If you eat early, how do you make it to breakfast?

[joannqn]

Normally, we eat breakfast about 10am, lunch around 2pm, and dinner around 8pm. For various reasons, I'm trying to move our meals about 2 hours earlier but I find that the same amount of food doesn't last me until the next meal. Dinner is especially difficult because I wake up in the middle of the night with intense hunger pains.

 

So, if you eat at 6:30 or earlier, do you just eat again before you go to bed so you don't wake up hungry in the middle of the night?

[Chris in VA]

I usually eat around 7 or 7:30, noon, and 5:30 or 6. I find I snack around 8 and go to bed around 11.

When I'm trying to lose some weight, I say no eating after 7, because sometimes I start snacking at 8 and eat several things...

 

Don't know if I answered your questions or not.

[NanceXToo]

Well, we always eat evening snacks, regardless of what time we eat dinner. Those tide us over.

[Quad Shot Academy]

We eat at:

breakfast 7-8

lunch 11-12

snack 3

dinner 5:30-6:30

snack 8 pm

[athena1277]

We get up at 7am and eat breakfast when we get up. We eat lunch at 11 and dinner at 5. We eat dessert (which is not always sweet) at 7. Dd and I also have a snack about 2pm when we take a short break from school.

 

The only time I have a problem with hunger in the night is when I am up for a while, such as with a sick kid. Then I eat a cracker or whatever small thing I can find and it is usually enough to go back to sleep.

[LibraryLover]

Any changes you make can be handled with a healthy eveing snack. Cheese or yogurt might be nice.

[Laurie4b]

If I am hungry close to bedtime, I eat some low-fat protein. That does the trick.

[Daisy]

We eat at

 

6am

snack around 9:30am

noon

5pm

 

I don't have a problem going from 5pm to 6am without food. Glass of water maybe?

[creekland]

We eat breakfast around 6am, lunch around noon, and supper around 7pm. We very seldom snack. I think it's just what one is used to doing. I don't feel hungry unless I don't eat a decent (fat/protein filled) breakfast. Sometimes we eat really lightly for supper at that.

 

If our schedule requires us to eat at 5pm for supper (as it does sometimes due to evening meetings or whatever), then we have an ice cream cone afterward - sometimes.

[MamaT]

We always have a snack of some sort before bed. We eat dinner at different times, depending on activities - but always have a bedtime snack!

[Evergreen State Sue]

I find it all depends what I have for breakfast how long I can last. If I have an egg for breakfast, I can go 5 hours until the next meal. I think protein is the key.

[joannqn]

Dinner last night was black-eyed pea soup made with plenty of spicy sausage, homemade bread, and tomato/cucumber/onion/feta salad. I over-ate because I love all of those things. Despite the large meal, I was hungry at 3am.

 

Lunch yesterday was tuna melt sandwiches on whole wheat bread with Sun Chips. We ate at 12:30pm. I had a migraine by 5pm, which are usually triggered by low blood sugar. Sometimes I can catch them in time to stop them but I was at swimming lessons with the kids and had no food with me.

 

Today we had lunch at 12:30pm again. I had a tuna sandwich on homemade wheat rolls and needed to eat around 4:30pm because I could tell I had another migraine coming on. Because I was home, I was able to eat in time to prevent it.

 

I'm getting protein, and usually that amount of food is enough. The only difference is the time we ate. Why would changing our meal times make snacks necessary?

 

ETA: So far breakfast to lunch is ok.

Edited September 11, 2010 by joannqn

[QueenCat]

I could never make it to 10am without eating..... but perhaps you go to bed later and get up later? I get up at 7 most days. Younger ds and I eat breakfast around 7:30-8am (dh and older ds eat earlier as they leave the house earlier). Lunch is on our own, but younger ds usually eats around 11:30, as do I. I tend to snack around 2-3, just some nuts or something. Ds snacks often but still eats his meals. Dinner is around 5:30 most nights. Everyone tends to have some kind of snack around 8, nothing formal, just get what you need when you need it. No way could I go from dinner until breakfast with out a little something in the evening.

[Ellie]

Maybe it's just what we're all used to.

 

We're always finished with dinner before 6. We might have popcorn while we're sitting around watching TV or whatever, but not always. Breakfast is 8ish, lunch is noon-ish. No regularly scheduled snacks; we might grab an apple or a piece of cheese or something like that. We're just used to it. :-)

[RoughCollie]

We have breakfast at 6:25, lunch at 12, dinner at 6, dessert at 8, if I am serving a dessert.

 

I usually don't eat after dinner. If I woke up feeling hungry in the middle of the night, I'd have a bedtime snack.

 

I don't have to remind the boys or DH to snack before going to bed -- it seems to me that their lunch-hooks are always in use.

Edited September 11, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Parrothead]

I've got thyroid/metabolism issue so, like you, I need to eat as a preventative measure.

 

When I get up between 8 and 9, I have my caffeine delivered via cold delivery system. Since the delivery system has quite a bit of sugar as well, I'm good until I am awake to function in the kitchen - about an hour after waking. So eat either carbs or protein depending on what my body tells me to eat.

 

About 3 hours later we do lunch. Usually this is some kind of salad and sandwich in the summer, soup and sandwich in the winter. Within 3 hours of lunch I have to have a snack. I try for a piece of fruit,hard boiled egg or half a sandwich, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes it is chips or cookies.

 

Dinner is generally within 2 hours of the late afternoon snack. If I don't have the snack often my blood sugar isn't high enough to allow me to function enough to cook dinner.

