During the week day I get up at 5 am to commute downtown and work out at the gym. I get to work around 8 am, and eat a packet of oatmeal by 9 am.

I want to pack my lunch because it's cheaper and I can control what foods I eat. The problem is that on days I pack my lunch I eat it all by 10:15 am.

On days I don't pack my lunch, I can easily last until 12:30.

It's been suggested that I'm not eating enough for breakfast, but even when I add extra to my breakfast I'll still scarf everything down by 10:15. If I have food on hand, I just want to eat it.

I have the mini-fridge for my lunch at my desk. What are some ideas I can do to keep from scarfing everything down other than order delivery every day?

Hi. I wonder if that really is a problem. Everyone's body is different and you maybe someone who just needs the majority of their food early on in the day. Although if you think about it, it's not that early. I get up at 7 and have my lunch at 12:20 which is 5 hours and 20 min. after I wake up, you eat your lunch 5 hours and 15 min after you wake up. The clock may make it out to be early, but for you it really isn't.

Just something to think about!

My first reaction was also that you weren't eating enough for breakfast. But this part of your post confuses me - are you eating your lunch early because you are genuinely hungry, or because you are bored (or feeling another emotion)? What else is different when you don't pack your lunch and can wait until 12:30?

Can you not try to stretch it a little? I take my lunch at 11.30am with no problems (I do that to get to the salad bar with no-one else there - plus a salad takes a long time to eat!).

Part of the issue is that you are getting up so early. I get up at 6.30am to leave the house at 7.30am for my commute.

Move the mini-fridge. If you have a friend, put it in her/her office/cubicle/whatever. Or buy a padlock for it.

What about trying a snack around 10:15? If I had that kind of morning I would be starving by 10:15 too!!

I have a hard time knowing my food is staring at my all day long. It's hard to not just eat it when it's there.

I tend to have a snack between breakfast and lunch to last longer or have a cup of coffee to get my mind off of it.

I know you may not be "hungry" but it's there and you want to eat it. It's all mental.

Either you need to move the lunch so it's not accessible if it's not an issue of being hungry (as it makes no sense to me that you can last till much later if you have no lunch in sight).

OR...

just move your eating hours.

I eat at 7:30/8:00 am.
11:30/Noon
4/4:30

I don't eat again until 7:30 the next morning. I'm simply hungry in the early part of the day and not the latter part of the day and I just prefer to eat earlier.

I'll make meals for the rest of the family for 6:30 pm, but I can't wait that long. When I try to, I scarf food down and end up eating WAY more calories than I should.