Is this a failure?

tthornell · Post by **tthornell** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 1:14 am

I am in the US Coast Guard and stationed on a ship. I have a set meal schedule, but a fluctuating work schedule. I will not go to bed tonight until 4:00 AM, but dinner was at 5:30. Didn't even finish me meal (ate most of it though). I worked out right after dinner (6 3-minute rounds on a punching bag) and around 8:00 started feeling hungry. Like I said, I am up for 8 more hours. So, I ate an apple. Would you consider this a failure? In the past (three days ago) I'd still be snacking after eating the apple. No S is making a big difference in my habits. Thanks.

thtrchic · Post by **thtrchic** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:06 am

I'd say no, it's not a failure. You might need to do some virutal plating to make this work for you -- leaving room on your dinner plate for something like an apple later at night seems like a perfectly reasonable thing given the circumstances.

Julie

lutherdog · Post by **lutherdog** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:10 am

Interesting.

Perhaps you consider your long/late work shifts as s-days (special).

Big Phil · Post by **Big Phil** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 2:49 am

That is not a failure as far as I am concerned. If your work day doesn't finish until 4 am, I would suggest scheduling a meal right in the middle between knock-off and dinner, as if it were lunch in normal work hours. That would be around 11.30 pm or something. Then you have a rountine that you can follow on night shift. If you have something high in protein it will also help stop you feeling sleepy, which would happen if you had a high carb meal. This is just my opinion and I am happy to be overruled.

That is a hard one though, to factor in shift work, especially since it sounds like you are not a regular shift but alternating.

All the best,

Phil.

tthornell · Post by **tthornell** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:35 am

Thanks for the replies. They serve a meal at 11:30 for the guys on late watch, but i don't need heavy food that late. Reinhard, what do you think about my question?

billyymc12508 · Post by **billyymc12508** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 11:04 am

FWIW, I make adjustments for situations like that all the time. For example, if I am having a relatively normal day, with relatively normal scheduling and exercise (one to 1.5 hours of exercise daily), then I will almost always stick to a 3 meal no-s regimen.

However, if my schedule is really weird on a particular day, I will very consciously change my eating by adding an extra meal. On days like that I focus very hard on the nutritional quality of my meals. On a day when I eat breakfast very early (5 am for example) and know I'm not going to get to have dinner until relatively late (8 or 9 pm) I will do two "lunch" meals -- one around 11 or 11:30 and one around 3 -- both smaller than one regular lunch but combined bigger than one regular lunch -- but both very healthy.

My other exception is on days when I'm going to be exercising a LOT. For example, if I know I'm going to do my normal exercise, PLUS swim for an hour or cross country ski for a couple hours...I will definitely have something extra before that so I don't bonk during the activity.

It's working for me, even though it's my own No-S -- it mostly sticks to the principles. I've lost 14 pounds since the beginning of the year, and most of the time I don't feel deprived of anything. I even went on a week ski vacation and came back the same weight as when I left -- I just kept No-S in mind, and made my necessary snacks and indulgences healthy and few.

Establish a habit -- that's the key. Depending on your circumstances, your habit may need to be sligthly different than "vanilla".

Post by **reinhard** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:26 pm

Was it a failure? Perhaps -- but if so, it was a failure at an impossible task. I wouldn't be demoralized by it.

What I would do, if you expect to encounter this situation often, is to come up with some contingency plan with clear, humane rules. Like a fourth fresh fruit mini-meal when you have a long stretch like this. Don't view this as a concession or a caving in -- it's not good to go that long without eating.

I would retroactively date this contingency plan from yesterday. You sound like you're doing great under some challenging circumstances. Your behavior -- eating the apple -- was better than a technical starving yourself success, so you might as well officially recognize that. You have my blessing, for what it's worth.

Reinhard

lutherdog · Post by **lutherdog** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 3:27 pm

So, while we are discussing the extra-meals-are-not-cheating concept...

What about 2nd breakfasts and elevensies?

PS - ...what movie am I psuedo-quoting?

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 4:36 pm

Okay, Samwise. You're a Ranger now. Remember, they have never even heard of these meals.

Toro · Post by **Toro** » Thu Mar 22, 2007 5:02 pm

lutherdog wrote:So, while we are discussing the extra-meals-are-not-cheating concept...

What about 2nd breakfasts and elevensies?

PS - ...what movie am I psuedo-quoting?

I know that what I am now doing is technically cheating but it is something I had to do. Every morning around 10 am I meet a friend at the local bagel/coffee shop.

For a while I was able to forgo having something with my coffee but truth be told this little snack was my favorite "meal" of the day. I considered skipping breakfast and having this as my breakfast but this goes against all precepts of good weight management as you need to eat something when you get up to jump start your metabolism.

So what i'm doing is splitting my breakfast. I'm having an egg and cup of tea upon rising and an order of toast or bagel at the coffee shop. Technically cheating but it's something i feel I need to do to sustain this longterm.