 

Then while watching TV between 8 and 9 pm we as a family have popcorn, cheese and crackers or ice cream for a snack. Before bed I generally eat a bowl of cereal. Then start the entire process over in the morning.

 

Now for the disclaimer. I've got the above mentioned thyroid/metabolic disorder. If I did not have this disorder the weight gain would be unreal due to the amount of food I eat every three hours.

 

Good luck finding what works for you. Try a bowl of oatmeal before bed.

[Gooblink]

Any time I've made changes to eating or sleeping patterns, my system has rebelled. The body clock seems a stubbornly resilient thing and, but protests loudly when we don't do what it expects. :)

 

I suspect your system just needs time to get used to the new feeding schedule. Make sure to pack a light snack for those times when you feel a migraine coming on. I think if you are able to stick to the new schedule, you'll find that after a couple of weeks you don't need the extra snacks.

[angela in ohio]

I started having a small protein-heavy snack before bed when I had getational diabetes, and I've never stopped. It keeps me from being cranky in the morning.

[Joker]

Younger dd and I always have a glass of milk before bed. If we don't we have trouble sleeping and are in a very bad mood the next day. We eat dinner at 5:30 just about every day and I am always feeling hungry before bed at 11pm.

[Carrie12345]

I think it's all about individual metabolism. When not pregnant or bf'ing, I typically have dinner around 6 or 7pm and don't get around to eating again until 10 or 11am. I'm just not a big breakfast person.

 

My kids tend to eat dinner between 6 and 7 and IMMEDIATELY seek breakfast when they wake up around 6 or 7am. Then most of them eat constantly all morning and afternoon.

 

Pregnant or bf'ing, I usually have some sort of food in my mouth at all times :tongue_smilie:. I'll have a small snack around 9pm (heartburn is a real issue, so I have to be careful), and my "first" breakfast around 7am.

[Tammyla]

Chocolate milk, a little yogurt or cottage cheese are my favorites.

 

Normally, we eat breakfast about 10am, lunch around 2pm, and dinner around 8pm. For various reasons, I'm trying to move our meals about 2 hours earlier but I find that the same amount of food doesn't last me until the next meal. Dinner is especially difficult because I wake up in the middle of the night with intense hunger pains.

 

So, if you eat at 6:30 or earlier, do you just eat again before you go to bed so you don't wake up hungry in the middle of the night?

[Melenie]

I eat dinner at 4:30pm and do not need a snack during the night, but it has taken me several months to "wean" of that snack and I no longer get hungry. For me there were a few tricks to get there.

 

Firstly, I do not stick to 3 meals a day, but have several smaller meals. Normally, I wake up around 6am and drink a cup of warm tea. By 8am we eat breakfast - either a boiled egg, avo on toast or porridge. By 10am we have a fruit snack. Lunch is at 12ish and is normally a salad, veggies, sandwich, left overs or soup. We eat another snack around 2ish, normally fruit or veggies and dip. Dinner is at 4:30 and the kids have a fruit snack or a cookie after dinner, I try not to, but some days I will join them.

 

I used to need a snack around 8pm to keep me going though the night, but started having a small class of wine instead. For about a month I needed that to get the food craving to go away. My body also had to get used to eating all I needed in the day instead of "asking" for it at night.

 

These days I make it through with no craving. DH has health problems and is 20lbs over weight. I have started packing him food to eat like we do during the day and he eats his last meal around 6pm (when he gets home) with only a glass of wine after that. He has lost 10lbs in 2 months and his health is improving.

 

I know you did not really ask for all this info, but I thought it may be helpful to see how it worked for us.

[LisaKinVA]

We eat:

 

6:30 breakfast

9:30 Snack

12:30 Lunch

3:30 Snack

6:00 Dinner

 

Although, on swimming days it is changing to look like this:

 

6:30 breakfast

9:30 Snack

12:30 Lunch

4:00 Dinner

7:15 Snack... in the car, on the way home from swimming. Home, showers, brush teeth, and bed!

[Joyofsixreboot]

We eat early.

B-6:00

S-9:30

L-11:30

S-3:00

D-5-5:30

 

The kids usually eat some popcorn or peanut butter&crackers at night. Dh is a big snacker. I'm hungrier in the morning so don't snack at night.

[MaMa2005]

We eat at 7AM, noon and 5PM. Never have morning snacks and very rarely an afternoon snack. We don't eat after dinner and haven't had a problem with being hungry. Maybe our bodies are just used to it :confused:

[Quiver0f10]

We eat at:

breakfast 7-8

lunch 11-12

snack 3

dinner 5:30-6:30

snack 8 pm

 

 

This is pretty much us too.

[EKS]

I eat at 6:30am, noonish, and 5:30pm. I never wake up hungry in the middle of the night.

 

I think if you change your schedule that in a few weeks your body will adjust.

[SeekingSimplicity]

we have breakfast at 7, lunch at 10:30, snack at 1, supper at 4. Then everyone is full and we don't eat much after that. Every once in a while a little sweet snack for dessert, or if we have a movie then popcorn. But most nights we're full after eating at 4. Then we don't eat again. But that's what our bodies are used to.

[Garga]

Sounds like you need snacks, OP.

[Laura Corin]

What do you have for dinner? I find that if I have a lean protein and lots of fibre/whole grain for supper, it lasts me through to breakfast. A cup of decaf tea with (soy) milk at about 8:30pm also helps to sustain me.

 

Laura

[anneofalamo]

I never thought of it, as not eating...lol, we eat dinner at 5pm, and all but me are in bed by 9pm. Sometimes, at 7pm the kids have a popsicle? But gosh, never have snacked in the evening...guess that is why they call it break fast!? lol