I was thinking about habits and such yesterday and, as a result, I have a question: how important is it for the meal habit to stick for meals to be eaten at roughly the same time every day?
To put this into context, I'm a PhD student, I work from home and set my own hours. Because I'm a night owl, these tend to be all over the place. I've only just started No S and my intention was just to evenly space my meals over the time I am awake without worrying too much about what time that would make them fall at - e.g. yesterday I had lunch at 11.30 and dinner at 5.30, today I will probably have more 'normal' hours with lunch at about 1 and dinner at about 7.
Will this make forming a habit more difficult or not? What are other people's experience with this?
Timing of meals - how important?
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carolejo
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I can't speak directly from experience, but I imagine it will make it harder to form habits.
However, the major habit you need to form is just "mealing" rather than snacking. You could try eating your meals when you are hungry, but putting a limit on, of, say "I will always leave at least 5 hours between one meal and the next".
What's your Ph.D in? I finished mine about 4 years ago, it's in Polymer Physics.
C.
However, the major habit you need to form is just "mealing" rather than snacking. You could try eating your meals when you are hungry, but putting a limit on, of, say "I will always leave at least 5 hours between one meal and the next".
What's your Ph.D in? I finished mine about 4 years ago, it's in Polymer Physics.
C.
CaroleJo
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gratefuldeb67
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I don't think anyone is the same on any given day..
Sometimes I am not hungry till 11 am so that's when I eat breakfast..
Other times I have an appointment and know that I will be better off if I don't work on an empty stomach so those days I'll have a small breakfast..
Some times I want to eat dinner at 5:30, ala earlybird senior citizens special in Florida!,LOL other times we eat at 7 or even 8...
I say plan your meals around your energy and appetite... If you just remember to make them nutritious and decently substantial that's really what is most important, I believe, in sustaining a habit..
If you eat too little or something, I think that's when it will be hard to form a habit, as you will be feeling the need to snack...
The best teacher is experience... Just try NoS and keep tweaking it till it's right for your life...
Peace and Love,
Deb
Sometimes I am not hungry till 11 am so that's when I eat breakfast..
Other times I have an appointment and know that I will be better off if I don't work on an empty stomach so those days I'll have a small breakfast..
Some times I want to eat dinner at 5:30, ala earlybird senior citizens special in Florida!,LOL other times we eat at 7 or even 8...
I say plan your meals around your energy and appetite... If you just remember to make them nutritious and decently substantial that's really what is most important, I believe, in sustaining a habit..
If you eat too little or something, I think that's when it will be hard to form a habit, as you will be feeling the need to snack...
The best teacher is experience... Just try NoS and keep tweaking it till it's right for your life...
Peace and Love,
Deb
Welcome, Sheepish.
Technically, you can eat your meals whenever, but as carolejo points out, it'll be harder to form habits unless you keep more or less regular times. How important is this? I don't know, in your case. Do an experiment and see. If you notice it's a problem, then see if you can set your own hours more regularly. Regularity has its advantages for many other things... if it is at all an option, I'd opt for it.
That being said, you're right that the more important timing issue is spacing them out so you don't get too hungry.
Reinhard
Technically, you can eat your meals whenever, but as carolejo points out, it'll be harder to form habits unless you keep more or less regular times. How important is this? I don't know, in your case. Do an experiment and see. If you notice it's a problem, then see if you can set your own hours more regularly. Regularity has its advantages for many other things... if it is at all an option, I'd opt for it.
That being said, you're right that the more important timing issue is spacing them out so you don't get too hungry.
Reinhard
Hmmm. I think I may try a bit of both main suggestions - i.e. I'll try and make sure that my meals are at least 5 hours apart but I'll also try to make my schedule a bit more regular. One of the reasons why I'm attracted to this as a diet is that I'd like it to make me more regular and organised in general and I usually find that exercising my willpower on one thing helps me with others. I could really use more self-discipline when it comes to my work.
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Darcy shea
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: D: D: D ....dont askany ways i think that timeing doesnt have to be persice i mean as long as all you have is 3 meals is pretty much the point...i mean they shouldnt be each 30 minutes apart but they dont have to be exactly over three and a half houers..or you'll get fat ...and die!! it nothing like that it just it should be like at least 2.5 hours apart i mean really noone should be hungry as long as they had a filling meal but if you are just remember dont waste your time to eat in 4 hours but spread it out widely so you are full throughout the day...catch my drift? and oh dont eat after 8:00pm because its really....not good for you.
-Darcy