changing eatting habits

[sandy45]

DH and I are changing our eatting habits. we both want to loose weight...more loose body fat. the hard part i am having is that two days a week i am at school/work for 14 hours and get home too late to cook and eat, so we eat alot on the go. i am trying to find meals that we can both take with us to work/school, but it cant be refrigerated. we are on a budget also. i can only cook 3 days out of the week becuase that is when i have time.

so far we are eatting bagels, toast, poptarts, or cearel for breakfast. normally with milk, water, or juice. for lunch it is pb&j (but it is getting old fast) and occasionally hot pockets with chips and alittle something sweet. unless we dont have time to make it then it is what ever they have at his work or my school. i normally have a marathon bar or harvest bar in the afternoon to keep me going. and dinner well it is picking something up, or having it delivered. when we pick up we try to get chicken or with mexican food we get fajitas and chinese we get something with veggies.

any help is much appreciated!

Sandy

[KnottedYet]

Can you do some cooking or prep ahead of time for your busy days? Store things in advance in the fridge or freezer, and just nuke em when you're ready to eat?

What about cutting/washing a bowl of fruit the night before, and putting it in the fridge to wait for breakfast? Cooking up a pot of rice pudding with nuts and brown rice works well for us too, you can eat it cold or nuke it in the morning. Keep some yogurt cups in the fridge: instant food that might do more for you than pop-tarts. My son loves the "drinkable yogurt" in bottles for his school lunches, and sometimes I snag one of his bottles to drink as I drive to work.

For dinner you can prep a ziplock bag of veggies. (I love ziplock bags.) Put the veggies in a bowl with a little water and a plate to cover, nuke for 2 minutes or so. Now you have steamed veggies for dinner! Add a couple nuked (frozen) low fat chicken sausages and some nuked (previously cooked) rice or potato.

I find we eat a lot better if I prep stuff ahead of time. On the nights when I work very late the microwave is my friend. I use ziplock bags and Tupperware to organize my meals; servings of dinner or breakfast in the fridge or freezer all ready to go.

[sandy45]

that sounds great for mornings! the hard part for me is two nights a week i am at school till 10pm and i have to take lunch and dinner. and i only have access to a microwave at lunch. so what do i do then? the veggies and all would hold till lunch but then i have dinner to figure out...

[KnottedYet]

Dinner that won't go bad and can be eaten cold. Hmmmm.

Raw veges and aseptic-pack dip? (or make your own dip out of yogurt and stuff)

Sliced cheese and a couple handfuls of walnuts.

Single-serving canned fish and rice cakes or rye-crisp.

Drinkable yogurt or cup yogurt.

Smoked salmon, bagel, and squeeze-tube of cream cheese (aseptic)

Tupperware of frozen corn and frozen shelled edemame with salt and pepper. By dinner time it'll be thawed and it won't go bad.

Good ol' bananas for dessert?

[mtbdarby]

Sandy, good topic, I've been dealing with this myself these days. On the weekends, I cook larger portions and freeze them in individual size container. A frozen container in an insulated lunch bag should keep for most of the day, or you can heat it for lunch. Or put a small freezable pouch in the bag to keep a sandwich, fruit or yogurt cool for supper. On Wednesdays I do this as I get to eat supper in my car driving from town to town for class.

I also buy the baby carrots, trisquits and cheese are a good snack and I like the south beach bars or special K low fat ones. Apples, raisins and bananas travel well as do nuts - almonds, pecans, filberts (my fav!), etc. A healthier pizza with lots of veggies and or chicken also tastes good cold. And then I only pack 2 slices so I don't eat half of it....

Hope that helps!

[roshelleuop]

Sandy 45,

I have just recently discovered a wonderful way to make fresh veggies for dinner, without having to clean then, cut them up, boil/steam them, etc. They are already prepared and bagged fresh veggies that you throw in the microwave for 5 minutes and TADA you have fresh steamed veggies.

I found them by the salad area at Pick N Save, where the stir fry veggies kits, etc. are. I found broccoli/carrots and broccoli/cauliflower. They are about 4 servings per bag and are about $3.50. The shelf life is about 1.5 weeks.

