Conference rocks::weight_control

    Me too.  Me too.  Any help welcome.  Two suggestions:  sometimes
    I zap Minute Rice in the microwave and mix in some low cal salad
    dressing.  This makes me fell like I've eaten a lot, but I don't
    think it has heaps of calories -- how many calories are in rice,
    could someone let us know?  Another thing is to make arrangements
    before you get home to go to the movies or whatever with someone;
    then you can't just collapse into a lump.
    

    Another evening nibbler here...
    
    A couple of things that sometimes help me:
                                
    1.	I've been in the habit for a while of having a large glass of
    	water as soon as I get in the door.  This helps take the edge
    	off my appetite, and I don't feel the need to have "something
    	to tide me over until dinner" as often.
    
    2.	If I know in advance that I'm going to be a couch potato that
    	evening (which isn't as often as I'd like!), I'll save 1-2 bread
    	and/or fruit exchanges that day.  That way, I can have a piece of 
    	fruit or two, a Weight Watchers fruit snack, or a bowl of popcorn
    	(2 cups = 1 WW bread exchange) while watching TV and still stay
    	on program.
    
    
    The Cowardly Lion

    I also have my rowing machine plunk in the middle of the living
    room (does wonders for the decor :-) ), and I try to fall onto that
    for awhile before I fall onto the sofa.
    

    
    It is hard when you are home and taking it easy after
    a hard day of work..  We aren't around food all day
    so when we are home we are near all that food we can
    have anytime we want..
    We are all tryng to break habits and if anyone knows it
    is very hard..  
    I have a hard time as you do and I also have a hard time on
    weekends and buffets and cookouts but I can say this
    If you like pop corn that is a great munching food and don't put
    too much butter on it .. and easy on the salt ..Our Weight Watcher
    leader said to sprinkle some cheese on it and it is yummy..
    If you like fruit why not cut up some fruit and some veg,s and nipple
    on them and you will still stay on your program..
    
    You are not alone with this problem so hang in there
    and don't give up .. maybe you could go to a mirror and 
    say I am not hungry and I am important and I will not 
    eat the things I shouldn't to ruin my weightloss..
    
    Take it from a pro... 
    
    
    Ann
    
    
    You can do it I can tell
    
    
    

Yes, when I get in the door from work, I munch out on anything I can find.
There are two ways I have solved this.  Have something low calorie to
munch on, like carrot sticks or other raw vegetables.  But make sure that
you cut them up before hand.  My greatest excuse (in my mind) was that
cutting carrots took so much time, I'll eat these potato chips instead.
What I usualy do is to cut up a whole bag of carrots and a whole bunch
of celery when I get home from grocery shopping on Saturday or Sunday and
put then in a Tupperware container in the 'frige.  That way they're always
just as handy as any potato chips that may have wandered into the house.
The other trick I use is to save part of my lunch until 4 o'clock or so.
I'm just starting to feel hungry then, so having an apple or some raw
vegetables at that time eases the hunger and I'm not an eating lunatic
when I get home.

It's all just a matter of learning new habits!

					Maryann

By the way, according to my "LeGette's Calorie Encyclopedia", 1 cut of
rice ranges from 200 to 300 calories, Carolina long cooking rice being the
lowest and Minute Rice being the highest.

...that should be one CUP of rice, not one CUT ... 
(nobody claimed I was a typist)

			Maryann

.

    I try to eat a piece of fruit or some low-cal hot chocolate late
    in the afternoon (after 4) - that helps somewhat. The woman I went
    to weight watchers with used to peel a carrot, and stick the whole
    thing in her mouth while she was preparing dinner. Made her think
    twice about sampling, and made her feel silly enough to give up
    the sampling habit!
    

    
    
    I found some wild rice crackers at the Health Food store (no sugar,
    no salt, no preservatives) that are surprisingly good!  They are
    baked with soy sauce and very crunchy.  Total ingredients: wild
    rice and soy sauce.  Total calories apiece:  22.  If you're on 
    Weight Watchers you can have 5 of these and count as a bread
    exchange. Or have one or two and count as optional calories.
    
    It's really nice to have something crunchy (like potato chips) without
    the guilt!  They taste pretty good, and for me, right after work
    I can eat one or two with a glass of cold water and this will hold
    me until I can get dinner ready.
    
    I like the idea of having fruit or carrot sticks, etc. but lets'
    face it, you get sick, sick, sick of carrot sticks!  Try a junk
    food alternative!
    
    Linnea
    
    

	Another option one might consider is to start on dinner as soon as you
get home.  Don't 'plop' down on the couch with Oprah or Phil. In my situation,
who ever gets home first starts dinner. Somehow preparing the meal provides
less temptation to munch than sitting in front of the tube.  For one I'm busy
(both hands), secondly handling the food is almost a satisfying as eating it. 
As soon as the meal is ready we eat. After that I'm not hungry 'cause I just
ate. 

	Of course this may not work for anyone else, but it's my solution to an
apparently very common problem. 

