Early evening snack my big problem

[Space_mom]

Okay so I want to give No-S a try, since nothing else works for me, but I have this problem, I have lunch at 13:00 and usually get home from work at 18:30, at that time I'm always hungry and eat quite a bit (especially carbs). At 19.30 I start cooking dinner for the family, and sometimes I have some too (veggies or soup usually).

So my problem time is 18:30 till say 20:00, I can't stay away from food then. Is there a way to cope? Say have just a yogurt and a cup of tea? What can i do? in fact i tried to do the No-S yesterday, but i ate at 18:30 (bread, cheese, fruit and peanuts) and again at 20:30 (broccoli and apple). I know I could stay with my 18:30 meal as dinner, but then I leave out many veggies and good stuff, like fish, soup, etc. and my overall intake becomes too carb-based.

Any suggestions? I'd love to hear some!

[reinhard]

Welcome!

Have a glass of milk or juice.

Yes, they have calories, but it will keep you from getting too hungry and breaking the literal rules. As your habit gets stronger, you'll get less hungry between meals. Really. I know it's hard to believe because snacking is so pervasive today, but that's how everyone used to eat, more or less.

Reinhard

[Space_mom]

A glass of milk sounds good, warm milk might comfort me till dinner time. I'm going to try that. I could add some protein powder, to get me going.
I was also thinking of doing SLD (the Shangri-la diet, you know, the oils as flavorless calories) together with No-S, but it's still calories, so I'll leave it to a more extreme approach if need be.

I'll keep you informed if the glass of milk did the trick. I'm very enthusiastic and determined, I have these stubborn 10-15 pounds to lose. Thank you for your support!!!

[florafloraflora]

I deal with the late-afternoon hungries by having a big cup of tea with plenty of milk. They've gotten a lot (the hungries) in the month that I've been No-S'ing.

[wosnes]

You go a long time between lunch and dinner. I think a snack would be in order, but with the goal of just being enough to hold you over until dinner instead of completely satisfying your appetite.

[Space_mom]

Thanks for your support too, flora3x and wosnes. I had forgotten to mention, whenever I go too long without food I get the most terrible migraines. I try to not go beyond 4 hours without eating. Unless, of course, the previous meal was huge and after 4 hours I'm still full, but that seldom happens.

Anyway, yesterday's trial went OK so I'll count it as day 1. I had a mug warm milk with 1/2 scoop soy protein powder. Total around 120 calories. I was afraid I'd still be hungry, but no, so instead of beginning dinner preparation right away, I spent 20 minutes on my stat bike doing 8 secs sprints followed by 12 secs slower pedalling (according to studies this burns more fat than double the time at the same speed, heheh) By 19:40 I started cooking dinner, tuna and onions stir fried in olive oil, spinach and garlic stir fried in olive oil too, spaghetti. I then (20:30) had a plate with 1/3 each food, and finally an apple. This morning I was happy to see 1 pound down on the scale! maybe it doesn't mean much yet, and besides, recently I started other new things: a liver cleanse with milk thistle, and inclusion of a dark-green veg every day mandatorily (I decided I had a deficit of those). I'm also upping my fiber intake, I'm aiming at 30 g a day, but I'm still far!...

Well, let's see how this works, I'll keep the milk/protein snack between lunch and dinner. I might cut the protein powder by half and add a teaspoon of flaxseed oil. Now I just don't know where I'm going to fit in my tea (I always had tea with my snack) but that's not to difficult to figure out, I guess.

I'm hoping to be under 60 kg in 20 days, that's 1.5 kg less than now (around 3 pounds). Wish me luck, I wish you the same!

[jennzenn]

Hi Space_Mom,
I joined no s upon your advice. I realized that I go too long between eating and then I would snack at night. I usually eat breakfast around 9 AM and then I would try to eat lunch at 1 and then supper at 5 because I work between 6 and 9 in the studio.

I now am going to eat breakfast at 9, lunch at 15h and supper at 21h.
so I will eat supper after I get finished in the studio.

that means I won't want to late night snack! When I tried not to snack before, I could do it...but I was actually very hungry by 22h.

Well, I guess I will find out if this is the solution.

Jennzenn

[randallh]

I agree with some of the other posters who suggested tea -- when I get really bad snack cravings I make a cup of peppermint tea. It's like sensory overload for your mouth and holds me over until the next meal quite nicely.

Randall

[Space_mom]

JENNZENN hi! I'm so glad you did check out the site and gave this a chance!... Maybe it's the answer for us! At least, not much "tweaking" is involved, we've got simple rules to obey and that's it, not much room for confusion and indecision (just what I needed!!!)

I'm crossing my fingers for you... about time something works for us, huh? We don't have that much to lose, dammit!!!!

Today is my day 5, my first "dangerous" SS days are over, and I didn't overeat or pig out on sweets. Just a couple slices of homemade cakes, nothing too sugary. And a glass wine. Now back to no-s days, very much determined, we'll see how it goes.

But I think now you'll go too long between breakfast and lunch. Be sure to make it a good, balanced breakfast, filling and nutritious too!!

