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I am a little confused about meal times. If you are supposed to eat within an hour of waking and you wake up at 6:00 hypothetically and eat breakfast by 7:00, then lunch would be 4-5 hours later which brings you to 11:00 or 12:00. Basically that means that dinner ends up being at 4-5:00 assuming you are not snacking to tie you over.

This is also assuming you can wait to eat 5 hours between a meal, and I actually get up at 5am which would mean eating M1 by 6!

I don't even get home from work until 5:30, and the family usually eats by 6pm.

I am trying hard not to snack and am eating sustainable meals. Realistically, though, I can't eat dinner at 4pm!

How do other early birds deal with this?

I do workout most mornings, and know I can have a pre and post wo "meal", but my workout is only half an hour of strength or interval training and I don't feel it warrants all of those extra calories.

Help!

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First, work to build meals that meet the protein, fat, veg template that satiate you for 4-5 hours: that's the first challenge. And yes, for best results, have meal 1 or a pre WO meal of protein and fat within an hour of waking.  (If you do the latter, then you could have your Meal 1 sometime after your morning workout.)  If you have a gap between main meals that's longer than the 4-5 hour time-frame, then it's ok to have a mini meal of protein, veg and fat in between, if you get hungry.  Litmus test for hungry: you could eat something bland like steamed fish and broccoli.

 

Also, be sure to drink water throughout the day. Aim for 1/2 an ounce of water per pound of current body weight.

 

The pre and post wo fuel is to fuel your body with calories and nutrients before/after intense workouts. Make the decision on whether to have this fuel based on the intensity of your workout vs. a concern about extra calories.  If you're working your body intensely, it will benefit from the added fuel. The idea is to help your body recover faster and more efficiently from high intensity exercise.

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My hardest time is between lunch and dinner. I try to wait to eat with the family, but am really hungry enough to eat at 5:00. I guess I'll try to have a mini meal around 3 or 4:00 to hold me off until 6 for dinner.

Thanks for your help!

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I eat M1 at 630, M2 at noon and M3 is often nearing 630. Most days I'm fine to make it to dinner but on the off shot that I'm hungry, having hard boiled eggs in the fridge is a saving grace. We aren't against eating (at least protein & fat as Chris mentions above)......if you're hungry or your duration is too long. We are against mindless hand-to-mouth snacking that many people do all day long. Big difference. :) If you're hungry, eat.

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I don't do that kind of snacking. I gave up chips, pretzels, etc. a long long time ago. The only thing I used to do is go crazy on sweets when I went "off the wagon" usually once a week. Of course that hasn't happened during this whole 30. The only time I have a challenge is when I'm getting dinner ready for the family and haven't eaten yet. I tend to "pick" a little to tie me over. Sometimes I just eat my dinner of leftovers or pre-prepared foods right away to satisfy my hunger so I can prepare the family dinner wo grazing. The only problem with that is that I can't eat with them!

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I don't do that kind of snacking. I gave up chips, pretzels, etc. a long long time ago. The only thing I used to do is go crazy on sweets when I went "off the wagon" usually once a week. Of course that hasn't happened during this whole 30. The only time I have a challenge is when I'm getting dinner ready for the family and haven't eaten yet. I tend to "pick" a little to tie me over. Sometimes I just eat my dinner of leftovers or pre-prepared foods right away to satisfy my hunger so I can prepare the family dinner wo grazing. The only problem with that is that I can't eat with them!

I found myself doing that a couple times too, that picking as you're waiting for dinner to be ready? The best thing I found for that was to eat a few garlic stuffed jumbo green olives. They are just briney and salty enough to whack my tastebuds with a hit of flavour and tide me over until dinner is ready. Maybe not ideal but a couple of olives 10 minutes in advance of dinner never hurt anyone. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you for posting this, BJS12345. This is my exact question. I know this convo was a couple months ago but I didn't want to start a new thread.

I'm on Day 8. Feeling good! I am eating breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at about 12:30 or so.  Then I eat meal 3 with my family between 6:30 and 7:00 (I get home from work about 5:50). I'm not hungry until around 5:00. I am driving home at 5:00 - I need a quick easy on the go snack. I'm finding it heard to figure out the mini meal template in this case. Plus, I really want to be hungry for dinner (I'm eating my snack about an hour and a half before). After all, I have been putting a lot of time and energy into planning meals! So, I feel I need just a little snack to hold me over. Today I packed a hard boiled egg and some almonds. I hope this is okay for my progress.

