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Day 14: Morning affects evening
Do you ever start munching late in the day, then snack your way through the rest of the afternoon and the evening? If you have problems with late-day eating, take a look at what you did earlier in the day. Often struggles with hunger, fatigue and food cravings in the afternoon or evening relate to how you ate in the morning.
Breakfast and hunger
Are you usually a breakfast eater? Or do you avoid eating in the mornings because it seems to make you feel hungry all day? When you routinely skip breakfast, your digestive tract stays dormant until you finally give it food.
If you surprise your stomach one morning by unexpectedly eating breakfast, it secretes more digestive acid than the food requires, causing hunger pangs to linger for several hours.
Don't skip breakfast in an attempt to avoid this struggle with hunger. If you eat breakfast every day, you'll eventually retrain your stomach to manage food better in the mornings. It may take time for your body to adjust, but after a week on your new schedule, your all-day hunger will disappear.
You also may need to evaluate the timing of your fuel stops and begin eating more often. When you don't give your body enough fuel during the early part of the day, by late in the afternoon, it starts screaming for food.
Worse yet, your system may have a hard time catching up. This can actually make you keep nibbling all evening, even after you've eaten a large dinner.
Afternoon droop
Are you often famished and exhausted when you get home from work? By this time of day, fatigue and hunger can easily ruin your judgment about eating. To manage this late-day, high-risk time, always eat a snack sometime between three and four o'clock in the afternoon.
Look for healthy fuel sources that include both protein and carbohydrates. For example, you might have an apple along with a mozzarella cheese stick or combine a few slices of deli turkey with some raw vegetables. Many of the commercial energy bars also contain a good balance of both nutrients. The protein in the food will slow down the digestive process, giving you a long-lasting energy boost from the snack.
TODAY'S TASKS
Set a goal of eating breakfast every day for the next week. In your notebook, record what you ate.
If you wish, you can split your breakfast into two mini-meals and eat the second one mid-morning.
Plan a couple of options for late-afternoon snacks. List them in your notebook so you'll remember your ideas.
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