Everyday Systems

I often eat breakfast at 5AM By 10AM I am so hungry. Can I add something at that time to tide me over until lunch? Today, I sliced and apple and ate it with 1 tbs of pimento cheese spread. Or should Ijust eat more at 5AM?

What time do you eat dinner, 5 to 6 hours between meals should be manageable even if eating early, is there a reason you can't eat a later breakfast?

I would consider the following options in this scenario:
1) "pack" my breakfast and eat it gradually - it's a form of virtual plating, I suppose, but I do have to do this at work once in a while. Then, I could have lunch at the typical noon.
2) drink milky coffee at 5am and then eat breakfast at 10am. Have lunch at 2pm, and dinner at normal time.
3) Eat breakfast at 5am, then lunch at 10:30am (push out your hunger by 30 min), then have an early dinner (say 5pm).

Ultimately, I think you should find a way to break the snacking habit - you might just have to be creative. Possibly, you need to look at the composition of your meals - protein and fat will keep you full the longest.

Toygirl1 wrote:I often eat breakfast at 5AM By 10AM I am so hungry. Can I add something at that time to tide me over until lunch? Today, I sliced and apple and ate it with 1 tbs of pimento cheese spread. Or should Ijust eat more at 5AM?

I get up early as well, but eat a couple of hours later between 7:30 and 8am. You should start feeling hungry 5 to 6 hours after eating but if you are ravenous, then perhaps you should eat more for Breakfast. If you are eating 3 meals a day, then Breakfast should have about 1/3 of what you are eating.

A second option is to drink a glass of milk or juice at 10am to tide you over, Remember on Vanilla No S, non-sweet drinks don't count as eating.

third, can you eat lunch earlier? You didn't mention what time you go to lunch. At most places in the USA, lunch ranges from 11am to 1pm. Can you eat at 11 am?

Or You could combine options 2 and 3 and drink a glass of milk or juice at 10am and then have lunch at 11am. Would this work for you?

automatedeating wrote: 2) drink milky coffee at 5am and then eat breakfast at 10am. Have lunch at 2pm, and dinner at normal time.

This is what I like to do, except that it's milky tea. I usually don't have much appetite until I've been up for a few hours.

I agree with delaying breakfast if possible or eating a more substantial one, though I do not agree with breakfast having the same amount of food as my other meals. A bowl of cereal was not enough for me for the first several years but I also wouldn't have had a dinner-sized amount of food. (Most slim cultures do not have their food spread out evenly.)

As an easing-in measure, ff you really have to eat early and can't have lunch any earlier, I'd say to establish a modestly hefty one-plate breakfast and allow yourself to split it. But eventually, it would be good to find a pattern that decreases the number of times you eat.