Afternoon Eating Confusion

About 7:30 every morning I take my first round of vitamins and then drink a protein shake. I then begin my water intake for the day. Usually I am satisfied with that until lunch at noon, but as soon as I start eating "real" food I feel hungry for the rest of the day. Even if I had just finished my lunch 15 minutes ago, I can't stop thinking about food sometimes even giving in and eating something else. Mind you I do not even worry about when my next meal will be in between the protein shake and lunch. Anyone else have this problem? Any suggestions?

Hi Amy, I have days like that and I think they are the result of not drinking enough in the am before lunch or not drinking enough after the required elapsed time following lunch. And some days I think it is just head hunger - I try not to feed the monster. Usually I have protein hot chocolate made with half milk and that satisfies me. Other days, I eat my afternoon snack a bit earlier. It happened today and I made a protein shake that really filled me up (I havent done protein shakes for few months) - it was good! Do you think the vitamins have something to do with it? When do you take your second round?

Amy, have you tried experimenting with different types of 'real' food at that lunch meal to see if anything will make it better or worse? Today I tried to take Melissa's suggestion of beefing up my protein intake and reducing the fruit and it really did help with the afternoon hunger and more importantly to me...the fatigue. I was really, really wiped out when I got home from work (around noon) and was really hungry and head hungry at the same time. But instead of getting into the fruit I had a really big chicken lunch (4 1/2 ounces!) and even though it didn't satisfy the head hunger it did give me a lot more energy than I thought possible. (I even made it through another round of school shopping with my 13 yr. old son without getting weary and wanting a protein bar...wooohooo!) The afternoon went so well that I did finally get into the fruit for a treat but kept it to much more sensible amounts and my numbers for the day have come out really well. Afternoons are sure tough, I'm looking forward to seeing what other suggestions people have because I'm willing to try anything too. Molly

Could it be that you are less busy between lunch and dinner?

That is very true. My mornings at work are always much busier than the afternoons. I will try eating a more filling lunch at wor. Thank you all for the suggestions.

Amy, I don't ever get truly starving, but I do get hungry. I tend to graze when I am bored for sure. Try throwing in a string cheese or some other protien in the AM. Maybe that will help...Erin