New here - how to handle working late

[JoanE]

Hi - this is the most sensible diet I have seen. Will really have to make major changes in habits for this. Since my breakfast was toast, and I am now drinking sweetened ice tea, since the coffee machines are turned off in the Boston area due to a water problem, I will start this after lunch!
How do people deal with having to work late some days? I hate being hungry on my long drive home at 7 PM!

Also, what are good strategies to stop after-dinner snacking?

[oolala53]

You can have beverages between meals. You might stop and get a V-8 or tomato juice on the way home or a small carton of milk, depending on how much sustenance you need. It might be too late for coffee. Decaf with milk? I keep some powdered miso soup packets at work and can make a cup of broth to sip. We're talking emergencies here.

You might even find you get used to it, or don't hate it so much.

[JoanE]

Thanks oolala53 - the v-8 juice is a good idea. I think they stock it in the drink machine here.

[Swarah]

Hi Joan - I work until 9pm on 2 days a week. I try to have my lunch as late as possible. Inevitably I am pretty hungry by the end of the evening, but I've been telling myself, 'you may be hungry now, but you WILL eat tonight'. That, and plenty of water keep me going. As for evening snacking - I use the same strategy really, ie, I WILL eat in the morning - I won't be hungry for long (and lets face it - its not really hunger, its habit). I've only been doing this for just over a week, so I'm obviously no expert, but already evening snacking has lost much of its appeal. The feeling of actually being in control of my eating far outweighs the temporary high of sitting in front of the tv basically eating crap.

Good luck!

[wosnes]

Don't forget, there's nothing wrong with being hungry. Most of us have never really been hungry.

This is from Bittman's Food Matters:

There's a basic truth here: there are stages of hunger, and we -- Americans in general -- have become accustomed to feeding ourselves at the first sign. This is the equivalent of taking a nap every time you get tired, which hardly anyone does.

There are levels of hunger, and there is a very real difference between hunger and starvation. Starvation is a physical state; your body is deprived of essential nutrients or calories for a long period of time. Probably no one reading this book has ever been truly starving -- though we all think we know what starving feels like.

Hunger is a hard-wired early-warning system. At first, your brain says, "Think about eating something soon." In later stages it says, "Eat as soon as you can; make eating a priority." At no point does your brain say, "Eat now or you will do permanent damage," though at times it may feel as if this is true. But "Eat when hungry" has become a habit. We get hungry. We eat. We get hungry again. We eat again. And so on.

I'm not saying, "Don't eat when you're hungry." I"m saying that if losing or maintaining weight is important to you, think twice before you eat from simple hunger, or from other reasons, like emotion. And when you do eat, choose a piece of fruit, a carrot, a handful of nuts. If you're still hungry, have more. And more. Eat a pint of blueberries, or cherry tomatoes, have a mango, or a banana and an apple. Have a lightly dressed salad. You would be hard-pressed to gain weight eating this way.

You can also embrace hunger, strange as that may sound, just as you might embrace the delicious anticipation of a nap, or sexual craving. Your hunger will, after all, be satisfied. Why not wait an hour? (You're not dying, after all!) You might also stop eating before you're full (three-quarters full is probably about right). And if you eat slowly, taking your time, you'll give the food time to reach your stomach and give you a sense of satisfaction before you have seconds or thirds.

If you embrace moderation, eat whole foods instead of junk, live within your physical, monetary, and environmental budget rather than constantly exceeding it, as so many of us do, you will lose weight, tread more lightly on the planet, and gain satisfaction from these things.

[DaveMc]

One of the interesting things that a lot of us have found on NoS is exactly the thing referenced in wosnes's quote: after a while, you may find that you start to "embrace" hunger. I've certainly found that after maybe six months or so, I mentally relabelled "being hungry" into "having an appetite", and I've come to really enjoy the sensation of looking forward to a good meal. (I'm coming up on a full year on NoS, in June.)

However, that takes a good while to happen, if it ever does (some people report that they never feel that "hunger is good" mentality), so the advice about using a drink to get you through is very sensible.

