My snack is ALWAYS something sweet (maybe this is the issue), and I try my best to wait til 2pm to have it, but I'd like to wait til 3-4pm so that I don't get hungry prematurely and want to eat more than I should at dinner. But the problem is that after lunch I always want something sweet immediatly, doesn't matter if I'm hungry or not. I've tried gum, crystal light, all the tricks, But I have a desk job and I just sit craving my snack (lately yogurt with almonds) and thinking about it until I can't stand it and go and eat it.
I've even tried adding a little fruit to lunch, but that just adds unnecessary cals and doesn't really do much. Any ideas?
Why does the "something sweet" have to be a delayed snack? I have the same issue you do, except after dinner (left over from my lifelong feeling of being entitled to dessert). My suggestion would be to incorporate a sweet treat into your lunch (3/4 oz dark chocolate is my go-to after-dinner dessert but you can make it whatever you're craving; just keep the calorie count reasonable), then have a non-sweet, high-fiber/high-protein snack at 4. Problem solved?
I thought giving up sweets would be the hardest thing for me when I started; I didn't eat that many but when I did it was hard to stop with "just one." SO while I was losing I pretty much went cold turkey (no pastries, cookies, candies, chocolates). For the first month all the candy bars in the checkout counter racks screamed and waved at me, as did the department chair's permanent bowl of wrapped chocolates. I would never have believed those weirdo people who said they didn't crave them any more: but now I am one of them. Go figure. I can be very happy with strawberries or a mandarin orange or something.
I think the big change came one day when I was walking past the university food court on the way back from a stressful class I teach (there were some problem children in it) and a voice in the back of my brain yelled "Donut! You need a donut! NOW." as I went past the Dunkin Donuts, even though I had never bought a donut there in the two years of its existence. That is when something clicked in my head and I thought, "Your body doesn't need a donut -- your reptile brain is telling you to get a donut just because you are stressed. You have a perfectly nice packed lunch in your office that you are going to right now." And I haven't really been susceptible to it since. I am happy to eat sweets still, but I choose to eat them sometimes and other times not -- they don't control me as they did before, unless I go back and start eating a lot of them steadily for a few days (as when I have visitors and do baking) and then I have to get out of the habit all over again. But it's still not as bad as originally, and it helps that I can recognize the reptile brain voice.
I know from reading some of your previous posts that you have a complicated relationship with food and eating. What is it that bothers you? Is it the eating of the sweets (not being able to fit in the calories)? Or wanting them? There is nothing wrong with wanting them, really, of course sweets are nice. You don't have to feel guilty about eating them, especially if you can fit them into your maintenance program.
No, I just want to eat my snack later so I'm not as hungry when dinner comes around. I'm also curious why I crave something sweet immediately after I've eaten.
I've read that there's a biological trigger - ending a meal on a sweet note, even if it's just a strawberry, can stimulate the production of a chemical that induces satiation. It's like a chemical message to the brain that says, "OK, this meal is OVER." I wasn't successful in finding a link to the article - it was quite a few years back. Maybe you might want to try it, and see if pulling the sweet snack up to the end of lunchtime will get you through the afternoon til dinner? Everybody's so darn different; it can be frustrating to figure out what works. And just about the time you dial it in, the scenario somehow changes and you're back in experiment-mode again.
After re-reading my post and reading your reply to bronzeager, I realize I didn't articulate the last part of my thought well at all. It's this: sugar and sweet things don't make you or keep you full; that function is best served by a combination of protein/fat plus fiber. Therefore, the stuff that makes for a satisfying after-meal dessert (aka "sweet treat") is nearly worthless at keeping you full when eaten in early, mid, OR late afternoon. Therefore my earlier statement: better to have your sweet when you crave it (right after lunch), and have a separate late-afternoon keep-the-hungries-at-bay snack (mine lately has been either 1/2 cup nuked edamame pods + miso soup or a low-fat string cheese with baby carrots and bell pepper. It used to be 8 almonds and 1/2 c. plain greek yogurt but I got tired of it).
Of course, I shouldn't talk too much; I've been struggling with being hungry in the late afternoon and inhaling too much dinner ANYWAY, despite my snack, so my method shouldn't be taken as gospel either :>)
sugar and sweet things don't make you or keep you full; that function is best served by a combination of protein/fat plus fiber. Therefore, the stuff that makes for a satisfying after-meal dessert (aka "sweet treat") is nearly worthless at keeping you full when eaten in early, mid, OR late afternoon. Therefore my earlier statement: better to have your sweet when you crave it (right after lunch), and have a separate late-afternoon keep-the-hungries-at-bay snack
I second this. If you don't want to actually add a snack, you can try eating the treat earlier and call it part of "lunch" and save some substantial part of your lunch for "snack". I often don't end up wanting all my lunch at lunch time, and end up saving some of it for later.
I guess my point was that my snack is always something sweet - greek yogurt w/ almonds or an apple with almond butter. So after lunch I'm always craving something sweet and my snack is my only option so it gets eaten early and then I'm still hungry at snack time. Today I tried cutting my apple in half and eating it right after lunch and then eating the other half with my almond butter. That seems to have worked ok. I still ate my snack at 2 and wish it would have been more like 3:30 since I don't get off til 6:00 and dinner won't be until around 7:30. Anyway, good tips so far.
I also have this problem - lately I have been eating a dried fig directly after each meal (45 calories). It has a sweet, dessert like quality that other fresh fruits are missing. 2 dried dates also work (50).
I do hate the sweet craving after a meal. Ending the meal with a coffee also helps somewhat, of course. I like ICU's theory.
I have that problem when I don't get enough carbs in my meal. My dh can eat 4 eggs for breakfast and be happy but if I do that, an hour later I am starved and shaky and craving something sweet. Protein is an important part of my meals, but I also eat at least one serving of fruit and some kind of carb (bread or something) so that my blood sugar doesn't crash which leaves me craving sweets like a maniac. We all have to find the right balance between carbs and protein. I know if I eat just carbs, I'm also very hungry and eat and eat and eat and my energy levels plummet. So maybe try tweaking your carb/protein/fat balance a little and that might help those cravings subside. I know stuff like this can drive you crazy. Right now my afternoon snack is fruit (for blood sugar) and 1 T cashews (protein) and that seems to be working quite well.
Conquering the sweet tooth and delaying snacks
