I keep derailing around 4:00-7:00pm every day! Help!

CaseyBee

I've been noticing recently that no matter how I divide my calories around for the day, I end up going wild in the afternoons. Handfuls of goldfish crackers, several cookies, jelly beans, floorboards, curtains... if it's not nailed down, I eat it. Somehow I all of a sudden become ravenous (only for junk, obviously... oops) and feel like there's NO WAY I can make it til dinner.

I know the standard operating procedure for junk like this is to simply not buy it, but my problem is that I'm a nanny for two different families, both of which always have snacky junk food in the kitchen. Those stupid goldfish taunt me every afternoon when the kids want them for snack, and it's rare that I can resist eating at least a few. It's not MY home and they're not MY kids, so it's not fair of me to ask them not to have/buy/serve certain things in their homes.

I bring my own food and snacks, but even after eating a yogurt or banana or apple or whatever I planned for my afternoon snack, I go into this weird head space where I feel like I can't eat enough to not be a gaunt starving skeleton by dinner. (I work until 6:30 and don't eat dinner until 7.) Could it be that I've somehow trained by body to all of a sudden want salt/sugar/fat at the same time every afternoon, or is there a certain (real, whole) food item that I'm trying to satisfy an unconcious craving for, or what?

I'm so tired of doing a great job at eating well (read: things that are good for me, not starving myself, etc.) in the morning and somehow losing it in the afternoon.

anunknownmouse

I feel ya. I get hungry around that time myself as well, but it's not really hunger. I just want to eat, mostly from boredom. But, for me, having giant meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is more satisfying than snacking throughout the day. So I just keep in mind that if I go all out on snacks, I have to have a small dinner to compensate. That's usually enough to convince myself to wait.

Edit: If your diary is correct, you are undereating. By a lot. Maybe if you ate more, you wouldn't be having these desires to binge eat junk.

shellbee381

Im doing the same thing at night....after dinner...I think I see that I have some leftover cals and I go overboard when I start eating. It doesn't even have to be junk food. Fruit I think is not good to eat too much of because of the sugar and I have been known to eat several bananas, apples, pear,s or whatever just because I'm bored or frustrated . Then comes the crackers , cookies, etc. Help...

CaseyBee

I feel ya. I get hungry around that time myself as well, but it's not really hunger. I just want to eat, mostly from boredom. But, for me, having giant meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner is more satisfying than snacking throughout the day. So I just keep in mind that if I go all out on snacks, I have to have a small dinner to compensate. That's usually enough to convince myself to wait.

Edit: If your diary is correct, you are undereating. By a lot. Maybe if you ate more, you wouldn't be having these desires to binge eat junk.

Today is an uncommon one, as far as the wussy salad for lunch is concerned, lol. I hpe you looked at the last few days to get a better picture of what I usually eat, at least in the am. I haven't been completing my dary (read: from dinner on) because I've been frustrated, but I have been eating.

DH are going out for ice cream tonight, so I've saved cals for that, but haven't entered them yet since I'm not sure what I'm getting. I assure you, though, I eat PLENTY.

gseburn

HI. Had a quick look at your food diary. You may want to up the protein at breakfast and lunch (maybe even generally it should be higher) More protein combined with a good intake of water should help with those cravings. I think overtime you will wean yourself off the simple carbs. I struggle with that too. Love my sweets... and my salties :-)

TylerJessilynn

I do the same thing! I just have to avoid the kitchen, and find something to distract myself with.

anunknownmouse

I did look back, and you seem to be eating on average 1000 calories a day, which is too low. But if you're not logging after dinner, I have absolutely no idea. That being said maybe up your calorie allotment for breakfast to ~350 calories or so. For me having a big breakfast (~500 calories) helps me maintain control throughout the day, but I'm eating far more calories than you in general. I also think having good spread of macronutrients helps keep me on track from meal to meal. Specifically I mean having a fair amount of protein and fat at each meal.

delikium

Just eat 2 bananas and 2 yoghurts! anything it take to ease that craving in a healthy way.
mix them and eat them at once in a big bowl....then have a big cup of green tea
make up for the calories at dinner

also if your drinking coffee...try to cut on that as it just creates fatigue followed by cravings

MystiqueASAP

Try having a protein shake or bar in between meals.

