REWARD MEAL QUESTION

[CRIS]

HI EVERYONE!
I NEED SOME ADVICE. I WORK 3 DAYS A WEEK AND USUALLY BRING SALAD AND PROTEIN IN FOR LUNCH. MY LUNCH HOUR IS FROM 12-1. I DO NOT GET HOME UNTIL 7:30 AT NIGHT, SO NEEDLESS TO SAY I CAN EAT THE ENTIRE REFRIGERATOR IN A HEARTBEAT. I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD HAVE MY REWARD 3 DAYS A WEEK AT LUNCHTIME. HAS ANYONE DONE THIS? I THINK THAT MY CARBS AT LUNCH WOULD THEN COME FROM FRUIT AND YOGURT RATHER THAN THE BREADS AND DESSERTS I'D HAVE FOR DINNER. I TEND TO GO A LITTLE OVERBOARD AT DINNER SOMETIMES. I NEED TO CHANGE SOMETHING. I FEEL LIKE THE SCALE HAS NOT MOVED AND LAUGHS EVERYTIME I GET ON IT!

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP GUYS. I REALLY ENJOY HAVING PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH.

[Scottty]

One of the helpful hints I picked up somewhere (meaning I'm not sure if it's in the book) is if you switch your RW around for a day, there should still be 20 hours between them. So, if you have have your dinner on the days off by 6PM, You would be around 18 hours before you started your next RW meal. I don't know how realistic it is for you to finish your RW meal on you days off that early. But, if you can, you "might" be able to get away with that.

If you normally eat around 8PM working or not, then, I think you'd be pushing it a bit much.

Another suggestion: are you one of those "I've got to have breakfast or I can't make it till lunch" kinda people....or, could you drink water (or your allowed amount of coffee) in the morning and not eat until your lunch. I'm asking because if you skip breakfast....would you have a chance to take even a 10 minute break around 4-5PM and eat some hard boiled eggs, or cream cheese filled celery? Since you are trying to lose (and are not losing too quickly yet); you don't want to add a "snack" at this point. But, if you could skip breakfast, you could have that added meal between lunch and dinner. That might help you to better control your RW? I'm kinda doing the same thing myself today. We are going to a cookout and we'll be eating 1-1.5 hours after I am usually done with my RW. So, I'm waiting to have my lunch much later today. I've already planned what I can and will eat so I can enjoy my food, but stay within RW boundaries. By eating lunch late, my "ravenous stomach" will NOT beat me like it did last weekend when I didn't plan quite so well :D

So, yes the WOL does take a lot of planning, but, tonight, I know I'll be having a cheeseburger (with bun), and a small serving of dessert. :wave:

[offdawagon]

That's the really great thing about the CALP. The reward meal isn't set in stone. Although I would normally have my reward meal in the evenings, (primarily because that's when my family wants their biggest meal of the day) I often enjoyed my carbs at lunch or even breakfast. Breakfast is the tricky one for me, because there are some veggies I simply can't stomach for breakfast. The important thing is to make this plan EASY for you to live with. Flexibility plays a key role in adapting your lifestyle so you can continue this program indefinitely. Good luck and be well!! :wave:

[animaldoc]

They say in the books it helps to keep your RM at the same time each day, and I've found I lose weight slower when I switch it around. (Probably because of the 20h thing.)

The idea of a late breakfast and late lunch (I'm not calling it a snack) is a good one...I do that often on the weekends!

-animaldoc :wave:

[offdawagon]

Carbohydrate Addict's Lifespan Program - Ch. 8 - pg 175...this was OK for me...may throw others out of kilter...