Midafternoon Cravings at Work

[Chris Amirault]

It's 1 pm, and I'm about to eat my Nongshim Shin Cup for lunch (I also enjoy their spicy shrimp bowl). On other days, I'm might have one of the lunches we serve at my preschool, or a Clif bar -- black cherry almond, usually. I'll grab a piece of hard candy or a mint so that I don't make visitors faint when I open my mouth, but I'm usually happy just to have that.

At least, until 3ish.... And then the evil craving begins.

Basically, I blow any semblance of eating carefully in the midafternoon, and instead I turn to bad, to very bad things. Oatmeal cookies at 70 calories a pop, one, then three, then eighteen of the damned things -- that's my worst vice. Thank god there's only one case of them here each month. I don't want to go home ravenous ("Cooking while Hungry" will have to be another thread), so I ask you, dear friend.

What do you do midafternoon at work to quell your snack jones? Any healthy, bulky, reasonable alternatives? High points for flavor intensity, I'll add.

If you refer to a specific product, do include a link so that we can see what folks across our lands and ponds eat.

(Oh, and if you're wondering about the difference between high and low tea, clickety click.)

[Curlz]

First of all, let me say that while I'm sorry that the pup's pic gone, that is one cute kid!

You are absolutely speaking my language here, Chris...I can eat lunch at 12 or at 1:30, and regardless of what I've had, the 3-4pm hour is always tough at work! I have an office job, and keep my desk stocked; there is always a Go Lean Bar (usually p.b./chocolate), a bag or can of almonds, a Nabisco 100-calorie pack (either Chips Ahoy or Oreo crisps), and some Go Lean Crunch cereal in my desk for just such emergencies. The cereal is there b/c I put it in a yogurt every morning, but on rare occasions when I'm truly starving, I'll put some in a coffee mug, add milk, and that's my mid-afternoon snack. When I have good apples in the house, I'll usually bring one in and have that either in the office or on the ride home if I've staved off the hunger pangs until then.

All in all, pretty healthy stuff, I know! But I'm (GASP) not a sweet freak--for me, it's usually about getting some protein/fiber. Any one of those snacks plus a bottle of water will do the trick!

[munchymom]

I find that for a snack to satisfy me, it needs to include some protein. Crackers with cheese, crackers with peanut butter, and nuts with dried fruit (trail mix) are my standbys. Having a big glass of water after the snack seems to help keep me from going into continuous eating mode.

[Chris Amirault]

Try as I might, the "big glasses of water" strategy has not cut down on the cravings, though it has cut down on the number of consecutive minutes I can sit still behind this computer....

[mrsadm]

One word: CHEESE. w/out the crackers for me. Even a small amount fills me up.

[jsolomon]

Well, I'm not a calorie-counter...

as you can see.

But, my suggestion would be: eat something to get your blood sugar up, e.g. some fruit or yogurt (my personal faves are prunes and grapefruit), and then something with caffeine, e.g. tea or coffee to help reduce your appetite.

Edit to add: I also have to sing the restorative praises of a simple pickle. A couple of kosher dills always restores my flagging resources.

Edited May 26, 2005 by jsolomon (log)

[redglass]

My body is in the nasty habit of eating pretty much every 3-4 hours (why can't I be one of those people that just "forgets" to eat?), so not only do I bring my lunch to work but also a mid-afternoon snack...usually a salad with a bit of cheese or a few croutons on top to add some more "meat" to it, or a small container of homemade soup- whatever I have on hand- to tide me over until dinner makin' time.

I've also found that hunger can come from simply being thirsty- especially after one of those soup bowls (couldn't read the NI on the label exactly, but most prepackaged soup bowls are very high in sodium). So drink up! (Water, that is).

[evilhomer]

big bag o gorp with m&m's

dried fruit - my avourite are dates, but they make my hands (and thus the keyboard) too sticky so i eat apricots a lot

wine gums

double salted licorice

[Curlz]

I'm not a calorie counter by any means (please--if I were, I'd be a size 2 ), but I do have to have something every 3-4 hours--definitely a low blood sugar issue. I find that the Go Lean stuff is good b/c it's low in processed sugars, so it has better staying power. And for whatever reason, an apple is the best of all fruits for me in terms of how long it lasts.

As for cheese, the mini Bonbel and mini Babybels are good 1-2 oz protein snacks, even better with the aforementioned apple.

[Chris Amirault]

3:30: a red delicious apple that was red but not in my opinion delicious, and a bag of Sun Chips, kiddie sized (140 cals), from the kind folks at Frito-Lay.

I think that did it....

[bergerka]

1. fruit - oranges are good, because you have to work at them a little, or

2. yogurt, or

3. granola bar, or

4. celery sticks with a little hard cheese or peanut butter (mmm), or

5. in REAL emergencies, a piece of that amazing devil's food cake they've got on the other side of the floor.

...please disregard number 5, I don't know WHAT I was thinking.

K, who is sticking with fruit these days, as slkinsey's cocktail obsession and a nine-month bout of utter laziness have brought 10 extra pounds onto this here body.

Edited to add: oh, screw you, jsolomon, now I'm TOTALLY intimidated and I'm going to go eat a pint of ice cream or something.

