Hunger!
 

OK, just a quick snap shot of my day:
5:30am: Wake up, get ready for work
7:30am: At work (I'm an elementary school teacher)
11:20am: Lunch
3:30pm: Off work, heading home

So I have breakfast before work. Lunch at lunch (duh, LoL). I give my kids a morning snack and an afternoon snack (9:45am and 2:45pm). I sneak in a snack then **if I can**. Teaching is a BUSY job. I teach at a private school, so my day is much different from that of a public school teacher. I have lunch duty with my students and although I have a scheduled planning period (1:00-1:45) I do not always get my planning. I get home around 4:00pm.

By the time I get home I am no longer hungry. I am RAVENOUS. Literally starving. But If I eat dinner at 4:00, I'm starving again by 8:00. Still, it is REALLY hard to wait till 5 or 6 to eat dinner because I'm SO hungry when I get home from work.

What happens? I binge eat. I can last on a restricted calorie regime for a few days, but by Thursday, I just can't take it anymore. I crave food, want to just stuff my face, and eventually I just give in and binge.

Any advice?

I have a similar job in that I work with elementary students all day, often straight through without breaks/lunch time....For me, I've mastered the art of eating while working and often grab something to munch on when I'm hungry....I too fall into binge eating when I become ravenous and make horrible food choices...I have a fridge in my room because we also provide snacks for our students...I have yogurts in there, packets of meat, string cheese, even little cans of soup, as well as juice and diet soda....And while I'm supervising the playground I will eat something, or while I'm working in a room with students I can eat, as long as it doesn't interfer with direct group instruction time...

If this won't work for you, if I was in your situation, I would put some items in my car to eat immediately when I'm off work...cheese, nuts, packaged meat...something to eat immediately and get me through until dinner

I also find that I'm naturally hungry about every 3 hours regardless of what I've eaten (although HUGE meals can keep me full most of a day)....so I just eat a moderate dinner with a planned snack before bedtime most days

I would try not eating until 9:45 am. It will take some adjustment but if you eat at 9:45 then 1:00 you can wait till later to eat dinner.

Can you eat in your car? Maybe a breakfast wrap at 7:15 and at 4 have some nuts, fruit and a large ice water or unsweet tea.

what a tough schedule! sounds like a bit more protein at lunch [or as a post-lunch snack] might help. Any possibility you can get in a protein drink or protein bar? a bit of greek yogurt and fruit?

I have always had a similar problem and it was quite easy to fix, too bad I needed a nutritional therapist to point out the obvious which is... eat more substantially in the earlier part of your day!!!

So, what are you having for breakfast? Back when I was dieting I would have a small breakfast and a small lunch. I was never ravenous at the time so I thought I was being "good" to conserve my calories. But at the end of the day I was like a rabid dog, inhaling food! Dinner wasn't enough, I would binge into the night until I was too exhausted and went to bed.

So I ask again, what are you having for breakfast? Is it substantial enough to carry you through lunch? Are you satisfied and full? You should be. A combination of protein and carbs and fresh fruit or veg is the best combo for me as it turns out.

Do you know what happened to me once I started eating a real breakfast and a real lunch? I completely lost the need to snack (especially that horrible afternoon snack attack) and my dinners are CALM, PLEASANT, and LIGHT!!! Listen, you work hard in the early part of your day. Me too, and that's why we need substance. I'm certain you're depriving yourself of that and that's why you're out of control by night. Your body needs what it needs, you can never convince it otherwise.

Take a shake/smoothie or two with you

Eat lower calorie foods to fill your stomach with. I eat tons of green beans, stir-fried squash/zucchini, and carrots with onion seasoning from the crock-pot. They're all only 10 calories an ounce.

I also "snack" on the Pop-Secret bags of popcorn at only 100 calories a bag (after a liberal spray-down with butter Pam). That kind of nibble-food that I can't finish off in three bites really takes my hunger pangs away.

I like to eat a small snack right before I leave work - this tends to be some kind of vegetable with dip, my favorite being grape tomatoes and ranch. I love hummus, but it bothers my stomach :(

What has worked well for me in the past is a late breakfast, late lunch, and on-time dinner. Breakfast at 11am, lunch at 3pm, and dinner at 7pm works great. I don't even get hungry enough to snack in between. But I also don't like eating in the morning no matter how early I get up.

If that doesn't work for you (The later breakfast thing), then I second having planned snacks for the day and after work. Then you know how much you'll eat. And something filling would probably be good (veggies, fruit, protein, etc.).

I'd find something to do after work, other than going home and binging. Go for a walk, run an errand, go to a bookstore, go to the health club, do something engaging at home, whatever.

My binging problem is at night, after 10 pm. If I can't find something engaging to do to keep my mind off of food, I make sure low calorie food is available. I have a cupboard full of low calorie soups, fresh vegetables, lettuce, etc. While these were never my first choice for binge food, it's gotten easier over time.

The diet that has worked best for me is eating 6 small, low-calorie meals throughout the day. The idea behind it is your body has to work to digest the food thus stimulating your metabolism. I was able to lose 30 lbs in about 4 months on this plan. Any way you can do this?

Maybe you can take some apples, banana, oranges or other fruit? Nuts are really high in calories for a small amount of food, so they won't take you far. I eat protein bars and some apples, apples are really filling, you can have 2-3 apples for the calories that 1oz of nuts have. Not to dis on nuts, I just find that I am still hungry after I eat them.

Jared, the Subway guy, once said that he stopped looking at hunger as something to "escape." He began to view it as a positive thing, that it was his way of knowing that his diet was working and that he was burning fat. Admittedly, it's a mind game, but it is something to think about.