What time is YOUR breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and do you have snacks?

So, I'm here questioning how I'm eating.  I figured out before surgery that I'm a binge eater and that nighttime is typically the hardest time of day for me.  I KNOW this is still a struggle for me, so I've been thinking about adjusting some things and was just looking for some input.  I'm not a big breakfast eater.  I love breakfast foods, but I just don't like eating breakfast.  I'm never hungry and it seems like whenever I DO eat breakfast, I set myself up for hunger for the rest of the day.  I have been eating a protein bar for breakfast, but I'm wondering if I should just cut them out completely and see if switching the times that I eat will make a difference.  I don't want to set myself up for failure anymore.. so I'm going to try something different.

Usually I get up around 7:30-8 and take a shower then finally make it downstairs to take my vitamins with about 12oz of water.

I then have 1-2 cups of coffee with skim milk and either truvia or monkfruit.I have been eating breakfast around 11:30, but I'm thinking I'm almost better waiting until 1 to eat lunch, then have dinner at 6, then have an evening "meal".  This way, I'm eating the way my body is used to, not forcing myself to eat in the morning, and this will also take care of the "snack monster" that creeps in around 9pm.  Thoughts? Advice? I'd appreciate any feedback... :)

I know how you feel about breakfast--I always felt that the longer I could wait to eat, the better. It took me a long time to get used to eating early every morning.

I think one good argument that swayed me is that eating breakfast sets your metabolism in motion. If you wait until mid-day for your first protein intake, you have removed a 4-6 hour window of good metabolic  time from your body's calorie burn.

This might be a really good discussion to have with your nutritionist, though. Run your time-switching plan by him or her, and see what he or she says?

I used to be like you and hated eating in the morning.  But I've changed.  I eat at 5am, 8am, 11am, 2pm and 5pm.  Obviously I get up very early in the morning, so these hours wouldn't work for you.  But I find that eating 5 small meals a day 3 hours apart keeps me satisfied enough that I don't want to eat anything in the evening after dinner.  The only thing I allow myself after 5 is a cup of coffee or tea.

Jane

Geeze, you always ask such good questions, and as I got to thinking, I found I had more to say on it.

First, I eat breakfast sometime before 9am (usually around 8am), usually a boiled egg and a little cheese. I eat lunch around noon, usually tuna or chicken salad, and rarely an afternoon snack of leftover lunch or yogurt. Dinner is usually mainly broiled steak, pork chop, chicken, or fish and a low-carb side. Evening snack . . . ? This is really the hard part for me, and writing this I can see more clearly that I probably need to put a complete halt to eating after dinner as I have been thinking about. Evening snack is usually around 9pm, and often contains the most carbs or calories, depending on what I'm counting. Currently, this snack has been half a protein bar, or SF jello and a couple Tbs of whipped cream. 

Yeah, I need to stop that :/ I think I just get scared I'll get hungry, or that I can restrict the rest of the day so long as I can "treat" myself at night, and I want to stop doing the whole "treat" think altogether. Gah!

I too tend to want to eat more at night.  This is hard -- I'm trying to get away from it.  Going to bed early and working out in the evening have been helpful in this.

My typical schedule:

7am - protein shake

10:30am - snack (yogurt usually)

1 pm - lunch (protein / veg)

3:30 pm - snack (cheese & fruit usually)

6 pm - dinner (protein / veg -- sometimes later)

9 pm - snack (cottage cheese & fruit)

typical.  sometimes a snack is missed.  

Here's the other caveat to it all... my surgeon's rules are:

1.  NO snacking/grazing - only 3 meals per day

2.  NO liquid calories

3.  No drinking 15 mins before or an hour after a meal

4.  Each meal has to have 20-30g protein

So, according to my surgeon's rules.. I can't snack.  So that's also why I was thinking of switching things up a bit to eat like I'm used to.  I think that the protein bars may be totally screwing me up and awakening the damn carb monster.  So, I'm wondering if I try this for a week and see how it goes, then maybe instead of eating the protein shake at night.. I'll do it in the morning.  IDK.. just playing around with things trying to figure out why I'm feeling like I need more food.

No snacks. I think it is just crazy how everyone has different plans for the sleeve. I am being told to eat 6 small meals a day.

When I eat real food (not protein bars / shakes) it is very hard to get 20+grams per meal unless I completely cut out veg.  I know some people do this, but I really rather have some veg!

Our rules are very similar, but I don't agree/abide by all of them!  I do find that eating "real" (i.e., non-processed) foods makes me feel better and keeps me more full.  So I'd nix the protein bar if I were you!  

Well, rule #1, like it or not, hungry or not...... Eat a real breakfast.  Any other option is costing you in a variety of ways, not to mention slowing down your weight loss.

You have to train yourself to eat according to plan: the right times, the right amounts, and the right food.  Your main goal is is eat in a way that avoids all hunger.  And among the many reasons to eat breakfast, starting with a good one kicks this process off correctly in the morning.

As for my experience, I tried eating the usual 3x a day the first week after surgery but it left me with some hunger or impluse gaps.  I immediately shifted to 4x a day and stay there pretty much 99% of the time.

It generally runs: 7:30a, 12:15p, 4:15p and 8:15p.  However, I will sometimes push the timing back an hour or so based on workout schedule.  Also, at this point (i.e. maintenance), I opt for a light (< 100 calorie) snack in the 10-11:00p range.  Usually it's a sugar-free fudgsicle or popsicle.