Evening Eating

I do great during my work day. I really do. My whole day from 5 am to 4 pm or so is well planned out. I started with a protein shake around 5:30 am on the way to the gym, breakfast around 9:00 am, lunch about 12:00, snack/protein shake around 3:00 pm. I "brown bag" it daily. (To be accurate my "brown bag" is usually a plastic bag from the super market.) Rich and I plan for the next few days so I have an idea of what I'll be taking with me. I'll often bring enough food for a couple of breakfasts and lunches and snacks. Got my jug o' protein powder at work too. I feel very mu*****ontrol* of things. My problem with eating? The evening hours! I get home from work anywhere from 4:30 pm to say 6:00 pm depending on how late I stay at work. First thing I do is put my bag down and walk the dog and get the mail. Unfortunately, the dog isn't up for big walks - hey, what do you want for an 18 year old pooch. I obviously could go for a walk on my own after I walk her and probably will start doing that in the near future. I think it'll help the body and help my crappy mood lately. I often do not have dinner scripted out the way I have the rest of my day. There are often leftovers there for the taking. There are portions of salmon in baggies in the fridge that could easily be popped in the oven and cooked quickly. A nice healthy meal. But alas... I've gotten terrible about cooking ANYTHING for myself so I end up picking a bit of this, a bit of that. A slice or two of cheese. A few tortilla chips. A pack of SF toffee. All pretty useless food (okay, the cheese isn't bad) with little or no nutritional value. I think part of my reason for not doing anything is my ongoing side pain which drains me and I just do not have the energy when I get home to do anything. Part of it is because I'm just plain depressed. I end up sitting at the computer and rummaging back and forth between the keyboard and the kitchen. Then when Rich comes home around 9:30 pm I'll usually have my evening protein shake and possibly a SF ice cream pop. Since being a diabetic I always learned to have a small snack before bed to give insulin something to work on. Honestly, the protein shake ALONE would do the trick. I do NOT need the other thing. I just plain like it. I really need to PLAN my evening meal and snack(s). A nice piece of salmon with some green beans would be a great dinner. Then if I wanted the ice cream and the protein shake - that would be a good evening for me calorically and food wise. I also think I need to structure my time better. I think it would behoove me to take the first hour after I get home and do something constructive. Get something done. Do an hour of filing, organizing, paperwork, laundry, other chores. This might keep me away from eating right in the door so that maybe I eat at 6:00-7:00 pm and then end my day at 9:30 pm or so with my protein shake. So what are your issues? Same? Different? Do you do well at home but terrible in the office where everyone brings food in or orders out? Kathy

I could have been writing this post... I'm the same way - work week, during the day, hunky dory... Coffee first thing, water with my vits... Protein shake on the way to work. Yogurt, protein bar or oatmeal for breafast... Fruit for a snack. Packed lunch. Veggie snack... Home.... nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble... With my evening schedule being so hectic, I tend to graze all evening or not eat until 9pm when I get home from school... Grazing can be anything from a chunk of cheese to a few tortilla chips to just constant picking at whatever... Weekends are even worse for me... I don't tend to have "meals" on the weekends- much more likely to just eat small snacks all day long... Not necessarily bad things, but not planned, and not full protein. Pretty much mindless snacking... In fact, today has been one of those days, and pretty much one of the worst episodes. I'm PMSing... Hey, at least I admit it. I'm in a foul mood, I have a horrible headache, and all I've been doing is eating... Example: I've had today: A slice of ww toast with light butter and SF PB WAY too many tortilla chips some sf chocolate covered almonds tuna salad and cheese in a toasted pita pocket sf creamscicle a protien bar WAY too many cups of coffee No protein shake NOT NEARLY enough water No wonder I feel like crap... I'm supposed to be going out for dinner and a drink with a friend tonight so I'm trying to stop the grazing and get caught up on my water, but... ack.

Becky, Our weekend time is pretty unstructured too. How I eat on weekends varies depending on where we are running around. We are usually good getting a couple of protein shakes in. Eating though can be all over the place though. Yesterday was a protein shake. Then taylor ham for breakfast. We had a handyman coming so we were going to go out for a late lunch/early dinner so lunch time became fuzzy. I had another protein shake later in the morning. Then the handyman was delayed. I then had two pieces of cheese. Then yet another protein shake. By the time handyman came at 5 pm, I was hungry! Finally we went out for dinner, I had about 3/4 of a small caesar salad w/ 3 pieces dead bread, two bites of italian bread crust w/ olive oil and herbs, swordfish with lemon butter, a few bites of spaghetti squash, several bites of steamed vegies and a couple of bites of Rich's potatoes au gratin (OMG good...) Then we went to Wal*Mart for some propel and vitamins and misc. Then the market for Blue Bunny pops. Later in the evening we had a few nachos (one paper plate worth fed both of us) and then a SF ice cream pop. So, overall not hideous. Probably would have been good to eat something for lunch rather than just protein shakes. This isn't the best bad example of my weekend eating. Kathy