CaseyBee

HI. Had a quick look at your food diary. You may want to up the protein at breakfast and lunch (maybe even generally it should be higher) More protein combined with a good intake of water should help with those cravings. I think overtime you will wean yourself off the simple carbs. I struggle with that too. Love my sweets... and my salties :-)

Thank you! Breakfast on work days is hard - I have to be at work at 7:15 and if I want to work out as well, it's hard to get everything done and still be on time. More protein is an excellent suggestion. Maybe I need to cook up a big batch of harb-boiled eggs and have those available to pack around with me. Thanks again!

anunknownmouse

HI. Had a quick look at your food diary. You may want to up the protein at breakfast and lunch (maybe even generally it should be higher) More protein combined with a good intake of water should help with those cravings. I think overtime you will wean yourself off the simple carbs. I struggle with that too. Love my sweets... and my salties :-)

Thank you! Breakfast on work days is hard - I have to be at work at 7:15 and if I want to work out as well, it's hard to get everything done and still be on time. More protein is an excellent suggestion. Maybe I need to cook up a big batch of harb-boiled eggs and have those available to pack around with me. Thanks again!

Hardboiled eggs is an eggcelent idea. Had to do it, sorry. But yeah, the combination of fat and protein in eggs should definitely help keep you satiated. Cheese sticks are pretty good too.

CaseyBee

I did look back, and you seem to be eating on average 1000 calories a day, which is too low. But if you're not logging after dinner, I have absolutely no idea. That being said maybe up your calorie allotment for breakfast to ~350 calories or so. For me having a big breakfast (~500 calories) helps me maintain control throughout the day, but I'm eating far more calories than you in general. I also think having good spread of macronutrients helps keep me on track from meal to meal. Specifically I mean having a fair amount of protein and fat at each meal.

Thank you! I really just need to commit to logging all the hairy details... it'll keep me honest and help others (like you be able to have a clear picture to give suggestions for. Thank you for taking the time to help me out.

badgeratheart

I struggle during the same time frame each day. This week, I planned to have a protein shake (chocolate protein powder w/ PB2 and 1/2 banana) at that time of day. They're really delicious! The goal was to make and freeze the protein shake the night before and then keep it in an insulated cup in the refrigerator at work all day, hoping it would be just a bit slushy for the late afternoon. However, for lots of reasons...it didn't work out. I'm going to try again next week.

Another idea that comes to mind--eat your apple or banana with some peanut butter (the protein and fat should help satiate) then immediately brush your teeth or chew some gum. Hard to shove goldfish in your mouth with a piece of gum in there.

icandoit203

My suggestion more protein and water. if you can't resist take the kids for a walk to give you something else to do. log on to here and leave comments to mfp you will figure it out whatever suits you.

Polly758

Could it be that I've somehow trained by body to all of a sudden want salt/sugar/fat at the same time every afternoon, or is there a certain (real, whole) food item that I'm trying to satisfy an unconcious craving for, or what?

It could be a habit that you have to break.

But if you're having lunch around noon and then dinner around 7, and that is actually a pretty big gap. If you get a bunch of 2 cup tupperware and make yourself a yogurt/banana/nuts/honey 200-300 calorie snacks every day, I bet that will go a long way in keeping you on track. I get at least a quart of plain non-fat yogurt and some dried fruit every week, just for that reason. Otherwise I'd be gnawing on my desk around 4 PM...

CaseyBee

Hard to shove goldfish in your mouth with a piece of gum in there.

This made me lol. Gum, good one! Also, I promise I'm much better at spelling than it sounds... I'm using one of the mom's laptops and little miss baby sister has picked off several of the keys, and the whole thing is a little sticky. I'm looking at YOU, "harb-boiled eggs."

e_gracey

I second the string cheese and hard-boiled egg suggestions. When I get a craving, especially around the same time as you, I try to eat protein with a little fruit. Low-fat cottage cheese is great too, and you get the salty-fix. Also make sure you are eating enough for lunch (I don't think 200 calories is enough), otherwise you're setting yourself up for disaster at about 3-4pm.

kelseyhere

When the kids go for the goldfish, try having a pickle spear instead (only 5 calories!). The saltiness of the pickle helps kill cravings for me.

