Okay, this sounds a little silly... but I don't think I quite understand how to eat in a way that keeps me on track with my plan.... I get up around 5:30 am and try to exercise for 30 min or so. I get ready for the day and head out the door by 6:45 am and eat breakfast on the run (either a WW bagel w/WW cream cheese and SF strawberry preserves or a egg beaters w/veggies in a whole wheat tortilla). I've become aware that by 10:30 am I am starving and ready to bust in to my lunch. I try to hold off and maybe eat an apple because I know that I won't get a chance to eat dinner until 7:00pm (or later) when I get home. Sometimes I can be near a microwave but it is hard to determine when or if I'll have (okay, make) time to put something in it. I'm thinking my body (and schedule) isn't condusive to a 3 meal a day style... but I don't really know how to graze (unless it is junk food... that I can graze like mad!). HELP!?! Any thoughts/suggestions? Slimfast? mealbars? ???? I drink water alot hoping I won't feel so hungry... it doesn't really work....

I would up your protein in the morning. I would also make sure I had enough "good fats" in my body--peanut butter, raw almonds, black olives, etc.

Not eating regularly throughout the day can lead to overeating at night. Add a hard boiled egg to your breakfast when you have a bagel. Could you have a yogurt for a morning snack before lunch? Thermos are available still and will keep soup or other foods hot to carry for lunch. Some fruit and a piece of cheese or tablespoon of peanut butter and an apple, a few veggies should hold you until dinner.

I second both of the previous suggestions! Instead of a bagel with cream cheese in the morning, how about an egg with a slice of cheese on an english muffin? You can always do 5 small meals a day instead of 3 bigger ones, as well. I switched to that about 2-3 years ago and I haven't gone back since. It also made my transition to "pregnancy eating", as my friends call it, very easy!

How about the night before prepare
1 Egg, 1 egg white, 1 cup spinach, 1 tablespoon Reduce Feta cheese.
Scramble together in Non stick spray or add your oil needed here too.

In morning Micro for 50 seconds. Relax eat and on the way out the door grab some fruit to eat on the way.

Way more filling than what you are doing

Hey, and just another thing I would like to mention. I would stay away from the processed stuff as much as you can like the Slimfast or meal bars or whatever. I have found that when I do my weightloss plan for life is more comfortable for me and is quicker too.

You schedule sounds very similar to mine..I am up at 5am, out the door at 5:45, work by 7, home 5:30ish...so I do my exercise in the eve but this is what works for me

I tend to make 1 or 2 breakfast burritos the day before, low cal low fat tortilla, egg beater, chopped onion & pepper and 1 slice candian bacon. then I can heat and go, I take celery, radish or what ever muchie veggies I have with low cal dressing in a small container for snacking on mid morning, lunch will be soup using the recipes found here, then another snack around 3pm, then home for dinner which I eat around 6:30-7:00 after my workout...the after dinner snack is usually manageable now with some ff popcorn or some other 1 or 2 pt snack. this way I am eating almost all day and never feel really hungry. A lot of times I find myself really short on pts in the eve and give myself a little splurge

hope that helps

Thank you so much for your ideas!!!! I'm looking forward to trying them out in the coming week. I didn't really think about the protein part of it all... make sense that it would keep me going... for whatever reason I get trapped in the idea that dinner is the meal I should save my points for, while in realitiy I'm hungry during the day and by the time I get home I never make or eat enough to use up my remaining points (I have to remind myself that on WW i really do need to use my daily points and that I'm not really helping my efforts by going under) or i go for the quick stuff that isn't as good for me.

AND...I'm realizing that even though the meal bars are quick and easy, there is a trade off... Thanks again, Ladies!!!!

There's a balance between giving your appetites a chance to settle down and get used to new patterns ... and listening to what YOUR body needs.

I'm finding that no matter what I have for breakfast (carb or no carb) I am hungry again by around 10 am. So I'm going to try having kind of two breakfasts. OTOH, I don't really get hungry for an afternoon snack.

So why should I stick to just a snack in the morning (and still be hungry), and then eat a snack in the afternoon even though I'm not hungry, just because it matches an often used eating plan? No reason!

You need to eat more filling foods ( the foods with the green diamond next to them ) I usually have a cup of apple juice,1 cup of cheerios, 1/2 cup non fat milk, and an apple for breakfast which is usually around 7:30, and im not hungry until about 10:30. Then around 10:30 ill have a weight watchers yogurt, and that will hold me until my lunch which is around 12:30 The filling foods do help so I encourage you to try them!

is cold cereal a filling food?

No - cold cereal is not a filling food. Oatmeal, Quinoa, and Ralston (aka Bulgur), hot cereals, those are.

Regardless of what you eat for breakfast, if you're hungry at 10:30, then plan a snack for 10:30. It took me about a week to figure out how best to spread out my points and I'm fairly consistent now. I tend to eat about 1/2 to 2/3rds of my foods as filling foods. Those that aren't are often whole grain breads/cereals or fats of some kind (oil, butter, cheese) or sugar. Since I don't feel like my day is complete unless I have a touch of something sweet - I always plan 1 point for sugar. This is how I space out my points:

8:15am cold cereal and milk for breakfast, or a souffle (just have to whisk and fold the egg white and cook it while I'm in the shower) and milk (5-7 points)

12pm Lunch (10-12 points) - I sometimes buy it at the cafeteria at work (which has all their nutrition info online), but I usually bring it to work with me in a comicly large cooler that I think could store a 12pack. Today I have homemade Cuban Black Bean Soup & Cornbread.

4-5pm snack (1-4 points) - fruit and yogurt/milk/cheese & crackers if I'm really hungry

7-8pm dinner (8-10 points) - Whatever I cook

10pm snack (1-2 points) - Usually an apple sprinkled with cinnamon sugar or homemade hot cocoa or popcorn (depending on whether I'm in a salty or sweet mood)

I'm not hungry that often. I wake up hungry most days and eat my meals and snacks when I first start getting hungry. I never ever spend more than 30 minutes hungry. It's a recipe for disaster. Also, I workout in the evening, anytime between 6 and midnight - depends on how my day goes.

No, but whole grain cereal with no sugar and non fat milk are both filling foods.

I have been trying 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with pineapples and a whole wheat english muffin toasted. This is only 4 points. Protein and high fiber. Also Fiber One bars are great for a snack either in the morning or afternoon. The way I figured it, the only have one point. They recommend this as a good snack for diabetics.

I love the Fiber One bars too. They're easy to take with you, and they taste really good. These aren't meal replacement bars, just snacks. However, I believe they are actually 2 points each (based on the eTools calculator).

Anything that doesn't require preparation is a plus in my book. Try ready-to-go fruits, like apples or bananas.