For dinner at home, I will throw a bag in the microwave (5min), boil some whole wheat noodles (10 min), and heat up a jar of sauce (8 min) (last night it was sun-dried tomato alfredo~highly recommended ). All of this can be done in only 10 minutes and costs less than $10. It's really healthy, filling, and is easily feeds my family of 3 (my DH and I are both athletes, so we eat quite a bit). Or you can double everything, feed a family of 4 or 5 and have leftovers for lunch. Since there is no meat, you would be able to bring for lunch the next day without refridgeration

Roshelle

[Bicyclette]

If you only have access to a microwave for lunch - what I would do is make lunch my large meal ( heat up things that you have cooked ahead of time ) and then for dinner have something like Knotted Yet suggested - that's what I used to do - I took entire meals to work and heated them for lunch - pack them in microwaveable containers and nuke 'em up... and pack lots of healthy snacks

[Kano]

Those long days are a bugger. It's hard to come home and "cook" after them, getting ready for the next day or two. I understand completely! I don't like 'em -- hard on my TMJ, but DH has taken to buying the bags of baby carrots that are all cut/cleaned, etc. to take for lunch. It's more expensive to buy the stuff that's ready to eat, but when time is precious, and cooking's not a priority, it's sometimes worth the little extra expense.

I'm starting to buy frozen meals for those get home late suppers -- those little boxed guys can be tasty, they're quick, and they're a finite amount of food! I haven't been worrying about "lean cuisine" or "healthy choice" but I am reading labels, looking for content not calorie count (haven't found any individual meals over about 650, which isn't unreasonable for something like a chicken/pasta/broccoli/cheesy sauce dinner) and looking for things I wish I had the time/inclination to make myself.

We're struggling with the change of habit too, and it IS hard when life is on the go!

Just had a thought -- got a cooler? Those blue things stay frozen a long time! Heck, water can stay frozen a long time in a cooler these days: I just had a cooler with ice two days later! They're also making coolers that can be plugged in to keep cool, but then you might just as well get yourself a little end-table type fridge and put it somewhere less-than-conspicuous (so you don't have to share it with the whole staff!)

Karen in Boise

[velogirl]

It seems you're not eating any veggies -- just lots of brown/beige foods. Your diet seems heavy on carbs and processed foods. Adding in some raw fruit and vegetables would do wonders for your weight-loss (and your overall health and energy level). And lots of water.

It also seems you might not be eating enough calories (hard to tell without knowing your exact portions).

Did I mention you need more veggies?

[Dogmama]

Ditto velogirl. Toss the poptarts.

Watch chinese food that is breaded & fried. Very high calorie.

I'm a food dork - I have never liked the pre-packaged greens. As a child of the '60's, I was taught to be distrustful of the establishment. So, I wonder - how do they keep that stuff fresh & make a profit?

You can get bags for produce that will keep it fresher longer. I also clean all of my veggies (organic whenever possible) but I don't chop them unless I know I'll be in a huge rush - or it is a salad that needs to marinate. I've heard chopping veggies & fruit causes them to release nutrients.

I don't cook anything in their plastic bags because heated up plastic releases chemicals implicated in cancer. I take the food out of the plastic bag, put it in a bowl & cover the bowel with a plate (not a plastic wrap.)

--------------

OK, now that I've ratted myself out as being a food maniac...

You need clean protein, good fat & complex carbs. A few excellent books:

South Beath Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook - meals to be made in 30 minutes

Anything by Moosewood.

---------------

I absolutely love a book called Stop Your Cravings by Jennifer Workman. It is influenced by Ayurveda. The cover says "A balanced approach to burning fat, increasing energy and reducing stress." She talks about making lunch your biggest meal and making sure that you have all of the five tastes in your meals. She also goes into the different doshas and how to eat correctly (and even exercise) according to your dosha.