Anybody else have similar experience?

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Thank you for posting this, BJS12345. This is my exact question. I know this convo was a couple months ago but I didn't want to start a new thread.

I'm on Day 8. Feeling good! I am eating breakfast at 7:30 and lunch at about 12:30 or so.  Then I eat meal 3 with my family between 6:30 and 7:00 (I get home from work about 5:50). I'm not hungry until around 5:00. I am driving home at 5:00 - I need a quick easy on the go snack. I'm finding it heard to figure out the mini meal template in this case. Plus, I really want to be hungry for dinner (I'm eating my snack about an hour and a half before). After all, I have been putting a lot of time and energy into planning meals! So, I feel I need just a little snack to hold me over. Today I packed a hard boiled egg and some almonds. I hope this is okay for my progress.

Anybody else have similar experience?

Hey Gina, we aren't against eating, we're against the mindless grazing and hand to mouth snacking that our culture seems to love.  If you are hungry between lunch and dinner, first make sure you are eating a large enough lunch.  ;)

 

Your schedule above is almost mine exactly and I almost always eat something when I get home at 5.  Usually a hard boiled egg and some mayo or a cooked chicken thigh and a couple olives.  I can't always make it from noon to 630 without a little something to tide me over.  That's totally fine!  Make sure your "little something" is protein and fat based, preferably.

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Hey Gina, we aren't against eating, we're against the mindless grazing and hand to mouth snacking that our culture seems to love.  If you are hungry between lunch and dinner, first make sure you are eating a large enough lunch.   ;)

 

Your schedule above is almost mine exactly and I almost always eat something when I get home at 5.  Usually a hard boiled egg and some mayo or a cooked chicken thigh and a couple olives.  I can't always make it from noon to 630 without a little something to tide me over.  That's totally fine!  Make sure your "little something" is protein and fat based, preferably.

Thanks for your feedback! Yes, one of my long-term (after Whole30) goals is to stop mindless grazing and snacking. So, deliberate, planned out snacks due to need are good when appropriate. Yesterday worked out perfect. Breakfast and Lunch were 4.5 hours apart. At 5:00 I had some of my leftover breakfast items that I cold not finish. I was hungry for my full dinner at 6:45. Went to bed at 11:00 a little hungry but ignored it. Woke ready to eat and ate my entire breakfast for the first time on this journey (I'm on Day 9). It helps not to feel like I'm cheating with a 5:00 snack. Yippee!

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Thanks for your feedback! Yes, one of my long-term (after Whole30) goals is to stop mindless grazing and snacking. So, deliberate, planned out snacks due to need are good when appropriate. Yesterday worked out perfect. Breakfast and Lunch were 4.5 hours apart. At 5:00 I had some of my leftover breakfast items that I cold not finish. I was hungry for my full dinner at 6:45. Went to bed at 11:00 a little hungry but ignored it. Woke ready to eat and ate my entire breakfast for the first time on this journey (I'm on Day 9). It helps not to feel like I'm cheating with a 5:00 snack. Yippee!

YIPPEEEEEE is right!  Good stuff!  :D

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  • 2 years later...
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4 minutes ago, keep trying said:

This may be a silly question but if a meal lasts 30-45 minutes, am i waiting 4-5 hours from the time i started or the time i finished?

thanks

It's not silly, but basically don't get too roped up into the specifics. You should be able to last around 4-5 hours comfortably. If you're STARVING at 4 hours, eat a bit more. If you're still stuffed at five hours, eat a bit less. You should be "ready to eat" around 4-5 hours so even if you're a slow eater and taking 30-45 minutes to eat a meal, you should still be able to use this suggested timing.

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11 minutes ago, keep trying said:

thanks so much ladyshanny. so far i am still pretty full and not excited to eat by next meal but this is only day four so i am still trying to adjust accordingly. i am used to eating only two meals a day. today is a religious fast day for me so i am looking forward to it :)

 

Hi @keep trying - ya, in the first few days when your hormones are rebalancing, lack of hunger can be an issue but we encourage you to eat those 3 template meals each day (religious fasting an exception, obv).

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