too busy to eat?

darknight0dc · January 2011

Hi everyone!
I've been having this issue since my first job; I usually don't eat breakfast because, I just don't get up early enough (but I'm working on changing that). Then I go straight to work and don't eat during my shift, which is fine because, I usually don't feel hungry at work, the problem is that when I get home after work I just binge! I feel like I'm eating so much food to make up for not eating during the day.
I have two kinds of days; morning shift & evening shift.
My morning shift days are days when I have to be at work by 11am, so I usually get up at 10 and dont have time for breakfast, on morning shifts I'm off by about 2:30 and head home to walk the dog, then have dinner, but as the night goes on I am more and more tempted to snack.

evening shifts are worse, I get up super late (like noon) I might eat something like a tuna sandwich and go in to work at 5pm I'm usually not off untill about 10pm then I come home and eat & eat & eat.
I don't eat during my work shifts, because we're really not allowed to. I'm thinking about bringing an odwalla smoothie to work to sip on during the day.
It seems like my body is getting hungry during the day, but I just don't notice it, then when I get home it's like my body is screaming at me to eat!
Does anyone have any tips on how to keep myself from gorging when I get home from work?

amycrims · January 2011

That sucks that your schedule is so erratic and that you can't really eat at work. You definitely have to get breakfast in! There's a lot you can do with minimal time. I have been doing an english muffin with a piece of cheese, grab and go! or a yogurt- how long does it take to eat a yogurt? Less than 5 minutes. The South Beach cereal bars are really good and of course you can eat them on your way to work. Keep bags of nuts, carrot sticks, a sandwich in your bag and eat them whenever you can. I used to always eat like you and binge at night after not eating all day. Obviously this isn't good for either of us. Its much better to eat evenly throughout the day if not to subdue your hunger when you get home, but more importantly, it speeds up your metabolism to keep giving your body food to digest every 2-3 hours. Yes, it is extra work to have to prepare for this, but you know its worth it girl. and you'll be so siked to see the results : )

modernfemme · January 2011

Dude. I do the same thing, but willingly. It's called calorie hording. I have found this works: Always take easy things to eat, like healthy granola bars, trail mix, bananas, rice cakes, etc so I can eat something while on the move. It's so worth not feeling that sickness when you're realllly hungry. Eat, girl! We can motivate each other.

NikkisNewStart · January 2011

You must get Federally mandated breaks during your work day of at least 15 minutes... so you can take that time to eat something... even if you don't necessarily feel hungry. A small cooler packed with good foods doesn't take up much room and keeps your body from going too long without sustenance. Oatmeal only takes minutes to prepare and many food items can be consumed on the go. You must fuel your body to lose weight... think of food like the coal and your body is the furnance... the only way to burn is to put coal (food) in! You can do it... If you have a minute to post, you have a minute to eat. Start making yourself a priority because you are worth it! Plan Plan Plan and stick to it... even if you don't feel like it. That is the only way you can nip those binges in the bud sister! Good luck!

darknight0dc · January 2011

You must get Federally mandated breaks during your work day of at least 15 minutes... so you can take that time to eat something... even if you don't necessarily feel hungry. A small cooler packed with good foods doesn't take up much room and keeps your body from going too long without sustenance. Oatmeal only takes minutes to prepare and many food items can be consumed on the go. You must fuel your body to lose weight... think of food like the coal and your body is the furnance... the only way to burn is to put coal (food) in! You can do it... If you have a minute to post, you have a minute to eat. Start making yourself a priority because you are worth it! Plan Plan Plan and stick to it... even if you don't feel like it. That is the only way you can nip those binges in the bud sister! Good luck!

I am a waitress; if you can find one restaurant that follows federal work laws I will give you a pony! haha!
and thank you for the advice! I actually bought some instant oatmeal today! and you're right; it only takes like 3 minutes to make oatmeal! I also got some odwalla superfoods to take to work with me, I can put it in the walk-in cooler & drink it throughout my shift

darknight0dc · January 2011

That sucks that your schedule is so erratic and that you can't really eat at work. You definitely have to get breakfast in! There's a lot you can do with minimal time. I have been doing an english muffin with a piece of cheese, grab and go! or a yogurt- how long does it take to eat a yogurt? Less than 5 minutes. The South Beach cereal bars are really good and of course you can eat them on your way to work. Keep bags of nuts, carrot sticks, a sandwich in your bag and eat them whenever you can. I used to always eat like you and binge at night after not eating all day. Obviously this isn't good for either of us. Its much better to eat evenly throughout the day if not to subdue your hunger when you get home, but more importantly, it speeds up your metabolism to keep giving your body food to digest every 2-3 hours. Yes, it is extra work to have to prepare for this, but you know its worth it girl. and you'll be so siked to see the results : )

thanks for the ideas! I bought some breakfast on the go trail mix thingies to eat on the drive to work

darknight0dc · January 2011

Dude. I do the same thing, but willingly. It's called calorie hording. I have found this works: Always take easy things to eat, like healthy granola bars, trail mix, bananas, rice cakes, etc so I can eat something while on the move. It's so worth not feeling that sickness when you're realllly hungry. Eat, girl! We can motivate each other.

I didn't know it had a name!
I'm thinking about putting some granola bars or trail mix baggies in my car. I'm such a space cadet in the morning that even if I give myself an extra hour I will still forget something!, so maybe if I have food stuffs in my car I can eat while I'm running errands & whatnot! it's worth a try!!

NikkisNewStart · January 2011

The foods in the car are an excellent idea! I'm going to try that one out for sure! I try not to eat a lot of processed snacks (keyword try but I still do it from time to time) but I could still put things like almonds or something like that in my car for those times when I'm out and about and just need something to tide me over until I get home (will also keep me from going through a drive thru)! Thanks for your post b/c it gave me an idea that I'd never thought of that could really help me out. :drinker:

pinecone · January 2011

I'm a student nurse and in my first year of training I had this problem. For breakfast, there are lots of healthy breakfast type bars - Nakd bars are lovely, raw, sugar free, one of your five a day and 100-170 calories depending on your choice. But they aren't carby. I've also made my own breakfast bars using oats, nuts, fruit, and admittedly a bit of honey and oil to glue it together. Before a late shift I would make sure I had a substantial snack before the shift and then another one during the afternoon. Depending on your work, they might let you snack. I've never found anyone have an issue with me scoffing a banana in the nursing office.

During this first year, I managed to lose a good stone and a half I've kept off. Shift work is a good chance to do the metabolism friendly 5-6 small meals a day.. Remember, food isn't really as delicious on the move when it's rushed. SO if you don't have a choice, you may as well make it a speedy healthy snack:)

Hope that ramble helps x

too busy to eat?

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