The Evil 4pm

AdeleDazeem

This part of the day has been my problem forever.  It's driving me nuts.

I cannot find a filling snack for this time of day.  Today I had carrots + hummus and an apple cereal bar.  My stomach was still growling when I was finished.  I've tried apples and peanut butter, veggies/pretzels/crisps + hummus, cereal, greek yogurt, and other fruit.  My stomach isn't interested.  It was substantial protein or volume. 

I almost feel like I need to bring half my dinner as my snack and eat the other half later in the evening.  Is that weird?  Any thoughts on filling snacks?

I very often lose my patience (as I'm still at work) and just get Doritos.  I don't want to slip back into that.  I also want run after work and can't handle it with a growling stomach.

Jiimanie

I eat a banana, have you tried that? I find them filling and they fuel me up for the gym after work!

jaenella

I like a smoothie as my snack... I'll do half a banana, some berries, some spinach with OJ or milk, and some protein powder if I'm feeling especially hungry!

When I needed an immediate quick snack at work I'd also do those quick oatmeal packets... not as good for you as steel cut or plain oats but only 100-150 calories!

Lobsters25

I'm a muncher, it's a brain thing for me, so I need more chewing than most fruit and veggies offer.  I swear I'm going to sound like a salespeson but the good n natural bars seriously fill me up.  100 cal packs also work for me - not to fill - but to keep me munching on a low cal snack long enough for the craving to end.  I also stuff my face with as much water as I can drink just before my normal 'let's find more to eat' time hits.

Lobsters25

minus the chocolate one!  that thing tastes terrible, IMO!

J&K10910

I wouldn't think it was weird at all to eat half your dinner, and then the other half (plus whatever you'd have for a snack in the afternoon) later.  That makes sense to me. 

lovelyheather

The afternoon used to be my weakness too.  I'd get home from work and just want to snack like crazy!  What worked for me was making lunch my biggest meal of the day and making my dinners a little bit smaller.  Then I break my lunches up into two meals, lunch one around 11:00 and lunch two around 2:00.  Then I am ready to go for a run around 5 when I get home from work.  It sounds like splitting your dinner up would basically work the same way.  I don't see any reason not to try it that way. 

Now I need to figure out what good and natural bars are...

AdeleDazeem

Hmm...  I'll look into Good and Natural bars.  Thanks!

I loooove the idea of an egg on a piece of toast at that time of day, but I'm at work.  Cold or reheated scrambled eggs might be gross.  I dislike any other eggs.  I'm an egg weirdo.

I've also considered a small salad with grilled chicken. 

I might also need to have it earlier.  I wait until 4:30pm and I'm so hungry that the only thing I want is dinner.  Maybe if I tried earlier (around 3pm) and thought of it as another course of my lunch, that might help.

Thanks for the thoughts!!  I hate this time of day.  HATE!

AdeleDazeem

Oh, and I'm usually very full after lunch.  The only time I don't get hungry at 4pm is if I go out for lunch to a restaurant and eat my weight in crap food.  A regular day where I eat to being full at breakfast, morning snack and lunch?  You can time your day by my stomach growling.  It's not a problem - I can eat something then - I just need something that will do the trick.

AdeleDazeem

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_getting-shape_the-evil-4pm?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:238Discussion:d210d1fc-e1d5-4aea-8723-488ddb7331fePost:3f451151-3c50-457e-b7af-12b721aa9184">Re: The Evil 4pm</a>:
[QUOTE]Egg muffins. I do them for breakfast, but they'd work as a snack too, especially since they are totally customizable ingredients.  They reheat really well without being rubbery or gross.  You just cut them in half, pop them in the microwave for 20 seconds and voila! I don't eat eggs any way but scrambled either.
Posted by StageManager14[/QUOTE]

I'm feeling a little dense, Stage. Egg muffin?  Tell me more about how you make them.

kipnus

I do eat my whole dinner around 4:30pm, because I typically swim from 3-4 on MWF, and I'm starving afterwards. Then I coach in the evenings during normal supper time, and when I get home, I just have some fruit for a snack. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I swim at 7:30, so I like to be done eating by 5 at the latest to give myself plenty of digestion time.