Tips needed to combat the munchies....

[ilovedjasondonovan]

OK, I need to lose a stone. I know what I need to do, and I mostly stick to it.

My problem is after lunch (midday). I've had my lunch, so I shouldn't be hungry. So why, why do I crave and give into stuffing my face full of junk afterwards?

Maybe its because I've got my 3yr old back from school nursery for the afternoon and her conversations at the moment consist of 'you're a poo, I'm a poo etc, groan.....'

Mornings I'm fine, and evenings I never get the munchies, just lunchtime. Even if I have something sweet like yog and melon at lunchtime it just never hits the spot.

Any advice out there on how to combat this?

Brush your teeth after lunch?

Iced coffee makes me feel very satisfied in the early afternoon too - as if I'd had ice cream. I don't have it with sugar, just some milk - so probably about 20 calories in total. Maybe it would work for you?

Add more protein to your lunch. Seriously. Craving a sweet can be down to not enough protein or just being overtired.

Are you by any chance eating wheat at lunch time but not eating it with your other meals? Gluten breaks down into morphine like peptides which actually bind to your morphine receptors causing mild euphoria, the come down from this makes you eat loads of food to try and regain the high. If your meal caused a big rise in blood sugar and corresponding rise in insulin you'll also get the effect of crashing blood sugar making you want to eat a load of carby stuff. The worst thing to eat for lunch is a sandwich. You want to be eating protein and veg really so a salad with a load of meat in it would be perfect or a chicken breast/bit of fish/packet of ham etc with some steamed veg.

I also agree about the protein. Try an omelette for lunch and then if you want anything after, a milky coffee is filling.

Sadly I don't like coffee or eggs, so those options are out.
For lunch I normally eat a stiry fry of mushrooms, spinich, ham/prawns with either rice or boiled spuds thrown in.

I don't put much protein, maybe I should try. Thanks for the suggestions everyone - even at 3 inthe morning you mad people.

I'm in Canada. They have this Greek yogurt here that is 0% fat and has 18g protein per portion. Comes plain or flavored. Is there something similar there? This is great with fruit and a drip of honey.