Edited May 26, 2005 by bergerka (log)

[TheFoodTutor]

Well, I'm not a calorie-counter...

as you can see.

You are also, apparantly, really hot. Thanks for the eye candy. I needed that.

Whew! What were we talking about? Oh, afternoon snacks, yes.

Um, cheese and crackers. Peanut butter - by the spoonful, yup. Cream cheese stuffed celery.

And my gazpacho. Gazpacho is great, because you can put just about anything in it, make it fat free or top it with sour cream, and you can get a dose of fiber (I sometimes puree my veggies with skins on, for fiber and nutrients), and depending on how much you eat, you'll get at least one of your vegetable servings for the day.

If you don't have time to make gazpacho, you could have a V8 instead, but the gazpacho is definitely worth it, and a week's batch takes little time to make and keeps in the fridge nicely.

[jsolomon]

Gazpacho is definitely awesome. Peanut butter is good, too. Even though it's got some calorie punch, it has good nutrition to go with it.

And berkerka, you oughtn't be intimidated. My lifestyle has its own unique pathologies which will probably see me drop dead at 40 in some embarassing state at an underground sports event.

Live hard, die young, leave a handsome corpse... but I'll join you in some ice cream!

[bergerka]

Live hard, die young, leave a handsome corpse... but I'll join you in some ice cream!

←

*starts to make really obnoxious comment about the idea of jsolomon in ice cream...*

*thinks better of it*

*slinks off to a corner with a midafternoon snack*

K

[tryska]

honestly - it seems to me you are not eating enough, to begin with, hence the afternoon cravings, and the rest of your day falling apart.

how about Trail Mix? When i was really tight on my game, i used to pack a homemade trailmix, that would have things like almonds, walnuts, apricot and pinapple bits in it. or switch it up, and use macadamias, golden raisins and dried coconut pieces.

I'd put it in those little snack baggies, and have it for my 3pm "meal" along with soem unsweetened green tea , and that would tide me over until my 6pm meal. (with a workout in between)

another option for pre-workout was chocolate whey protein mixed with gatorade, but that's an aquired taste methinks.

cottage cheese cups can work - especially if you have some fruit to mix in.

the idea is for it to be higher in protein and fat, and not so much cheap and easy sugar. but that's a good tip for all day long, because sugar cycles can be vicious.

[Behemoth]

This is kind of funny, but every math department I know of has tea in the common room at 3pm. Right around 2:45 every office gets a little restless as they wait for the secretaries to pull the oreos out of the closet. Its a nice time to grab a snack and talk to your colleagues. Don't fight it I say, celebrate it instead! (Plus, you can't eat as much if you're busy talking.) As far as I know, this is really a math thing, few other departments I've seen seem to have it institutionalized this strongly.

I tend to get a little tired if I am home alone around 3pm. I used to drink a cup of coffee, but now I find that a walk does a better job in waking me up. Unfortunately, I save my junk-eating for late-night work sessions...

[jsolomon]

Heh. The chemistry department I used to be in would just as soon invite everyone for tea, toss in a grenade, and lock the door. Those cats cannot get along whatsoever... and to think, they wanted me to look up to them as role models.

Over my cold dead ice cream covered body!

But, it would have been nice if they would have had low tea. Not that there weren't plenty of Mountain Dews being cracked open about that time of day...

[Behemoth]

Over my cold dead ice cream covered body!

okay now you're just being a tease.

[Ondine]

Over my cold dead ice cream covered body!

okay now you're just being a tease.

←

Seconded.

[Chris Amirault]

honestly - it seems to me you are not eating enough, to begin with, hence the afternoon cravings, and the rest of your day falling apart.

←

You're too kind, really. I'm quite certain that I'm eating enough, quite enough. But, thanks.

I mean, I work out at least twice a week and all, but I'm no jsolomon....

[jsolomon]

I've got it!

Nutella!

[Susan G]

Umm, sorry - was that nutella on you or in you?

[Tess]

I like protein in a snack too. Nuts (especially almonds) are good. Also, soy crisps, but i only like Stacey's. Ot edamame or miso soup.

Although, since joining Weight Watchers I've found that if I'm hungry enough to eat at all I might as well have a small meal and then have less dinner.

[purplewiz]

I just want to second nuts or dill pickles, especially eaten with a nice big glass of water. A small handful (if I'm struggling to keep the nuts from falling out from between my fingers, it's not a small handful) of cashews and water really seems to fill me up. Same with a dill pickle spear.

I try to make it very easy to snack on something reasonably good for me, and much harder to find something not quite so good. This is why I keep the pre-cut celery sticks around and pre-cut, pre-washed bags of broccoli and cauliflower florets front and center in the fridge. Yes, I know they're more expensive, and I know I could wash and cut them up myself, but I know I won't....and they're worth it because they greatly increase the convenience factor.

Marcia.

[SobaAddict70]

I *still* haven't experienced Nutella.

(either on me or in me. )

As for snacks, usually would be a pita pocket full of falafel and chicken from the street vendor outside Rockefeller Center. Or trail mix.

Soba