I hate 3pm!

I don't know why, but EVERYDAY at 3pm, I get the unbelievable urge to EAT, and EAT, and EAT!

I handle my food intake so well, besides this one time of day. For example, today I got a huge craving, so I had a 100 calorie pack of cookies.. still hungry.  Then I thought: Protein, that will fill me up!  So I had a slice or 2 of turkey lunch-meat that I keep in the fridge at work.  Still not good enough.. so right now, I am chewing a piece of gum so hard/fast, that I'm sure that they can hear it all the way down the hall!

I bring snacks to have thru out the day (bananas, celery, carrots, 100 calorie packs, soup) and make sure that I'm eating every 3 hours or so.  But something happens to me at 3pm and I just can't get satisfied.  I want more and more and more.  This baffles me, b/c  I don't know what else to do.

I'm eating 1400-1500 calories a day and I typically get an "A" on my analysis.. I think I'm doing everything right, but what do I do about this 3pm stuff???

How do I handle this?  Does this happen to anyone else?  HELP!

Nuts, try a serving of almonds or peanuts first before cookies.  Takes away my cravings when I get them.

I have the exact same problem, at the exact same time! I get a nagging urge to eat and eat and sure enough, I look at the clock and it's 3pm.

I haven't perfected a way to  beat it, but I find that eating something with a very strong flavor with some protein helps. Anything sweet and/or starchy just sets me off on a crazy binge.

Try keeping small cans of tuna in the fridge and eat the tuna right out of the can -very slowly, chewing every morsel. Sometimes I like to put a little salsa or hot sauce on top.

Also, I try and save a lot of my work for that time of day, so I'm sure to be busy and distracted. Not everyone can do that, though.

Hope this helps! I'm soooo there with you!

I try and budget my calories to allow for a bowl of oatmeal or a cheese string and apple at 3 o'clock. I chug a bunch of water before and after the "snack" and then I feel satisfied until supper. I find the oatmeal makes me happy!

I handle that by having half of my lunch at 10:30 am and the other half at around 2.  I find that if I eat until I feel full, I'll be even hungrier later, so I just eat lots of small meals and eat until I'm not hungry.

I had the very same problem, my husband (a fitness buff) pointed out that I was eating very few calories in the morning.  So I flipped it so I was eating 500 cal for breakfast, 100 for snack, 400 for lunch, 100 for snack and 300 for dinner and 100 for snack.  It took a little bit for my body to adjust to the new schedule. But it works pretty good now.  I don't feel like I HAVE to eat lots in the afternoon and night now. Hope it helps. Lots of raw veggies and fiber help a TON too. 

Alot 3:00 as a big meal time for you.  If you are eating small snacks, don't expect that to happen at 3:00.  I budget my calories, so I eat 300 every 3 hours.  Sometimes, I eat a little less if not as hungry, so I can eat 400 or 500 at the next time slot.  As long as you budget your day according to your cravings, you can work past it.

I work in an office and when i started this in January I kept 100 calorie packs (2 or 3 different kinds), fruit, sugar free lifesavers, gum, sunflower seeds, weight watchers cookies, jello, whip cream, and who knows what else all readily available in the fridge and a desk drawer in my office!! It was like committing diet suicide! They tell you to have healthy snacks available for when you get a craving but I was totally going about it the WRONG way. Especially the 100 calorie packs. I could eat a whole box of those and it not even TOUCH the hunger or the nagging "want to eat!" feeling. In other words, they were a trigger for me. They triggered me to binge and crave. SOoo, now I dont ever buy them. Never. If I want a cookie I have the real thing. One, maybe 2 if i have the calories. Occasionally I'll buy a fat free/low fat ice cream product and use it sparingly. I keep SF jellos and fruit and thats about it. Its like magic the way my cravings like that ended. I would do soo well in the mornings when I was at work, just like you, and then about 3pm, right after lunch I would just be ravenous. So my thoughts: cut out the 100 cal packs and hang with fruit for a while. What I did is just decide to eat only fruit for a couple of days. I love it so it was a treat. It was like it flushed the processed crap out and now i just have it as a treat now and then. (I've binged maybe 3 times in 2 months. Thats a HUGE difference for me, I used to do it almost everyday.) Try it out. I hope it works for ya. :)

cup-a-soup, the low fat ones, 3.30-itis sucks

I work in an office too and I get sluggish around that time. sometimes feeling tired makes your brain think you are hungry when in fact, you're not. if you know you've had enough calories, try chugging a glass of water, getting up and taking a quick walk around the office, and maybe having a cup of green tea. might help.

happens to me too, right around 3/4 o'clock....when i used to work we solved the problem with donuts, chocolate and coffee! what i do now is grab something good for me and easy to grab since i'm usually in the middle of dinner preparations at that time. baby carrots, a few crackers, or even a cup of bran flakes cereal just to hold me over til dinner.

Thanks guys (and gals)!  I am cutting out the 100 calorie packs and I'm going to try to re-configure my calorie intake to be heavier in the morning.  I already eat a lot of fiber (at least 25grams/day-- usually closer to 35), fruits, and veggies.  So we'll see who this goes. I'll keep you posted!