12 hour shifts! HELP with diet please.

abm91

Ok so i work 12 hour shifts 4-5 days a week depending on the time of year. My days off my diet is fine but when i work i eat vending machine food or not eat at all. I know most are gonna tell me to pack some type of veggies or something but the problem is i hat vegetables, i honestly cant stand them (big kid at heart). Anyway so i was wandering what would be a healthy lunch and snacks that is cheap and doesn't take to much time to make or buy

Branstin

Chicken, tuna, or egg salad with low calories mayo or Miracle Whip. You could also carry a small cooler with yogurt, string cheese, fruit, low sodium nuts/trail mix, and broiled eggs.

libbydoodle11

Pack a cooler.

Here are some ideas. Depends on your version of healthy. I don't know how much of a cooker you are. You name it, it can be made into a lower cal version if desired. Just portion it out the way you like.

Do you not like all veggies? The kids I know that hate veggies sometimes like celery or cucumber...

Fruit of choice

apple slices
almond butter

1 serving of m&m's
1 serving of chips

hummus
cucumber slices

peanut butter and celery

peanut butter and jelly sandwich
turkey and ham sandwich
roast beef sandwich

yogurt and granola


turkey and cheese roll ups

chili
lasagna
beef stroganoff

soup or stew

rice and beans

chicken soft tacos

pizza

water

ice coffee

helman63

I work 12hr shifts as well. That extensive list above is going to kill you. OMG pizza, ice coffee, cheese roll ups !!! First thing you need to do is to adjust your thinking. I assume 12 hrs include some night shifts as well. Treat each shift as a DAY. I come in on night shift and say good morning to people. I have 2 normal meals at work. A dinner and breakfast. I may or may not have a "lunch" before I go to bed in the morning.

Cut out the carbs, sugar and fat as much as possible. Replace with high protein foods such as chicken, fish. I love peanut butter too but it has a very high fat content so if you don't exercise, don't eat it..... speaking of which, exercise. Go for a walk or whatever you normally do to exercise during your time away from your desk. If you don't get time away then stand as much as possible and fidget....being constantly on the move increases your metabolism.

I guess you probably have Aldi stores where ever it is that you live. Their prepacked meals are nice tasting, cheap and generally nutritious... that is unless you go for the high carb ones such as lasagna. But then, even those are portion controlled. So eat slowly. This will give your brain time to receive the full signals from your belly. If you eat fast you can eat a lot more before your brain registers it.

Replace:

1) whole milk coffees with skim
2) replace sugary drinks with diet drinks or water (yeah, I'm hearing you on that)
3) if you can get "light" pizzas they're a better option than normal and they don't taste that bad. Alas Pizza hut here have dropped them from the menu.
4) replace peanut butter with whipped or light peanut butter
5) get rid of bread and other processed grains as much as possible.
6) if you're getting fatigued, try an apple. They normally give you a bit of a pep up.
7) if your shifts have quiet times where you may get bored, try to find something to keep your mind and/or body occupied otherwise you're likely to start wanting to eat, just for something to do.
8) if you prefer to exercise after work, DO NOT use being tired as an excuse not to. It's way too easy to go down that path and if you do, you're stuffed (literally). Even if your workout is harder than it would be if you were working normal office hours it is still a workout. And look at it this way. As we said when I was in the army, Train hard, fight easy.

Patttience

helm an gives some bad advice. If you are going to cut out carbs, you can't cut fat. If you are going to cut out fat, you shouldn't cut out carbs.

You need either one or the other for energy. Protein is not an energy food even though it can be turned into energy.

A high protein diet that severely restricts carbs and fat is a risky diet for long term health. If you are going to consider it as an option you might lookin into the risks of choosing to eat high protein in the long term. Its all about the kidneys.

Frankly i don't think there is long term healthy diet that excludes vegetables. Adults are advised to eat 5 serves or more of different vegetables every day from a range of different vegetable groups.