I tend to eat more at night than I should, too. My days are so hectic that I usually don't eat much during the day. Some days I (gasp, I know it's horrible) don't even eat breakfast because nine times out of ten it doesn't sit well and makes me nauseous until around 11. So I will sometimes not even eat my first meal until around 10:30 or so but will be drinking water most of the morning. My breakfast (brunch, whatever) is usually eggs, cheese, protein bar, or something like that. Then, I'll have another meal around 2:30 (sometimes - sometimes I don't eat again until dinner) which is generally salad, left overs, 1/2 sandwich, or something like that. Dinner varies from day to day from meatloaf, to chicken, to fish, or whatever. But, sometimes (I'd say 1/2 the time) my dinner is only my 2nd meal of the day and so I feel like I'm "allowed" to snack all evening because "Well, I've not eaten but maybe 500 calories so far today, so I can make up for it tonight..." and after dinner I'll want something sweet, so I'll get some sf cookies, or sf/ff pudding, or (my new favorite snack) pb with honey either by itself, on a piece of toast, or in a low carb tortilla. Then a little later I'll want something crunchy (read wheat thins, tortilla chips, or baked potato chips) so I'll have that, then I'll want something like cheese because I'd not had enough protein for the day....and on it goes. (This is scary that I'm letting you see so much into my brain! ) I don't do protein drinks very often anymore. I should, I know, it's just that they're like 300+ calories and I have a hard time with it (200 calories for the 50 grams/protein, 100 calories or so for the milk, plus whatever fruit I put in it). Funny, I have a hard time with the 300 calories for a protein shake but I DON'T have a problem with the 150 calories for the 2 sf cookies that I eat. I'm not home very often and I think, for me, home is my comfort zone - it's my time to really relax and unwind so I feel more comfortable eating here. It has gotten to the point, though, that my husband has noticed it. He commented the other day when I said something about my nighttime eating habits, he said, "You know, I have noticed you eating a lot more in the evening than you used to." If he's noticing it then I know it's becoming an issue. Michelle

My downfall is actually at work, my office is right next to the cafeteria and vending machines, and its horrible. The thing about home is that I can control whats in the house...Whereas before I would go to the corner store for a Kit Kat bar... at home my cabinets are bare other than for what Ty eats, so If I dont have it, I dont eat it. But at work, I'm always at the deli, or the grill or the machine. I just spent $100 at the vitamin shoppe, so Im gonna stock up here, and see how that goes.

Ah, so you have the opposite issue. Our office, people are always bringing goodies in. And they sit on the table right outside my office. Luckily they are usually sugared things and since I believe I dump... I have no issue passing by that stuff. My problem is that we mostly have healthy stuff in the house but I pick at it and all those calories add up. It isn't junk food per se. Too much of a good thang, ya know? LOL. I know that bringing all my food to work really helps alot. My day is well planned. Now to figure out how to do that for the evening.... Kathy

Michelle, Definitely understand the eating more at night then we used to thing. I used to come home and put dinner in the oven for myself and then eat dinner and then would have a protein shake before bed. Now it seems like I'm noshing on something every hour or so and not really having an evening meal. Perhaps that is my problem. kathy

I think it could be- I fully believe that is my issue as well. I rarely eat to the point of full. I will eat just until I am tired of the taste or no more hunger pangs, but I don't eat until I get that "full" feeling so I'm not really filling up my pouch so 2 hours (or even less) later I'm feeling hunger (or maybe just wanting something to eat) again. Michelle

Sounds like a very good observation. Perhaps that is my evening problem. I am not sitting down to a "meal". My daytime meals are true meals and I eat til I'm sated/comfy/full. I don't really get hungry before my next scheduled feeding. But in the evening... I may not be eating enough to satisfy by body for several hours. It would be nice to think that this is physiological as opposed to psychological. Hmmm, I think you are very much onto something... Kathy

You look great! What a difference! The kids are adorable! I have a 4 yr old and an 11 month old. I can't imagine how busy you must be. Now Let me get something straight... You have not met hubby's family? How have you managed that? My hubby's family lives in another country and I still have to see them!