When You Get Home From Work And Want To Eat EVERYTHING

A reader asked me recently what she should do when she comes home from work and wants to eat everything in sight.

The evening goes like this: you get home, starving and exhausted from a full day of work. You intend to make a nice, healthy dinner, and just tell yourself you’ll have a handful of chips before you start cooking. Well, that handful turns into two…then ten…and before you know it, you’ve eaten way more than you wanted and didn’t even get to eat your dinner. So how do you avoid this from occurring?

• First, I like to encourage my clients to pack a snack to have at work in the late afternoon. More often than not, we come home starving simply because we haven’t eaten since lunchtime and we’re more than ready for a meal. Often, we begin getting hungry around 3-4 in the afternoon. So I encourage you to have a snack BEFORE you get home from work if you’re feeling hungry. Some snacks I like to have on hand are: smoothies, avocado toast, or a few pieces of cheese with crackers. Purpose: eat something that will hold you over until dinner and will help you to feel calm when walking through the door, not ravenous.
• When you get home, give yourself a few minutes to set your things down, change into comfy clothes, make a cup of tea-anything that helps you decompress and feel calm. We want to intentionally switch into relaxation mode (and have permission to relax), which can be difficult to do after work when you know the kids are hungry, you have somewhere to be, something to clean, etc.
• If you do come home and catch yourself snacking, simply check in with yourself, notice what’s going on, and remember that you have other options. You also have the choice to stop, pause, and choose something that would feel better. There’s no need to get mad at yourself or feel ashamed. Instead, take a breather, remember how much better it feels to enjoy a satisfying meal in the evenings, and begin making a meal you can enjoy.
• When choosing dinner, decide what dinner will leave your feeling the most satisfied. That feeling where you get JOY from your meal. Having the healthiest/cleanest meal in the land might not be the best thing for you in that moment, and that is okay! Just check in with yourself-what do you really want?
• Finally, after you finish dinner, check-in again: ask yourself what would make me feel the best in the moment? You can even say something like: “Tonight might not be 100% ideal, but what would help me to feel just a little bit better right now?” This could be cleaning up the kitchen, getting ready for the next day, relaxing, playing with the kids, spending time with your partner or roommates-whatever you want to do. Know you have that freedom! Remind yourself that you have had a meal that you enjoyed and nourished your body, and you can now continue to feel calm doing other things.

Craving more than just food? Ask yourself: Are you truly hungry for food, or is it fulfillment you seek?

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