Everyday Systems

Keep relatively plain soup broth around. I sometimes add a little yeast powder for umph. This often keeps me satisfied until the real deal. I find broth for 99cents a quart at discount stores. I also have a crockpot. I keep chicken bones in the freezer until there are enough for a pot; then I load it up and turn it on at night before i go to bed. Put it in a big glass jar in teh fridge in the morning before I go to work. Other bones work, too.

Or buy miso, if you know what that is, to make an instant broth.

Practice yoga before dinner. It's probably the only time you let yourself get down on the floor and relax. And it doesn't feel right to snack while you do it.

Give yourself a facial. Organize a drawer a day. Keep making the rounds. Bathroom. Bedroom. Kitchen. Set a timer for 15 minutes and do 3 different tasks you usually avoid.

Control your thoughts. Banish any thoughts that reinforce eating. Consciously think ones like, "It's better to wait and eat with my husband. The food will taste so good by then. I like this feeling of lightness. it's good to let the hunger build sometimes. It might be alittle hard, but i can take it. Hunger is not an emergency." ETc.

Are you losing weight?

I feel you. I'm usually very hungry when I get home from work, and instead of waiting for my family or cooking a meal, I just want to EAT. Here's what I do instead:

-Find an activity that keeps me busy and/or away from food. Take the dog (or yourself) for a walk, practice yoga (as someone else mentioned), get involved in a good book or magazine, or even do chores. Write a letter. Call someone.

-Chew gum. It satisfies that urge to chew.

-Make a fizzy (a splash or two of 100% fruit juice mixed with club soda). It's a little sweet, so it tastes good, but the bubbles from the carbonation are also filling.

Those are both my weak times and I have found that the Yoga suggestion really helps - I only do 15 min but it focuses me till dinner. I also find if I do the Yoga, I am not munchy after dinner.

I keep my hands busy after dinner with crocheting or knitting which stops me from eating.

I also find that if I do not drink coffee during the day the 3pm munchies are far less than if I do.

One of the suggestions that Reinhard gives is to have a glass of milk and that also helps - sit down at the dining room table to drink it and it feels more official than downing a glassful standing in the kitchen.

Good Luck

I used to find this time of day very difficult, and for quite a while I had a modification of No S of allowing myself to eat some fruit or cottage cheese late afternoon to tide me over until dinner. This did the trick, and enabled me to get the structure of No S established without bingeing while preparing dinner.

Over time I became able to dispense with this mini-meal, and now I stick to the basic No S three meal structure.

This may or may not work for you: I had a lot to lose (still have), so could lose weight while eating this extra mini-meal, but now that I have less (although still a great deal) to lose I have to be stricter. Also, it is very easy for excess to creep in, eg although fresh dates are a fresh fruit, they are so delicious and so high in calories that I had to ban them.

Good luck with this. It may be hard at first, but you can find your own way to make this work for you.

A cup of HOT tea seems to curb my pre-dinner hunger pretty well. When I'm feeling naughty, milk with half a teaspoon of honey and some cinnamon or almond flavoring. Hot liquids seem to be much more satisfying than cold ones, plus you have to sip them slowly.

I had this problem when I first started No S. By 5pm if I hadn't eaten I was shaking and grumpy. Like Too Solid, initially I saved part of my lunch to eat as a mini meal in the afternoon. Then Oolala suggested I increase the amount of fat in my lunch. This was an enormous help (thanks Oolala ). I also made sure I ate a satisfying breakfast so I could delay my lunch until later in the afternoon. I now eat breakfast at 7am, lunch around 2pm, and dinner between 7 and 8. I get a bit hungry but don't get the shakes etc like I used to. I put this down to not eating sugar during the day - I'm by no means a science expert, but I think my blood sugar levels are much steadier than they were.

And the big bonus - I really enjoy my lunch because of the extra fat content - no diet food for me!