Waiting Too Long to Eat Leads to Trouble

We’ve all had those days where you go non-stop for hours without a minute to eat.  You may not even feel hungry.  But then later on,  the floodgates open and you can’t  stop eating. Nothing seems to quell your hunger! Learn some tips on how to deal with this.

My food frenzy
This actually happened to me last week. My schedule unexpectedly changed and I ended up having clients back to back for 7 hours. No time to order in lunch. Hadn’t packed any snacks. Was getting desperate for food and ate multiple chocolate viactiv calcium supplements. On the way home from work, I grabbed an energy bar, then a slice of pizza (the salad I had sitting in my refrigerator wasn’t remotely tempting).  This didn’t even put a dent in my hunger. At home, it was 2 Greek yogurts, followed by a  bowl of cereal … and I still wasn’t satisfied. Guess I don’t always practice what!  (pic:ayushveda.com)

Going too long without eating  is common for scenerio for people with hectic schedules. It  can lead to headaches or cause feelings of  irritability, fatigue or  “brain fog” . Not a great way to function a work. What is surprising to me is that some people feel perfectly fine skipping breakfast and/or lunch! However, whether you have symptoms during the day or not, going too long without eating almost always leads to a food frenzy at night.  In addition, skipping meals can slow your metabolism. (pic: dreamstime.com)

Tips to prevent going too long without eating
1.  Awareness. Everyone has their own time frame as to how long they can go without eating. Mine is about 4-5 hours. Some people need to eat more frequently. And even if you don’t get the symptoms I mentioned above, I still wouldn’t recommend letting more than 5 hours go by without a meal or snack.  

2. Planning. Keep healthy snacks in the office. My favorite snacks are: nuts, yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese or mini bonbel and healthy energy bars (stay tuned for a post on recommendations for energy bars!)   As a fall back, I keep light Muscle Milk in the refrigerator in case my other snacks run out. It’s also easy to discreetly pour into a coffee cup on those days I’m back to back with clients!

3. Schedule your meals and snacks. For example, breakfast at 9, lunch at 1, snack at 4 … dinner … whenever (ideally prior to 8). I often tell my clients to eat the afternoon snack whether they are hungry or not. Treat food like medication.

4. Progam your favorite (healthy) lunch restaurants into your phone. Many places will keep your credit card on file. That way it will take you 1 minute to order lunch. My local spot, Green Cafe, knows exactly what I want when I call. Some places will even let you place a standing order with them (i.e. turkey sandwich every weekday at 1 pm)

5. Remind yourself that eating now will prevent a food frenzy later!