Day 2 of Medifast, done. I've got about an hour left before I go to bed and the past hour and right now, ALL I can think about is FOOD! My normal habit is to sit my butt on the couch when I'm home from work and just eat. I already had my "snack" shake about an hour ago - I figured I'd get on here and write about this instead of my normal habit of just eating anyways even though I know I'm on a diet. How long until these psychological hunger feelings surpass? It's got to be all mental, maybe never??? Anyways, thanks for listening to me vent fellow chicks!

Hi gimme,
Welcome to Medifast! You're quick - it took me weeks to figure out that dieting is SO much more mental than physical. It does get better. I've been on MF since April, so as long as I stay on plan, I'm in my routine. I know my next meal is never more than 3 hours away, so I don't have to obsess about it. I'm amazed at how much mindless eating I used to do.

Good luck - you can do it!

Wow.... I'm not sure when I crossed over! I think the idea of "you can't snack" is so much harder than "you don't want to snack". I haven't had that urge to snack, but then again, I'm crawling in to bed super early, and only a couple of hours after dinner. I wonder how long it took for me to get there?? A couple of months, maybe? Or less?

I find myself drinking hot beverage at night, when I'm not going to bed early, and I'm realizing that's how I cope with lack of snack. I did this diet that was very low calorie, and that period between dinner and bed time was soooo hard! That's when I picked up drinking hot liquid.

Try green tea with flavored stevia, or hot coffee (decaf) with flavored stevia. Or hot tea with lemon with or without some kind of sweetener. Or can you save one of your food items for the evening snack? Something that can be picked and chewed? Another trick... gum.

Another thing I've been doing lately is crawling in to bed to watch TV about an hour before I plan to go to sleep. I brush my teeth and get ready for bed, so maybe that's helping too.

Eek- evening hunger. Its a monster! It is just as bad as "real" hunger - whatever that is. I, personally, have never been able to tell them apart.

I feel like my 'self-discipline' particularly in the evenings always wavers. Sometimes I can say no and it sticks.... other times I cave. So, for me, it is most important to have a healthy backup for when I cave, because I can never count on self-discipline to get me through tough times - its just not reliable.

It doesn't have to be about either success or failure - there is a large grey area between success and failure. If I were you, I'd try to say no in the evening to the 'mental' hunger - but, I'd also have an intelligent backup plan in place. Maybe cottage cheese or a piece of fruit or sliced chicken breast....