You can also trying chewing fennel or star anise. They are both really strong herbs, and it should kill your craving to eat anything. If you're not into extreme, chewing gum could even help. I know that sometimes it's just the pleasure you get out of having something in your mouth and chewing, it's not even the food.

Another thing to try and doesn't have anything to do with your diet is to have a mantra. When you get in that bad head space where you want to eat everything in site, repeat the mantra over and over to yourself until the craving passes. It should be something that inspires you, but reminds you of your ultimate goal. One I use is "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Sounds superficial I know, but it works for me.

And yes, as the others said, make sure to get plenty of protein early in the day to stay full. I like to mix protein powder in my oatmeal. You can't even taste it and it adds 10g of protein per serving (I use half a scoop, a full scoop does get a bit funky).

Good luck, I know I would be struggling in a house full of goodies!

KaseyWolf

I like the idea of the protein, and might even suggest 2 tbs of peanut butter if your calorie/fat allowance will allow (didn't look at your diary). I use Hummus for a snack protein because I used to have issues with peanut butter and don't want to get off track.

Good luck! this is what I love about MFP, all the support and ideas.

CaseyBee

Good luck! this is what I love about MFP, all the support and ideas.

Yes! I really appreciate all the suggestions. and I'm writing them down to carry with me. Thanks, guys!

kristen_lynn

do you get enough sleep? carb cravings for me DIRECTLY correlate to my sleepy days! it's your body's way of trying to compensate for the lack of sleep energy with sugary carb energy.

ew513

Try frozen grapes. They are yummy and sweet and cold and gives you something to bite in to. Naturally sweet and low cal. I pop these at night when I'm watching TV.

nheilweil

It sounds like you already know the problem is two-fold: your body is craving food and at that time of day your blood sugar is way out of whack and you strongly craving those treats. Secondly, you're obviously a smart person and your brain supplies compelling excuses to justify having the cravings: we...will...probably...die...if...we...don't...eat...RIGHT...NOW! I think we've all felt that!

Try to conquer it a two-fold approach: first, don't let your body get to that point where it's too late to stop the behavior. Think about ways to stop or at least reduce that feeling before it builds up. The best way might be to reduce sugars at lunch and go with food that's higher in protein. Then, about 30 min - 1 hr. before you think you might indulge, have another high protein snack. But skip thinks like protein bars or other high protein treats that are also high in sugar (and most are), in which case you''ll probably still pig out and you will have added a power bar's worth of calories to the mess! Go with something like a low glycemic value that's filling! And drink LOTS of water during this period!

On the mental side, the good news is that it doesn't take a long time to learn a new habit! That can work against us (like when we learn to pig out every afternoon). But, it can really work *for* you as well. It will only seem tough to fight the cravings for a few days, and after that it will start seeming normal! One great way to be mentally strong is to commit to recording in MFP every single thing that you eat during the day. I looked through your log and there's no evidence that you have any eating issues at all, so guessing you don't record those excesses! Commit to record everything you eat and when you feel like you are craving food, say to yourself "I track everything. I do not want to track this bad eating. I am strong and I can see that I have enough calories to live and will not just die. This is a craving and it will go away and I am stronger than it."

Remember to be gentle on yourself if you can't change this overnight. Celebrate little successes -- "Yay! I went until 5:00 PM before I snacked but got through the first hour OK," "Yah! I stopped after eating some of the kid's goldfish but didn't pig out on their chips even though I wanted to." If it was super easy, everyone would be thin!

Finally, it's cheesy but I think it's true: Jillian Michaels in her Ripped in 30 DVD says, "Transformation is not a future event. It is a present activity. That's why you must bring everything you have to give in every moment. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's about effort. That's where transformation happens. That's how change occurs." So, be strong during those first few days, and the transformation *will* happen!

atsteele

Stay out of their kitchen!! Use 4 to 7pm to doing anything else but be in the kitchen. If the kids need to have their dinner, get in and get back out before you give in to the temptation. Out of sight, out of mind!!