I have always realized that every time I am studying my weight increases. I discovered this week that it is not just about stress; it is that I eat mindlessly while I work. I have been staying within calories within the day but at night when I am working into the 3 am hours, I am simply starved. My normal routine of trying fruits or something light just is not cutting it. I am craving sweets, carbs and dairy. I have done this journey before and am amazed at how hard it is to break those old habits. It is one I will have to do as my scale says I am 133lbs which is 7lbs up from what I was in December 2012.

What makes it worse it that I have already bought my two wedding dresses and just tried on one and it is SNUG around the waist. What? My first ceremony is in less than 1 month and if I continue like this it might not fit
My doc says that my hormonal imbalance is probably causing the cravings and causing issues with my monthly cycle, but at this point, I am gonna have to start moving...or something!

As for my studies, I am spending less time moving and now spend over 10 hours sitting sometimes in one place for 3-4 hours at a time. I must complete this dissertation as I refuse to be ABD (all but dissertation) but the stress of working on it is not helping my weight maintenance plan. I also teach from home so 3 hour lectures are now commonplace teaching from my bed. Sigh...the weight battle is never really over is it?

To cut hunger you need to eat more proteins. Proteins releases energy to your body and therefore cut the hunger.
Avoid food high in carbs as they add quickly fat I your body.
You have abviously a busy life with ur studies, work and the wedding too. Adapt your diet to reflect your life at the moment.
By focusing on protein and avoid carbs, you will lose weight without and starve less.
I can send you a list of food high in protein if you want.

Lots of stress! It's not surprising at all that you're struggling with cravings. I am impressed that you can work for 10 straight hours on your diss. I tend to be able to do a few very intense hours at a time, and then I need a mental break.

2 suggestions:
carrot sticks for the cravings (if you are eating mindlessly, perhaps you can trick yourself!)
hourly walk/stretching breaks from the writing.

And of course, exercise. It's so good for you--I find it helps with my mental clarity and focus as well. You lose an hour of writing time, but you get it back in improved cognition. It's worth it!

Oh YIKES, you planned a wedding at the same time your dissertation is due? Can you postpone the wedding?

Sometimes I think I'm super woman and plan entirely too much for myself and expect great results, all the while knowing I've just dug a deep hole for myself. Oh, then as a result from all the stress and self-doubt I eat to soothe myself from all the stress and self-doubt. I've learned over the years to "Easy does it". I just can't do it all and expect to do it all well. Take a deep breath...It will be over soon!

Chances are, because you're staying up too late, your body is asking for more energy (because it REALLY wants to be asleep instead).

If you can't find the time to go to bed early (and let go of other obligations), you're going to have to probably try to manage it through increasing your protein and your carrot sticks. Your brain will continue to ask for the carby sweet fatty stuff because you ARE under stress and it's part of it's coping mechanism to get dopamine and seratonin moving in there so it can handle what you're asking it to do.

Is there anyway you can take things off your plate? Delegate some of your wedding planning to your fiance or your family?

You are under a lot of pressure and stress, and have a ton on your plate (figuratively speaking!). I know and understand it well - I am working on my dissertation too, and have a full-time job, and am going through IVF... the time crunch and emotional/psychological stress of trying to get it all done and not let any of the balls drop just gets overwhelming at times.

A few suggestions, in case any of them are helpful for you:

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good," especially with regards to the eating. Make the better choices where you can, and forgive yourself when you slip up - don't let it turn into a slide, just make the better choice the next time around.

Get some sugar-free gum or sugar-free hard candy to keep your mouth busy while you're studying and have the tendency to eat mindlessly. I love the sugar-free cinnamon candies from CVS; at 9 cals each, I'm not going to do a ton of damage even if I manage to consume half the bag.

Do you enjoy cooking? When you need a break from the writing or feel like you're just spinning your wheels, spend an hour cooking up multiple portions of healthy things you can eat when you need some real, satisfying food. I like to grill or broil turkey sausages and a whole bunch of vegetables - zucchini, red bell peppers, mushrooms, eggplant, asparagus, onions, tomatoes, etc. I make a bunch and portion it out into containers, and when I need something satisfying I have a filling, high-protein 300 calorie meal waiting.

When you're craving carbs, eat something that's stick-to-your-ribs with some nutritional value like oatmeal or half a sweet potato. The low-sugar instant oatmeal packets are just ~130 calories, and a sweet potato can be cooked in the microwave in just a few minutes.

EXERCISE. Seriously. Plan and take 30 or 45 minutes and go for a brisk walk, or take 15 minute breaks here and there and do some squats, lunges, pushups, whatever. The added calorie burn from the exercise is a secondary benefit; the real benefit of the exercise will be the reduction in stress. Focus on the exercise when you're doing it, however short the period might be; the complete mental break from thinking about everything else that is going on will be very beneficial, and the endorphins from the exercise will re-energize you. I used to think people who said exercise was energizing were bat-sh*t crazy, but I swear, exercise was what kept me sane when I was studying for my prelims.

