I find that around 4:30 p.m., I am the hungriest. So I end up eating a really huge snack and then, at dinner, I'm not that hungry so I end up having a very small dinner. It works for me and it took me soooo long to figure that out!

I used to eat a small snack at that time and by the time dinner rolled around, I was shaking with anticipation and I felt quite deprived and depraved!

I definitely tend to have more muchies at night than any other time, but I know that's not real hunger (I count calories)....that's just me trying to deal with stress via food....so I try not to of course.

So, what have you noticed about yourself?

Definitely this is my worst time as well. I do best to eat an actual dinner at 4:30. I can actually go the entire rest of the evening with no food if I eat at 4:30. Unfortunately this does not work well with family life.

It took me the longest time to realize it was okay for me to have dinner around 6 or 7pm instead of 5pm, and have a smaller snack at around 4. This has dramatically reduced my desire to overeat at night. I was letting myself have an evening snack before but somehow that never satisfied me the way a later dinner does. I'm able to stay about 200 or 300 calories under my goal some days just because of the meal time change.

That is SO interesting! I really think that some of us just need to figure out these little things about ourselves and that can make the whole process so much easier! That's not to say that I don't struggle, but I certainly feel like I'm on to something. Oh, and I find that if I eat a protein-rich breakfast, that makes a positive difference too, but that's a bit off topic.

Definitely in the afternoon from about 3-5 p.m. I try to take a little nap to get past it though!

I'm hungriest around 5 pm, which is when I make myself exercise.

Munchiest is usually 3-4 hours after dinner. Last night was an ungodly episode of craving a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I cope by forcing cup after cup of hot herbal tea down.

Wow krampus, you are so determined! If I have a craving that severe, I usually go ahead and have something similar to my craving (if I can think rationally enough, that is!). So, if I craved a sandwich like that, I may take a wasa crisp cracker and spread a very thin amount of peanut butter on it and a tiny amount of jelly. That way, it's not as much caloric damage and, hopefully, it satisfies my craving. That doesn't always work....if my hands are trembling and I'm foaming at the mouth, a Wasa cracker just won't do! Sorry for the disturbing image!

Yeah, I love dinner at 4:30. And since it's just me, it works well. Sometimes on weekends I'll have a big lunch/dinner at 3pm. And then maybe something small in the evening.

Or, like tonight, I was out after work, had a little cheese and then just got home and had dinner at 8pm.

I'm not one for "you must eat this meal at this time."

I'm hungry in the morning! I eat a big bowl of oatmeal when I get to the office (like 300 calories) and then I eat lunch about 3 hours later. After that, I'm fine until after work and I start getting a bit hungry around 6:30. That is when I eat dinner and I'm totally fine after that.

Late nights are worst for me since i'm up til 1 in the morning and my family eats dinner around 5pm....its a 8 hour window to get hungry again and since I'm in charge of dinner for them its even worse...I sample........a lot. Some days i'm just so ravenous i eat before i sit w/ them for dinner while i'm cooking it and they'll be like,'go ahead and eat something' of course i help myself because you can't just sit there and not eat right?!


lol right......

See I'd say you are more in control than me. Last night I flipped out (I think I made some weird noise out loud) and had a little peanut butter out of the jar and then got mad and went to bed. I try not to indulge cravings because "just a little" is more maddeningly teasing than none at all.

No, there's no way I'm in more control than you.....the problem is that there are more occasions when I just can't think rationally and I end up eating massive quantities of something I don't need....end up feeling sick and guilt-ridden. I'm having a lot less of these types of events though, so I've made some progress. The absolute key for me is not to dwell on them and to just get right back on the horse again (poor horsey!).

thefastestloser, thank you so much! I will definitely give it a try tomorrow!

Around 5-6pm..when my husband comes home! My husband is thin, healthy, athletic and eats A LOT. I think seeing him eat all that food makes me hungrier! All day I don't have a problem, but when he comes home it gets tough!

I am always hungry around noon even if I eat a late breakfast at 9am. I also get hungry at around 4:30ish but maybe because I know dinner is around an hour away. To be honest I also feel hungry when I go to sleep around midnight but I don't do any snacks during my day at all and try to use that time to drink water more.