Our Community users discuss eating and distraction strategies for what to do when you come home from work hungry and dinner isn’t for another few hours.
Grab a healthy snack!
“Have some no or low POINTS value snacks available, so you're not famished when you finally eat dinner,” says BUSYBLONDE1. “Try fresh fruit or veggies, a half of a sandwich...the possibilities are endless. Stay in the comfort zone—don't let yourself get to the point where you're so hungry that you lose control of your eating.”
“Drink hot tea, eat a piece of 2-percent cheese, a single serving of raw almonds, yogurt, or go for a walk around your neighborhood,” suggests Community user JACMIC.
Community user ROBIN811 says, “One of my favorites is a Wasa cracker spread with a wedge of Light Laughing Cow [cheese]. You could spread on some hummus, too, or have some hummus with assorted veggies. I also love grape tomatoes as a snack. And the various 100-calorie packs, if you can eat them slowly, are also good. The Vitatops are good too.”
How about a steaming bowl of soup? Community user TINA@HOME enjoys a bowl of the Weight Watchers Zero POINTS value soup with one tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese to boost the flavor. TINA@HOME also said, “Another member suggested a thinly sliced Granny Smith apple sprinkled with sugar-free cherry Jell-O. It really does remind me of a candied apple.”
“My sister used to teach and said this was the worst time for her too. She always kept egg whites around and would make an egg-white omelet for a POINTS value of 1 to tide her over, and this was her favorite snack. I have also tried this and it really takes the edge off your hunger,” said BOGEY82.
Pack an afternoon pick-me-up.
A lot of Community users suggested a late-afternoon snack, either at work or on your commute home. User PSOYSAL said, “You sound just like me! After walking in the door after work, I was starving and would grab the first thing I saw—like cookies, an ice cream bar, etc. Now I bring a giant apple with me in the morning and keep it in the car. On my commute home, I eat my apple. It really has worked for me.”
“I take a bag of baby carrots with me to work, and eat them on the way home. At home, carrots never seem like they would [satisfy] my hunger, but when they're all you have, you eat them and realize that they really do help,” said JESSWOO.
Engage in a non-food related activity.
How about doing something else to take your mind off of eating? Community user AIDYD67 suggests, “Take a long bubble bath, join a fitness class, surround yourself with non-food activities, read a book or crochet.”
“Since you have time, after work would be a great time to get some exercise in. Go to the gym, find a workout tape you enjoy or go for a walk. Then, have your tea and maybe some veggies, a salad a low POINTS value snack,” said UNADILLASC.
“Even though I am in my mid-30s and a female professional, I bought a Wii video game system which requires that you move around while playing it, and I placed it in my basement. I really don’t like to eat down there so that distraction helped a lot. No amount of willpower worked as long as I was sitting on the couch,” said Community user MILLS379.
Eat dinner right away!
It’s OK to eat a portion of your meal—or all of it—first and still spend quality time with your significant other at the dinner table later. Community user JOIELANE said, “I have the same issue. I get home at 5:30 p.m. and my husband doesn't get home until 7 p.m. I go to the gym after work, but on the nights I don't, I cut my dinner in half, eat half of it before he gets home and save the other half to sit and have dinner with him. Sometimes I walk the dog between my mini meals ... and I seem to eat less of the second half of my dinner because I'm not famished.”
“Frankly, I would have dinner. I am also up at 4:30 a.m. and we have dinner at 5:00 p.m. This isn't a case of the boring munchies, this is hunger. There are very few meals that cannot be reheated for [your guy]. You can sit with him and have a cup of tea,” suggested OATMEALLUNCH.