If you don't like them you need to find ways to incorporate them into you diet that you can accept. Yes a lot of cooked vegetables are boring and not at all tasty. But that is to a large extent a reflection of the cooking they've undergone.

Another aspect of hating vegetables goes with the rest of the food you eat. When you eat a hyper flavoured diet most of the time, that is foods which are either high in salt + fat or foods high in sugar + fat, blander foods are quite unappetising and tend not to be chosen.

to get over your hatred of vegetables one thing that you should try to do is ditch all the hyper flavoured foods - these are nearly all junk foods anyway. Eat your meats plainly cooked either grilled, roasted or braised. Keep the greasy salty sauces and gravies to a minimum. Keep processed meats to a minimum. Do not eat cheese with any meal where you eat meat.

To improve the flavour of vegetables try eating meat less often and/or in smaller quantities as part of your meal. Put chopped meat into a salad. Put vegetables into meat stews. Eat roasted vegetables - i find it hard to imagine you don't like roasted vegetables. YOu can roast nearly all vegetables - onions, potatoes, tomatoes, mushrooms, capsicums, carrots, zucchinis, pumpkin, leeks, celery.

Try cooking vegetables in gratin dishes that is with cheese on top in the french style.

Serve garlic yoghurt with simply cooked vegetables.

Learn how to cook complex flavoured beans dishes a la mexican, middle eastern, indian and those done with herbs from europe.

Explore food from around the world and see what other cultures do with vegetables.

If you give up on vegetables, you will probably shorten your life span by a number of years. Watch this tv show on youtube about fibre and the value of it to good health.
Catalyst - Gut reaction Part 1 and 2.

Good sources of fibre:
fruit
vegetables
beans
chickpeas
lentils
nuts
seeds
whole grains.

Cook vegetables with cold pressed extra virgin olive oil and enough salt to make them tasty and rich flavoured. Use herbs. Use spices. Use cheese. Use some home cooked sauces.

To make salads taste good, use the abveo mentioned olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a ration of 50/50. Add some nuts. Add some feta cheese crumbled. Eat the salad with good quality bread. Try chopping in some ham or smoked salmon.

There is too much good food in the world being ignored by people who've grown fat on diets of maconalds, pizza and ice-cream and other take away foods. Its a losing situation for everyone.

hncary

I work long shifts as well. I'm pretty basic with my breakfast/lunches-
Oatmeal, berries, apple slices with cinnamon sprinkled on them, yogurt (can also add nuts, fruit, and granola to make a parfait), sandwiches, bananas, pretzels, soups (can be canned, but homemade is definitely preferable and is easy to make. It can also make a lot of servings and can be frozen for later). I also like making a bunch of chicken at the beginning of the week so I can put it on salads/sandwiches. You could do some meal prep and make tupperware containers with chicken or fish, brown rice, and a healthy side (I normally do veggies but you said you aren't fond) and just take one everyday with you. Best of luck! I know these shifts suck :P

Jerrypeoples

i usually work 7am to 5pm. not 12 hour shifts but 10. i eat a modest breakfast of chocolate cheerios, a cup of milk, a thin bagel and some butter. 380 cals

for lunch i have a thin bagel, 3oz of chicken, slice of bacon, provolone cheese and garlic red taters. that is about 700 cals

mid after noon i repeat lunch minus the red taters. thats about 350 cals

dinner is a protein shake consisting of 1 scoop of cytosport chocolate protein, 1 cup of milk and one scoop of frozen low fat vanilla yogurt. 300 cals

i generally make my lunch on sundays and pack and weigh everything and put them in the fridge. sure it takes about 3 hours out of my day but it pays off in the long run

Shalvia62

If you can afford it, invest in a vacuum sealer. Cook healthy meals and portion into vacuum bags and freeze. Makes for quick to grab, quick to fix, healthy meals.

