All suggestions welcome!

lucie_dobbins

I am having the worst time counting my calories. I drive the city bus for a living. And I work nights, from around 3 Pm till midnight. Because I am on a driving schedule I don't get a scheduled break like the rest of the universe. It's 2 minutes here, 7 minutes there. There are no bathrooms available ... no cooking abilities...and sometimes the only thing you can count on to keep you sane is a bag of peanut m&m's!!!!! Anything I eat has to be cold. And just so you know... cold rice and vegetables is GROSS! I have tried to eat just raw veggies... but there are problems with that.. (gastric issues) think about it! And again I repeat... no bathrooms available. Sigh... I spend 90% of my life sitting on my behind. I try to work out.. but there are energy issues ... ya know. I hate my job sometimes. I have gained 60lbs in 9 years!! geesh. I need suggestions. i need help! I need to lose 150lbs! And in addition to all of this... there are rules on the bus... no eating! no drinking! is that crazy or what??? OMG Metro is trying to kill me! water?? are you kidding me? (bathrooms?!?!) nope! there should be laws! but hey.. I guess I shouldn't gripe.. I have a job and I am not the fattest person at my job... that's sad huh? any suggestions? please help ... its not that I eat too many calories.. its that I can rarely eat enough!

Alure

Whenever your "morning" is, maybe that's when you should try to fit some exercise in, before you work all day long and are no longer motivated. If you wait you won't have the energy, but if you do it you'll start having more energy all day. You could even start really small by parking far away at home, work, or the grocery store so you have to walk more. Take the stairs, not the elevator when you go places. I've heard breakfast is supposed to be the biggest meal of the day (ideally) and that food intake is supposed to taper off as the day goes on. Maybe you could try to eat a big "breakfast" first thing in your day and be able to visit the restroom before you go to work and you can't. Perhaps you could substitute the M&Ms with a healthier option, like a protein shake, a slimfast, or a protein bar. Little changes add up over time, so you could start slow. I guess you should just figure out when you DO have time to eat, and figure out what are the healthiest options you can reasonably eat. Why won't they let you drink water??? Sounds really hard. Good luck!

lilmissy2

This kind of job (whether it's shift worker, bus driver, truck driver) always makes things a bit more complicated.

I hope you get some suggestions so you can devise a plan that will work for you.

Not sure what time your day consists of ie do you get up in the morning? Or lie in because you get home so late? Do you go straight to bed once you get home?

I think it would be good for you to either have 2 (or 3 if that's reasonable and you dont get too hungry on the leftover cals) good nutritious meals... perhaps either all before you go to work or 2 before and 1 after. Then when you are at work and as you say, are only really able to snack, go ahead and just snack. But make those snacks high in nutrition... maybe nuts or fruit (fesh canned or dried) or low sugar cereal bars or tetra pack low fat custard cups. You could try entering some days into MFP before it happens then only pack enough food to fit within your calorie allowance.

I definitely think it would be good for you to make some time at home to prepare at least 1 meal per day (sorry, its hard to tell from your post what you are doing at the moment) that can be chock full of vegies.

Best of luck to you :flowerforyou:

Rynatat

Water is the sustenance of life, really: I think the no food/drink is for messy things like soda's & juices which stain & leave sticky/dangerous messes. Water is the universal solvent, so if it spill, it dries without mess. I'm sure they would understand drinking water (since you need to keep hydrated). Eating snacks when you can't eat full blown meals is a great idea, although it's the type of snack you eat that make a difference. Try switching from the M&M's to a chewy fruit snack (Betty Crocker makes really yummy ones): it's not the healthiest, but small steps, small changes lead to big steps big changes! Of course there will be gastric issues when your body is not used to getting certain vitamins & minerals like it gets from fruit & veggies: it takes 30 days to re-write your body's blue print so try little things like start with celery sticks the first week, then maybe add an apple (golden delicious are my favs) and then add baby carrots. Because of your type of work, stay away from coniferous veggies like brocoli & cauliflower. DO add a multi vitamin and if you need energy, Crystal Light makes some different drink mixes that are very low cal now for Energy, Hunger Control & PurFitness which is like gatoraid without the high sugar & cals (I like the Peach Mango Energy & Lemon Lime PurFitness).
This is one of the hardest things to do, but you can do this. Just remember, small steps & it takes 30 days to re-write your body's blue prints. Even if it means it takes you 6 months to get into a routine by making 1 small change a month, you'll start to notice & feel the difference & you'll be proud of yourself because you did this and you're doing this the right way.:flowerforyou:

Buppie

I found some ideas on this site: http://ezinearticles.com/?Healthy,-Nutritious-Low-Calorie-and-Low-Fat-Snacks-on-the-Go---Watch-Your-Weight-and-Your-Health&id=3355930

Hope they help!