I usually avoid those kind of books like the plague, but this one is excellent. She is a registered dietician & isn't out to sell you her supplements, etc. She talks about doing a cleanse twice a year and how to fashion the cleanse based on your dosha.

[RoadRaven]

Everyone's giving great advice... eat sensible healthy choices...

But one thing that has greatly helped me in losing a little weight is only eating when I am hungry. This might sound really obvious, but its actually quite difficult.

We are trained/socialised from the moment we begin eating to eat because it is time to eat, or because we must finish what is on our plate, or because someone else is eating.
As children we are taught to stop listening to our stomachs.

I found when I reminded myself to eat only when hungry, I actually found I wasn't hungry as often as I was eating... therefore I was taking in less food... logical sequence, I began to lose weight.

Combine only eating when hugry with sensible food choices (but don't deprive yourself of occasional treats) and cycling and you will sheed the pounds/kgs...

[Pedal Wench]

Microwavable soup containers - single servings with a slice of a hearty whole wheat bread would be good. Those pouches of flavored tuna is really good - doesn't need mayo, so you save calories right there (I like the hickory smoked rolled up in a wholewheat/high fiber tortilla) and you can bring a few weeks worth to work and store it there.

[btchance]

There are some great ideas here. This is what I try to do.

In the mornings I usually eat some grapes, piece of cheese, an apple, and drink some milk. Other times I have subsitute something for wheat bread. The mornings I'm post call I eat the scrambled eggs and bacon at the hospital.

Morning snack - I have some prepared bars that I eat - sometimes a Nature Valley bar, other times a South Beach one or Oatmeal Raisin breakfast cookie. Will also sometimes have another piece of cheese. Wheat or Grahm crackers with peanut butter also works. (no way I can go from 5am - noon without eating)

Lunch - depends on whatever is in the hospital cafeteria. If I can't find anything decent, then I have a bowl of cereal and some bread.

Afternoon snack - same as morning

Evening - usually something I prepared on an off day. One favorite is roasted potatoes with olive oil and spices added. Also do brown rice, wheat subs with meat and lettuce and tomatos, and some bought prepared meals - anything to keep me away from my standby, frozen pizza. I always make sure I have milk with this meal also, and if I've worked out, other things are added.

I try to remember to do my multi-vitamins and calcium with dinner also.

Hope this gives you guys some ideas. If you see anything missing from my diet, please share your recommendations.

[btchance]

Just remembered - I would invest in a good cooler. Stuff will stay good in that for a long time. I would try fruits and subs for dinner. Also you can get the rice packets where you can heat that up in the microwave.

[cherinyc]

There are some great ideas here. This is what I try to do.

In the mornings I usually eat some grapes, piece of cheese, an apple, and drink some milk. Other times I have subsitute something for wheat bread. The mornings I'm post call I eat the scrambled eggs and bacon at the hospital.

Morning snack - I have some prepared bars that I eat - sometimes a Nature Valley bar, other times a South Beach one or Oatmeal Raisin breakfast cookie. Will also sometimes have another piece of cheese. Wheat or Grahm crackers with peanut butter also works. (no way I can go from 5am - noon without eating)

Lunch - depends on whatever is in the hospital cafeteria. If I can't find anything decent, then I have a bowl of cereal and some bread.

Afternoon snack - same as morning

Evening - usually something I prepared on an off day. One favorite is roasted potatoes with olive oil and spices added. Also do brown rice, wheat subs with meat and lettuce and tomatos, and some bought prepared meals - anything to keep me away from my standby, frozen pizza. I always make sure I have milk with this meal also, and if I've worked out, other things are added.

I try to remember to do my multi-vitamins and calcium with dinner also.

Hope this gives you guys some ideas. If you see anything missing from my diet, please share your recommendations.

btchance - it occured to me that most of the foods you described are close to the same color. white, beige-ish, brown. (cheese, milk, brown rice, bread, prepared bars, wheat bread/subs, roasted potatoes....)
I think you should introduce some greens into your diet (other than lettuce that goes on a sub).
You must have a CRAZY FAST metabolism, because if I ate like that....well, first of all I would be really tired all the time.