, space the munching out a bit more, and graze your dinner instead of having a "regular" meal.0 -
I don't eat breakfast and have a light lunch at 1pm during my work break. I finish work at 5pm and tend to eat an apple around 4:30pm so that when I get home I'm not tempted to snack for the sake of it. It helps keep my hunger at bay until I make dinner.0
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hot tea helps me rather than eating.
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I have 200 calories every day from 4 to 6.
Usually 100 cal popcorn and 100 calories fruit.
Nothing after dinner till breakfast.0
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