Looking forward to your progress!! Good luck and maybe this time round we get rid of love handles and round tummies, lighter clothes will be in order in no time.............

[Space_mom]

Thank you Randall!! Tea is a good suggestion, I'm a tea person, actually I used to have tea with my mid-afternoon snack (and a couple toasts with butter, jam, or ham and cheese, then some cookies, then fruit, then nuts - good stuff but too many calories at the end of the day).

Peppermint tea is great, it helps with gasses which happen to me easily. I'll try it one day, but I'm afraid it might not be very filling. I might add a teaspoon of fructose, to help ward off craving for sweets! That might do the trick!!

Well, only time will tell. This is day 5 and I'm down a pound (starting weight was 62 kg for the record). I'm very determined to follow the nos diet to a T at least for the first 21 days!...

[jennzenn]

Hi space_mom,
Well, I am really getting into this no-s thing.

I have a very full breakfast...2 egg omelet with ham, mushroom, green peppers and onion , whole grain toast w/butter, and 1/2 cup of yogurt with fruit and coffee.

it keeps me going very energetically until 3 or 4....I start to feel real hunger again. Then I eat lunch sandwich with raw vegetables and yogurt, or a shrimp stirfry with rice....etc.

at 9:00 pm...I have a toast with a bowl of cereal, and another yogurt or a piece of fruit.

in other words, breakfast comes at the end of the day for me.

I am impressed by the amazing energy I have.
I suppose having 3 meals a day, gives me the real fuel that I needed to survive.
Unfortunately with Shangri-la I was taking in 420 calories of oil at times and hoping to eat small meals.....how's that for lacking the proper fuel to live.

I have come to the conclusion that shangri-la works for people that were eating over 2200 cals per day to start with...which was not my case!

I'll keep you posted

Jennzenn

[Space_mom]

hey Jenn, howzit going?...
Yes, your Bkfs are Ok, in fact they look my kind of dinner, and your supper is my BKf, funny
Today is my day 8, and in a week I dropped a pound, which would take a month on SLD... I guess you're right, that one loves very heavy ppl who used to eat a lot, unlike us.
I hope you cope well on S days. Remember to eat Sensibly on S days (another S!)
Wishing you the best - please stay in touch
Space (pinkmug) Mom...

[jennzenn]

Hi space_mom,
I am glad that you lost a pound this week. you are right, on SLD it would have taken a whole lot longer. I know that we still will have fluctuations so I am not really weighing that often.

I am happy that I have regained control on eating. Having no snacks means that I get to feel real hunger before I eat. It is good to know that I really am hungry before eating. And to wait about 6 hours between a meal means I truly am eating out of hunger...not boredom, stress etc.

I feel more energy...that is what I notice the most so far.
No more trying to subsist on a coffee and a bagel in the morning. Because of the balanced meal...protein, dairy, cereals and fruit/vegetables in the morning I no longer have blood sugar swings.

Yay for no-s.
The silly thing is...that it is just common sense...and I thought I was smarter than I had been behaving dietarily. I should have known better than to hope to get through my morning with so little food, after the whole night's fast.

keep me posted on your progress.

jennzenn

[Space_mom]

Jennyyyyyyyyyyyy yay! TWO pounds lost in a week! I can't believe it after so many months stalling on the other stuff.

Truth be said I took a snack glass of milk most these N-days, once plain, once with protein powder, once with less protein powder and 1 teaspoon flaxseed oil, noseclipped. The other 2 days I had one orange because I had a batch of oranges that risked going bad. On the S-days I had tea and homemade cake

I cooked a batch of chocolate waffles and a pumpkin cake last Saturday. By Sunday evening there was half of each left. So I freezed them (or else I'd eat them during the week). Tomorrow morning I'll thaw them and I don't have to bake cakes again this weekend

I might have a couple sweet yogurts, or a little condensed milk on strawberries. That's all the pigging out I'm planning on. Maybe some popcorn or chocolates, if I have the time to sit down and watch a movie. And... a couple glasses of wine!

So how was your week? Did you behave? What are your "pigging out" plans for the weekend? Do you notice any difference in your clothes yet? Curious, curious me! You know, I was happy to know that someone else on the other board is also on the No-S diet, and she's having results too

[jennzenn]

Hi space_mom,
I have pretty much been really successful in the no snacking thing.
I had 2 cookies that I baked yesterday...but really because I am testing a new recipe for my company.

If you only know how many cookies I bake per day...and I have only eaten 2 in the past week. I just don't crave them. If I eat well at my meals..I really have little hunger between them.

I have no big plans for a pig-out this weekend. I may have some nachos and salsa for lunch. But over-all...I will probably just eat normally.

I may end up having a snack between lunch and supper, because on a weekend...I would like to have a family meal. Which will mean eating a very light breakfast...a normal lunch at 1:00 and a real family supper at 7:00. maybe I'll have a muffin and a tea at 4:30 just to get me through.

I love this way of eating. Like I said before...it is a bit silly that I had to be told by someone else to not snack and not eat seconds, in order for it to sink in!

People are funny like that you know.

Jennzenn