[NoelFigart]

I've certainly found that after maybe six months or so, I mentally relabelled "being hungry" into "having an appetite", and I've come to really enjoy the sensation of looking forward to a good meal.

I like the mental reframing here!

And I'm with you. I prefer to have a good appetite for a meal. It makes the plainest food taste so good, and you get to enjoy really well-prepared food even more.

I just finished breakfast. Now I eat a very early dinner (5:30 or so), so by eight the next morning, I do have a good appetite for my breakfast. Oatmeal can taste just fantastic when you're genuinely hungry, and to me, that's awesome -- a diet where you enjoy each meal more!

Snacking interferes with that, so I'm finding I just don't want to as much, even on S-days.

[sheepish]

Working late is hard for me, too. I tend to deal with it by.. if I know it's likely that I'm going to work late in advance, eating breakfast at work rather than at home about an hour later than usual so that I can eat lunch later and then eat dinner later. If I don't know in advance, I tend to deal with it by planning out some kind of treat for dinner to reward myself for waiting for it - e.g. I'll get a takeaway or do a quick meal that I wouldn't usually, not necessarily something unhealthy, I really like sushi for instance and so I quite often get that as a takeaway. It gives me something to look forward to.

Something else that I do but you might not be able to is go home, have dinner, and then finish the work from home.

[NoelFigart]

e.g. I'll get a takeaway or do a quick meal that I wouldn't usually, not necessarily something unhealthy, I really like sushi for instance and so I quite often get that as a takeaway.

*grin* Sushi is magic. It makes even working late bearable!

[JoanE]

Sheepish and Noel - I love sushi too! I can pick it up at the grocery store on my way home.

I think the evening snacking is due to trying to eat less during the day, and I get hungry if I am up late working or catching up on email. So I get into this mindset of "going to bed hungry" being bad. Will have to try distracting myself to wait out the hunger attack.

My ex-husband was very rigid about not snacking, and he was not a very happy person when he was hungry and low blood sugar. My current partner of over 10 years sometimes eats only 1 meal a day, without any obvious adverse impact to his temperament. Whereas I seem to have to eat on a schedule. I think having sufficient fat and protein in a meal should help me avoid snacks.

The "Food Matters" book seems interesting. I only recently realized that the sensation of hunger in my stomach is caused by hormones sent by the brain, and these hormones can be triggered by stress.

I love the "S" day exception - I like to hike, and having a bit of chocolate on the summit and some trail mix seem like good things for the 'S' days.

[Clarica]

I know for me, I don't actually notice feeling hungry very often at all--and if I do, it's at bedtime. (I am not still hungry in the morning when I wake up--I don't even have much appetite in the mornings at all.) And I only lose weight if I feel hungry a couple of times a week, so I am working to be at peace with it.

[oolala53]

Holy mackerel! I definitely get hungry. Some mornings I think I won't, but by eleven, I am really hungry, unless I'm a little sick. But, it's okay to eat, so it's okay to get hungry.

[OT]

Re after dinner snacking-I find that drinking lots of tea and low calorie beverages helps a lot.I don't drink diet soda, but I love soda/seltzer water with a wedge of lemon for flavour. Also fruit tea, rooibos tea, decaf coffee with milk. My favourite drink for curbing cravings (which may not be to everyone's taste but works like a charm!) is some freshly squeezed lemon juice in hot water with a pinch of good quality sea/rock salt(I like himalayan crystal salt) and a bit of pepper/spices to season. Obviously I wouldn't recommend drinking it too often as excess salt(or excess anything) is probably not very good for you but I do find that a salty drink is great for avoiding late night munchies![/list]

[JoanE]

Thanks - That's an interesting tea recipe - I'll give that a try. The last 3 days have not been that difficult - I have been able to forgo snacks and nibbles fairly easily with the knowledge that I can have a bit of chocolate on the weekend. I'm working a little late tonight, and I might try having dinner before I leave work. Then when I get home I can get started right away on some chores that have been piling up.