Can't make it through the afternoon--HUNGRY

[mykidsteacher]

Need some ideas on what to add to lunch to help me make it through the afternoon without eating.  I'm fine till 3pm hits, and then I need something.  Some of this is probably head hunger, and some of it is that I get tired then and go looking for a pick me up.  But I'm also willing to make a mini meal and eat it, so some of it is true hunger.

 

Food for today to help troubleshoot:

b--sausage/sweet potato/apple hash with a bowl of blueberries and strawberries with coconut cream on top on the side.  (ate around 8am and felt full after eating and stayed with me just fine until lunch at 12:15 ish)

l--big bowl full of zucchini noodles, broccoli slaw, a couple of green pepper strips chopped, 10 olives chopped, 1 cooked/diced chicken thigh and about 10 small shrimp.  I drizzled olive oil over all, added a splash of lemon juice and some lemon pepper seasoning. When lunch time came, I was at a knitting group, so warmed it in the micro and then cut up 1/2 an avocado and tossed it in.  Also had 1 apple slice, a couple cubes of pineapple and about 1/2 cup of watermelon.

 

And now it's almost 3 and I feel like I need to eat again, even though my stomach actually feels full still.  Supper isn't until late (we live on a farm, so tend to eat around 7:30-8 pm because I can't get anyone in the house earlier than that.  I'll never make it 4 more hours without eating.

 

So what am I missing?  Is it just head hunger and I need to push through it?  Happens pretty much every day. Usually I dive into the bag of almonds.  But I suspect they are bloating for me, and somewhat of a no breaks food too. So I'm really trying hard to stay out of them.

 

Thanks!

[GFChris]

I would cut back on the fruit.  A W30 fruit serving size is the size of your fist, and per the meal template, allow yourself only 1-2 fruit servings per day.  

Where you cut back on the fruit, add in more veggies or approved fats.  Shoot for 1-2 cups of veggies per meal.

And if you have a big time span between lunch and dinner, have a snack of a mini-meal, including a protein and fat.

[JJB]

On work days, I have lunch at 12:30 and dinner at 8:00. There's just no way I can wait that long to eat. I know some of it is in my head, because 3:00-4:00 has always been my munchies time...no matter how big or well-composed my lunch is. But 7.5-8 hours is a long time to wait. I have a hardboiled egg and about half a cucumber around 5 PM, and it's sufficient. I'm still very hungry when I get home. I could probably stand to add some olives to that snack too. Like GFChris said, just try to make it a small meal instead of a snack food, like nuts. In my opinion, on our schedule it's perfectly acceptable to have a snack before dinner.

[Tom Denham]

I find that eating a big helping of protein at breakfast helps the whole day go better. I am not sure how much sausage you ate, but you had a lot of fruit and fruit tends to fill you up quick, but burn off fast. I would try increasing your protein at breakfast. Lunch looked okay. You probably need a mini-meal at 4 to bridge the long gap between lunch and supper. There is nothing wrong with eating 4 times per day and a mini-meal is much better for you than snacking on nuts, raw veggies, or fruit.

[mykidsteacher]

Thanks for the fast responses. 

 

Tom--I used a pound of ground pork, and ate about 1/3 of it.

 

I will reduce the fruit to once a day (started out the first week and a half with no fruit at all because my sugar monster was out of control). It tasted soooo sweet when I first had it again, maybe I'm enjoying it a bit too much.

 

And will just plan a mini meal around 4.  I had a cup of black decaf and that did help fill the hole a bit.

 

edit to ask--if I just do one serving a fruit, would it be better at breakfast, or lunch? 

[KitchenWitchy]

Fruit at Lunch! Then you can eat all protein and veggies and fats at breakfast. It's really amazing what a huge difference a big breakfast makes in the entire day

[Chardoenay]

Just a note to folks using those pre made seasonings like lemon pepper. Read the ingredients, the brand I have has brown sugar, just reminds us to read, read, read. Sugar is a cheap filler and the food industry is using it in everything!

[mykidsteacher]

Yes, I checked mine (at least twice) and no sugar or icky stuff.  But def a good warning.