Perhaps an odd title, but I am having the problem of trying to schedule when to eat. I work until 5:30- get home change and get to the gym for a 6:30 class or some nights they are not until 7:30 and both go for an hour or hour and a half. I have tried to eat something v. small before I do the 7:30 but I get crampy. And I hate getting home at 8:45 to shower then eat.... advice??? thoughts? i have been trying to do a small salad when i do that but i know I won't be able to do that all the time. thanks!

Can you eat at work? Like a late afternoon largish snack?

I frequently eat very late dinners and dinner is my favorite meal of the day is often quite large. A lot of times, I don't get home from work until 7:30 - 8:00. By the time I make dinner, it's 9:00 or later. I usually eat a snack at work around 5:30-6:00 and because I eat dinner so late, I am rarely hungry for an after dinner snack.

I normally eat:

7:00 breakfast (whole grain toast, natural peanut butter or oatmeal with dried blueberries)

10:00 snack (yogurt and fruit or cottage cheese)

12:00 lunch (salad with chicken, turkey sandwich with lettuce/tomato, veggie burger in a pita)

2:00 snack (tall non fat sugar free latte, sometimes a biscotti)

4:00 snack (fruit)

5:30-6:00 snack (usually cut up veggies, sometimes with dip)

8:00 dinner (tofu stir fry over brown rice, salmon baked sweet potato broccoli, veggie tacos with whole wheat tortillas, spinach quesadillas)

9:30 after dinner snack (sometimes, either 100 calorie smart pop kettle corn or a baked apple with blueberries)

Have you thought about exercising before you go to work? It might take a bit of adjustment, but after you're finished with work, you could go straight home and enjoy the rest of your evening. My parents get up at 6 am every weekday and do their exercise, because then they know that they're finished and don't have to worry about it. That doesn't work for me since I'm not a morning person

I eat breakfast in class. 2 days a week I have class at 9am and then the other 3 I have class at 10 so I eat cold cereal and drink water in those classes. Some days I go til 2:30 and at 2:30 I'll eat small lunch bet it a salad or somethin like that. Then I eat dinner around 7ish

I eat 3/4 of my meals away from home on work days.

6:30am breakfast #1 at my desk
8:30am breakfast #2 also at my desk
noon lunch
2pm snack at desk or if I forget or get busy
4pm snack on the ferry
5:30-6 dinner. SInce I have a long commute, I'm the queen of quick to prepare dinners.

I have exercise classes some weeknights at 7:30pm, but it never bothers me to eat before hand, I think because my meals are fairly small.

I always have a snack when I get back from class at about 9pm because I'm starving after a hard work out.

I go to bed at 10 and get up at 4

Thank you all so much for sharing! I am going to try the later lunch idea. I have tried the morning exercise but only days when i know i won't be able to at night- I am such a cranky bear in the morning- thanks again for all your thoughts!

I eat like this

7am breakfast
10am large snack
12.30pm lunch
3-4pm large snack
6ish Exercise class/gym/training
8pm small snack
9pm (when I get home) finish snack or a protein shake
10pm bed!!

I try to space my meals out over the day - having 5-6 small meals rather than 3 humungous meals.