I'm on Day 11 of calorie counting...and doing fairly well...one issue that I'm having is that I could chew my arm off around 3pm. So I eat a snack...yogurt or fruit typically...this NEVER satisfies me…I’m about to die to get to 6:30PM, which is when dinner is usually on the table…then I’m okay until bedtime. But between 3 and dinner…if there is food in sight it’s going down. My stomach will be rumbling out of control until I feed it.

Should I try a banana with peanut butter? Crackers with Peanut Butter? Do I need more protein? What a protein filled snack?

Nuts might be good. Maybe an apple with some peanut butter/almond butter or cut up veggies with hummus? What are you eating for lunch?

protien is a great idea, it keeps you statisfied longer and helps to ward off cravings. Sometimes I cook extra meat at dinner for a snack or lunch the next day, or peanut butter on a apple is good, or ten almonds with your fruit, or a hard boiled egg, I dont like yolks so I eat two white and add a very small amount of light miracle whip (1/2 tsp), beef jerky as well, or a bowl of the weight wise intant oatmeal.

Cheese has protein. Could also try nuts, beans, a small bowl of soup. Drink water. I find popcorn sprinkled with a tiny bit of parm cheese and garlic and onion powder is great and filling.

I eat 6 times a day. I'm not sure who came up with only being able to eat 3 meals a day was the only way to do it, but it somehow stuck.

The perfect snack for 3 pm would be something with a good balance of protein, fat, and carbs. A half of a pbj sandwich (just enough jelly to taste it, natural peanut butter, and whole wheat bread, which would put your around 250 calories) would be good. An apple sliced up with 2-3 tsp of peanut butter to dip it in. A protein shake and a piece of fruit would work.

I try to never miss my meal between lunch and dinner, as like you, I'll be starving and feeling low on energy. You'll feel much better if you just eat something healthy instead of waiting and then overeating come dinner.

Lunch today will consist of a Boca Burger, Wheat Bun, and a either a veggie or salad, yesterday I had chicken noodle soup that I had made on Monday when I was off with 2 slices of wheat bread and RF Peanut Butter, Tuesday I had a can of tuna with celery cut in it and I put that on Wheat bread as well with a side salad. And a sweet something like Pumpkin Spice Cake, Dove choco or a small york peppermint pattie.

I ALWAYS snack at 3pm with a yogurt or a piece of fruit. My husband had mention trying something with protien...I was thinking maybe spilting my lunch in half and eating half at lunch and half at 3pm?

How about having your main/largest meal for lunch and swap your lunch for dinner? I do that every now and then for a few days, esp if I have plans at night, and it works well for me.

I agree, have that meal have a decent amount of protein, too!

Well it might be that the 'sweet something' is causing an insulin spike, causing hunger later. Could you swap that and put it in dinner? Also, I like the idea of making lunch bigger. My lunches tend to be bigger than my dinner.

I would say maybe bump up your snack to 150-200 calories.

I find yogurt can make me quite a bit hungrier depending on the kind. Some yogurt can have a LOT of sugar in it, so I would look into that.

So today I will plan to have a Boca Burger, Wheat Bun, and a either a veggie or salad with my yogurt for lunch. Snack with an apple, 2 saltines and RF Peanut Butter for Snack between 3-4.

Strange thing is once I snack..I don't need to much for dinner. I guess I'm full from snacking! lol.

Being that I'm an OCD planner I will have to re-arrange lunch meals for next week to be larger! I plan for the week on Sundays.

I always have my largest meal at lunchtime. I need the fuel while I'm out taking on the world, not at 7:00 at night when I've settled in for the evening and I'm flipping tv channels. You're hungry in the afternoon because that's when you need your calories. There's no law that says you have to eat in the evening because that's when everybody else does; figure out what works for you.

I definitely would add protein- so an apple with peanut butter is perfect (or celery with peanut butter).

I tend to get REALLY snacky around 3 as well, but for me it's more habit than anything. If you're really hungry then eat, but if you're just eating out of habit, maybe try chewing gum or doing something out of the house? For me I just sort of automatically reach for something then. I pick my kids up from school at 3:30 and they have a snack and sometimes I do too...just out of habit.

I agree with just about everybody. Sweetness of any kind can trigger hunger pangs in some people. Like BobJack, I eat smaller meals more often, about five per day (breakfast, lunch and dinner time, and then one in between those) and like another poster, I use more of my calories at lunch than at dinner. For me it was more about feeling too heavy if I ate more calories at the end of the day (even if I ate normal portions) but it certainly did help with the afternoon hunger pangs.

Yogurt alone makes me RAVENOUS. Maybe yogurt mixed with something like Fiber One original cereal for some fiber thrown in?

Another snack that I love and adore is actually something I picked up from the Butter Queen herself, Paula Deen, and adapted. Her recipe was for a crustless pie, but I made it into a daily snack.

1 15-ounce container of cottage cheese (fat free, 1% or 2%)
2 small packets sugar free Jello gelatin powder
1.25 cups boiled water
1.25 cups cold water

Put cottage cheese in a blender. The whole tub.
Open both packets of Jello mix and put them into a bowl. Boil 1.25 cups water on the stove and add boiling water to the Jello powder. Mix until dissolved.
Add cold water and mix together well.
Pour Jello liquid into blender on top of cottage cheese and blend until fully combined (when you can't see any flecks of cottage cheese swirling.)
Pour blended mixture into 5 small, portable tupperware tubs or bowls (or whatever). Refrigerate until they are set.

You can use 1 cup of boiling water and 1 cup of cold water and make 4 containers, but I like to stretch it all into an extra serving so I can take one for a mid-afternoon snack Monday through Friday. The calories will vary depending on your cottage cheese, but with 2 percent it runs 88 calories per tub. TONS of protein, so it's filling and it tastes good. You can use different flavors of Jello powder to change it up, too.