GOOD LUCK with the writing and wedding planning; it WILL all get done eventually, and this period of stress will pass.

I completely understand your pain. I'm completing my doctoral dissertation (final draft due next week for a May 1 defense) and the stress and mental focus leaves me feeling ungrounded, so I eat lots of things without realizing it. The mind is working and the body needs calories. I gain weight during periods of intense work and tend to lose them afterwards and when planning for my own wedding a year and a half ago, the stress was making it way worse. When I'm being good about trying to present weight gain (or encourage weight loss), I make a lot of healthy prepared snacks that I can just grab and munch on while working (celery, carrots, cucumbers, red peppers, cauliflower, brocolli -- all cut up into spears and stored in ziplock bags or clear tupperware, so that the color appeals to me; or strawberries, cherry tomatoes, blueberries, blackberries, apples -- things that satisfy a sweet tooth; or popcorn or nuts stored in manageable portions) so that I am still snacking, but not undoing my efforts. You can train your body to exercise a little more if you're noticing the weight gain. I work for two hours, go for a 30 minute walk, work for two hours, do 10-15 minutes of exercise+snack+ tea/water, repeat as you please. I keep track of it on a little note to the right of my laptop, so I feel like I've made progress on two goals when I look at the log at the end of a work day.

You don't have to go all in on an exercise routine, just space out more regular exercise while you study. It helps me. Of course, I've gotten myself into a weight problem at the moment that has nothing to do with mindless study-eating, but, I can recognize the better habits that I have been neglecting, still. Don't know if it will work for you, but I thought I'd suggest it.

Oh, by the way -- I tried to plan a wedding at the same time my dissertation was due and it just didn't work for me. Too bad I wasn't more disciplined and focused, but, I ended up stalling the dissertation and a year and a half later, I'm still playing catch-up. The trick is to stay disciplined and remember that there has to be wiggle room somewhere, so if you can delegate things and save yourself stress, then do so!

Maybe the wedding and dissertation proposal submission together is bad timing. I have sat out one year out of school because of lack of funds and so I am playing some serious catch up. Part of the reason we do not want to postpone the wedding is that we will have to do the immigrant visa for the USA and the earlier we start the process the better it will be for us. At 36 I am also not getting younger and my biological clock has JUST decided to make itself known and so I am trying to push thoughts of having a child out of my mind as I simply have too much to deal with.

I do have a connective tissue /fibromyalgia issue and so sleep is kinda really ahrd to come by sometimes-whether due to pain or just lacking the ability to stay asleep. I think the bottomline is that I am simply feeling VERY overwhelmed right now.

I really will have to work on getting more healthy low carb snacks and fruits back into my late night snacking. The wide array of vegetables you all name is not easily available here so I will have to look into using basic vegetable or what is locally available here in Jamaica. I am also going to start walking in the evenings...problem is a back problem limits how much and the intensity of the exercise I used to do so I am going to try this evening for about 15 minutes and see how that works.

Thanks for the advice and support....maybe I need you guys to be my second pair of eyes for my dssertation...lol

Everyone has given you great suggestions...good luck with both your wedding and dissertation!

Sometimes when I want the mindless salty munchies without screwing up everything for the day, I'll chow down on Smart Fries. Since I am having trouble getting enough to maintain I haven't eaten them in a while (eating peanuts instead) but they were great when I was losing. 110cals for 65 fries. You can probably snack on them for a while without eating a lot of calories. The smaller bags have even less. http://gourmetbasics.com/smart-fries.html

I have never seen the smart fries here but will have to order some for when I come to the US next month. I did get in 30 minutes of walking earlier this evening and my aim is to get in at least 30 mins of walking at least three days a week. Bridal BOOTCAMP has begun!

LOL Bridal bootcamp! Good luck!

They're pretty new. I first saw them a few years ago when I was in undergrad in the cafeteria. I saw them once, happened to save the bag which was good because I never saw them there again! I found the company's website and it was still under construction at the time (!!!) I emailed them to ask where I could find their stuff and they told me King Kullen. I've never actually seen them there.

A few months ago I was in BJ's with my mom and we found them there but only in the big bags. I know you can order them on amazon and it was always something I considered doing, but finding the big bag was great. It's lasted me a lllooooonnnggg time. If I want some I usually count out about 50 or 100cals worth and just eat them without worrying.

When I drink a full glass of water, the cravings go away.. Water works for me.

HA...three days of walking and my inches are back to normal. could I have simply been retaining fluids and starting back walking helped me to shed that. I have lost 5 inches off my waist and my hips..no joke..in 3 days. I have not weighed because inches are more important to me. Can fluid retention make so much of a difference?