[midwife]

If I had to wait until 8:30 for dinner, I would be chewing my arm off. I eat 6 mini-meals a day and in your situation I would have either some turkey wrapped around a string cheese or some cottage cheese with walnuts and a little honey.

That will tide me over for a couple of hours.

[ShannanA]

No simple carbs and lots of protein.

[shalu]

I sometimes manage with enegy bars if i am too hungry

[Mirrors]

don't drink liquids throughout the day, it makes me hungry and I only drink water in the evenings.

[BlueToBlue]

I do eat dinner around 8:30 or 9:00 every night. I don't go to bed until sometime between midnight and 2:00 AM, if I ate dinner at 6:00, I would never make it until bedtime.

But I also don't get up until 9:00 AM, so my meals are somewhat shifted. I eat breakfast at 9:00 AM, lunch at noon, and then have several snacks throughout the afternoon to keep me going until dinner at 9:00 PM. Then I also usually have a small dessert-type snack around 11:00 PM.

Thanks, JayEll! Yes, I've gotten down to my goal weight and am now trying to transition into maintenance. My current eating plan is definitely the product of a lot of mistakes I made along the way. When I look at how I ate when I first started trying to lose weight, sometimes I can't believe I made it.

[sweetlovin]

BlueToBlue-Great advice!

[Tomato]

Originally Posted by BlueToBlue

• I don't save my calories for the end of the day. I plan very low calorie dinners (under 400 calories, if possible) so that I can eat more during the day. I see a lot of folks eat very small breakfasts and lunches, with minimal snacks, so that they can have a big dinner. IMHO this is a mistake and is likely to lead to binging. Go light on dinner; it's the end of the day and you don't need the energy; use your calories earlier in the day when you need them.

I agree with Barbara. I tend to get very hungry during the day and although I eat my breakfast after I get to work (8:30) I can't last till lunch time without something in between.
Instead of having Meal/Snack/Meal/Snack/Meal etc., I changed my strategy. I literally bring a large bag of food with me to work. I have breakfast, then around 11 or 11:30 I have salad, then at 2 pm or so I have fruit salad and I eat my "lunch" at 4 pm or so. I don't get home until 5:30 and then I walk the dogs for 45 minutes. By the time we get back home, I give them dinner etc. it is 6:30 pm.
If I had traditional lunch at noon and a mid-afternoon snack, I would never last till 6:30 pm. I would attack the fridge the moment I got home.
I am not saying this is the perfect plan but it seems to be working for me.
I am usually not very hungry later in the evening, especially if I exercise. I don't know why I am so hungry during the day, but that's just how it is. Alhough my job is sedentary, it is very stressful and high-paced (if you can say that about a sedentary job ) and I probably burn a lot of calories during the day.

[bnorah]

I have a question. Why is dinner so late? I eat lunch at 12pm and by 6pm I'm starving too! But I agree with everyone that maybe you need a more protein filled snack, or find an activity to pass the time so that you don't think about your hunger.