Eating Times

Sarah-Jayne

Gold Member
Morning everyone :) hope your all well.

Recently, I have not been hungry in the mornings until about 11:30. Come that timeI normally just have an apple or a banana and then wait until 1:30 to have lunch then I munch through the afternoon until dinner time.

My question being though is do you think it makes a different to weight loss if you eat constantly throughout the day or do you think it is wise to have a seperate breakfast, lunch and dinner? Because at the moment, my three meals a day are not seperated, everyday is one long grazing day!

Thanks all xx
 
Hi Mate

I am having the exact issue at the moment. My work life is very 'peaks and troughs' and at the moment after working away for months I am based at home. This involves my routine being out and being less active.

I started with the 3 meals a day thing but realised I was just eating for the sake of it. I now basically eat when I am hungry even if the timing is a bit wierd. I do try to eat as such that I will be hungry about 6.30 so I eat with OH, but that is the only 'fixed' meal I have

I tend to now eat breakfast at 11am- have a light snack about 2pm (mugshot or some fruit) and then am nicely ready for my tea later.

Just eat when you are hungry- this is a brilliant way of learning the art of actually listening to what your body is telling you rather than just following a routine
x
 
My DH is a grazer and has been so for year's and he never puts any weight on, I on the other hand like the discipline of my set meal times.

We are all different as are our metabolism's so I think as long as you are still losing weight SJ then just carry on, it's obviously working for you. X
 
Yeah I am loosing weight but its slowed down now that ive merged my eating patterns so wondering if that maybe if I stick to three meals a day with a fruit snakc inbetween then it might speed my weight loss up again? Will have to start this tomorrow though as I havnt had breakfast yet lol.
 
Hi hun -

Ok, I never used to eat breakfast and starting was not nice. It's never good eating when you don't want to. But I can't stress how much better I feel for eating early now. I wake up at 5.45am everyday and my average day is:

6-6:30am: Small snack on way out the door. Even if it's just a couple of plums. I also throw a drink down neck too. I don't count this as breakfast.

7.30am I usually eat breakfast when I get to work and mostly have 2 slices of toast. I've started having a mullerlight with it now, and maybe a piece of fruit. Cup of green tea (or coffee).

9.30am Snack

11.30am Lunch - usually my biggest meal of the day

1.30pm Snack

4.30pm Small 'dinner' when get in from work. Usually have my second HEB now depending on lunch. So maybe toast with my cheese allowance or summat.

7pm Dinner

Now, I went of track with this recently and was not eating enough at all - and my losses showed. I ate like this the last few weeks and lost 3.5lbs in 3 WIs (1lb, 2lbs and 0.5lbs this week).

The above is average - meetings get in the way. I sometimes have meetings from 8am to 12 and that is always a bad day as miss snacks etc. I've had days I've gone right through and not had lunch because of meetings and that's awful. I always have a litre of water with me and usually a HiFi bar in my pocket 'incase'.

Hope this helps xxx
 
Thanks Sticky, that does help.
I dont get up until 8am most mornings and start work at 9am so by the time I get into things its nearly lunch time. I think i'm going to have to be more disaplined with my eating times etc.
 
I also wondered this! I am naturally not a breakfast person and have been forcing myself to have something in the mornings some days, in case it affects my weight loss. I much prefer some fruit or have a very late breakfast.

I did skip breakfast today because i was in a rush and then I went to group and didn't come back til gone 11.30. A friend from group was here and we had a banana. Just had some lunch and all is well now :)

Hayley xx
 
god i wish i didnt feel like eating in a morning, im starving by the time ive got ready and walked the dog, i think id pass out if i didnt eat before 9! I usually try to go to bed not feeling full though as it interfers with my sleep for some reason, so maybe if you feel you ought to be eating breakfast (i dont necessarily agree with this but it can stop you feeling so hungry later in the day) then maybe cut out something at night thats filling and have it in the morning for breakfast instead? *just an idea* :)
 
Normally have dinner and then a kitkat or a packet of quavers for my evening snack so its not as if i feel full when i go to bed and not hungry in the morning, very strange. before i started sw i was hungry all the time and now im hardly hungry at all lol x
 
Its more to do with society telling us when it is acceptable to eat at a certain time. Who told us that we had to have breakfast at 8am???
I dont have breakfast until 10ish, but have a glass of water before I, leave home in the mornings.
 
That is so true! I think over the hundreds of year its come to light that breakfast, lunch and dinner should be eaten at certian times and beceuase of that its become a mental thing that you should be hungry at them times of the day I guess.

Stuff it, i'm going to eat when I want to eat :D
(NB - But not past 9am as im too bloated to sleep otherwise lol)
 
Its all so confusing trying to figure out how times you eat affect your weight loss, assuming that indeed they do. I personally find it all too much to worry about so I just eat at set times, which is what I've always done. So I have breakfast lunch and dinner and a snack between each meal. I think the bottom line is to do what is convenient for your lifestyle, making too big a change may be restrictive and difficult to keep up. If you're a natural grazer then graze SW style and if you're a set meal times girl then eat that way! :D

For me even though I eat at set meal times, I find that I'm always hungry towards the next meal time which is great! I have a snack between meals anyway just to keep the ol' metabolism going. So here's a typical day for me;

Wake up at 6:30
Breakfast at 7:30 (usually porridge with greek yogurt, soooo filling! Love it!)
Snack at 11:00 (milky coffee using HEA and a piece of fruit)
Lunch at 2:00
Snack at 5:00 (yogurt or alpen light bar)
Dinner at 7:30 - 8:00
More tea after dinner with rest of HEAs

I love knowing that if I get hungry a snack or meal is just round the corner :D
 
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