					Al  (20 down and 20 to go)

	I am assuming you fix your own meals. You may try preparing
	your meal a head of time and then if u have a microwave
	zap for about 2 mins. If possible prepare several evening
	meals adn freeze. This gets your meal soon after 5:30.
	IF someone else prepares, see if you can have it prepared
	soon after you get home; I know that makes a big difference
	with meal. If you cant eat that soon, consider what we
	used to sometimes as kids - eat the desert first. I have
	another rule - if you are not preparing the meal,
	STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN.

    I vote with a glass of water first thing in the door (well, maybe
    second - I do take off my coat first).  It helps on your water
    consumption and cuts down on the hungry horrors.  Also, go change
    your clothes right away, and freshen up a bit.  By the time you
    are through, the water has filled your stomach and your brain knows
    it.  Also, a low-cal something or other around 4:00 should help
    - fruit, or a bread exchange, or whatever.  A quick snack that even
    the weightloss clinic allows - Take 1/3-2/3 cup cottage cheese,
    mix in onion and garlic powder to taste, and use as dip with veggies
    or crackers (I am allowed 5 melba rounds per day as my two bread
    portions).  This is quick, and has saved me more than once.
    
    Good Luck with the Hungry horrors!  I think we ALL fight them. 
    
    PS.  Don't buy the potato chips and junk food, and you won't be
    able to eat it because it won't be there.
    
    Val

    I know what you mean!  An earlier note talked about not starting
    a diet on Monday, to not use Monday as a trigger.  Well, same thing
    about 5:30 - I try to not let it become a trigger, and try to keep
    moving once I'm the door.  My problem is that my husband doesn't
    usually get home until 9:30 or 10:00, and with no kids, that is
    a long stretch of time that could either be utilized or wasted,
    and it is my choice.  So when I found myself sinking into the "I
    deserve this, I worked all day", I tried to start thinking that
    my reward for "working all day" comes on Thursdays (payday), and
    that I am in fact not "done working" because I haven't done all
    I've wanted to.  I'm not saying this is easy! But when I do put
    my robe on and plop down into couch-potato mode, I do feel like
    I've deserved it because I look back at what I *have* done since
    I've been home.  
    
    The funny thing is, when I am out of town, or go straight to class
    after work, I *don't* pass out from hunger, like I can swear I will
    at home!  Another thing I've recently realized is that my kitchen
    is the most pleasant room in the house - no wonder I feel drawn
    to it!  So now I'm on a campaign to fix up the rest of the house,
    which also gives me a reason to stop after work and look at wallpaper
    or just browse the home-improvement places!

    Same problem, and i have a terrific and sweet tasting treat
    recommending to me by my Weight Loss Clinic counselor.  On this
    diet we're required to eat 1-2 apples a day.  As soon as I walk
    in the door I cut up a great big Mackintosh apple, sprinkle it with
    cinnamon and a sugar substitute, cover it with saran wrap, and pop
    it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.  By the time I've changed its
    cooked and ready, and tastes just like apple pie.  With a large
    glass of water, it holds me over until I'm finished cooking dinner.
    

    I've used a baked apple for the dessert craving.  I just core it,
    and put some lemon juice & cinammon.  I don't find that they really
    need the sweetener.
    
    To make it extra special, whip up some diet D-Zerta whipped topping
    (I think Estee makes it too).
    

    It sounds like a lot of you know how to take care of yourselves
    by relaxing, and you now have to change the food tapes that always
    went with relaxing.
    
    But...does anyone have the problem of not being able to relax until
    they crash?  I do get lots of things done, but I can't sit still
    unless I'm sleeping.   I have a hard time watching TV and videos,
    odd as that sounds.  Reading is much easier because the book is
    there when I want it, and I can pick it  up and put it down and
    I don't have to stay in one place with it.
    
    The only time I can really relax is when I'm involved in a project
    where I don't have to be passive.
    
    I was diagnosed as hyperactive as a child, so this is not new. 
    I have gone through periods of being lethargic (probably due to
    underactive thyroid), but I mostly sleep when that's happening.
    
    Now that I'm eating less again, it isn't taking as much time in my life
    as it was before, and I'm realizing that eating and cooking had
    been providing a break from the activity.
    
    My starving period comes at around 3 pm, not 5:30.  Just when our
    caf is open for ic*cr**m!  I have been getting cottage cheese in
    a small soda cup with a cover at lunch and mixing it up with cinnamon
    (I keep it in my desk) and equal and eating it while my friends
    eat the other stuff.  
                             
    Holly

    When I used to get home 2 hours before my husband (pre-DEC), the
    only thing that prevented me from eating as soon as I walked in
    the door was to STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN!  If I went into the kitchen,
    I ate.  If I worked in the garden, sat in the living room doing
    needlework, or even cleaned the bathroom, I didn't eat.
    
    Now that we commute together (and in Los Angeles, that's no joke),
    we both get home between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.  If I've planned ahead,
    dinner is simmering in the crock pot or all it needs is a heat-up
    before it's ready.  If I haven't planned it right, we get take-out
    or eat out, but still try to remain "on plan".  But I still try
    to stay out of the kitchen unless I'm actually preparing or cleaning
    up after a meal.  If it's not there, I don't eat it.
    
    Lynn