EMTFreakGirl

Pack a cooler with what you would eat at home on your good days. Then don't eat anything that doesn't come out of that cooler. Avoid the vending machines. I work 24-36 hour shifts, sometimes even 48 hour shifts. (Ah, the life of a paramedic in rural NW Montana.) and I swear by the cooler trick.

libbydoodle11

helman63 wrote: »

I work 12hr shifts as well. That extensive list above is going to kill you. OMG pizza, ice coffee, cheese roll ups !!! First thing you need to do is to adjust your thinking. I assume 12 hrs include some night shifts as well. Treat each shift as a DAY. I come in on night shift and say good morning to people. I have 2 normal meals at work. A dinner and breakfast. I may or may not have a "lunch" before I go to bed in the morning.

Cut out the carbs, sugar and fat as much as possible. Replace with high protein foods such as chicken, fish. I love peanut butter too but it has a very high fat content so if you don't exercise, don't eat it..... speaking of which, exercise. Go for a walk or whatever you normally do to exercise during your time away from your desk. If you don't get time away then stand as much as possible and fidget....being constantly on the move increases your metabolism.

I guess you probably have Aldi stores where ever it is that you live. Their prepacked meals are nice tasting, cheap and generally nutritious... that is unless you go for the high carb ones such as lasagna. But then, even those are portion controlled. So eat slowly. This will give your brain time to receive the full signals from your belly. If you eat fast you can eat a lot more before your brain registers it.

Replace:

1) whole milk coffees with skim
2) replace sugary drinks with diet drinks or water (yeah, I'm hearing you on that)
3) if you can get "light" pizzas they're a better option than normal and they don't taste that bad. Alas Pizza hut here have dropped them from the menu.
4) replace peanut butter with whipped or light peanut butter
5) get rid of bread and other processed grains as much as possible.
6) if you're getting fatigued, try an apple. They normally give you a bit of a pep up.
7) if your shifts have quiet times where you may get bored, try to find something to keep your mind and/or body occupied otherwise you're likely to start wanting to eat, just for something to do.
8) if you prefer to exercise after work, DO NOT use being tired as an excuse not to. It's way too easy to go down that path and if you do, you're stuffed (literally). Even if your workout is harder than it would be if you were working normal office hours it is still a workout. And look at it this way. As we said when I was in the army, Train hard, fight easy.

I agree with your numbers 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

The point of my post was to give some ideas... My implication was that any food could be packed away for any shift.

To me, ice coffee could be made black or with almond milk, with or without any sweeteners. It doesn't even have to iced. Again, another "suggestion". I was only thinking caffeine because I was imagining how grueling a night shift might be.

I added treats so the OP's vending machine issues could be addressed by bringing something planned within calories from home. Clearly, the OP can pick and choose their version of healthy.

I see lots of folks siting a deli meat slice rolled up with a cheese slice or a cheese stick as a healthy alternative. It is not something I would choose but it can be easily portioned out and travels well.

I would never advocate any lite food. Though, they work for many.

I also recommend cooking meals at home rather than purchasing pre made foods.

One could always omit or sub any ingredient. Heck, one could even make the chili vegan.
All of the foods I listed can be made in a healthful manner or not. Either way it comes down to portion size. All anyone has to do is eat at a calorie deficit to succeed.

elphie754

Hi. I have the same issue (although love veggies). I work 12 hour shifts with no access to a microwave. What I do is a pack everything in a cooler and only allow myself to eat what I brought. Chicken tends to stay very well. Many of my dinners have been chicken burgers with some cheese. I also pack cut apples, apple sauce, soy milk, corn, peas, rice, etc depending on my mood.

maoribadger

I work 7-7 and tend to have breakfast and lunch at work. I have a smoothie before i leave then about 830 have a quick coffee break when I tend to have a protein bar and a shake. Lunch is usually either something like a John West meal or a ready made pack with some cold meat and veggies/cheese. I also tend to take a graze punnet and a bounce ball to work to grab on the run about 4. Then when I get home I eat light, cereal or greek yoghurt and some fruit