Everyday Systems

I have a very irregular work schedule. There is no one time of day to take lunch; some days I have to eat at 11:00 and some days at 1:45. I'm finding it very difficult to build habit this way because the old grazer in me wants to eat at 11 AND at 2:00.

Any ideas and/or reflections on this? When I first started Nosing I ate lunch at exactly the same times each day, and this really did help build habit. Now, with this new schedule I just feel all out of whack, and I think it's been contributing to the relatively high "failure" rate these days.

You have my sympathy on this one. I ended up leaving no-s for a while because I just couldn't make it work with the really weird meal times I had at work. Bad decisision. Better decision: do the best you can and just hang in. If you have to do virtual plating, or split meals, then so be it. If it's too long from one meal to the next, try a glass of juice. Imperfect is still better than nothing, so just don't quit.

I have a very irregular work schedule. There is no one time of day to take lunch; some days I have to eat at 11:00 and some days at 1:45. I'm finding it very difficult to build habit this way because the old grazer in me wants to eat at 11 AND at 2:00.

When I worked I had much the same problem -- and since I was usually at work for both lunch and supper, it was often both meals that were messed up. I just ate at the meal times.

It's certainly not the best situation, but I'd recommend just eating when you get to eat and not grazing.

For me, breakfast and Dinner are very fixed (my 2 year old insists): 7 AM and 6:30 PM.

Lunch can float around a bit. If I'm eating my "default" oatmeal, I at at noon. If I'm eating with others it depends on their schedule. I have a standing weekly lunch with friends on Tuesday at 1:45.

The more regular you can make it, the better. Can you plan ahead at all, or are your workdays total chaos? If chaos, anything you can do to put some structure on it would help...

Reinhard