Staying on track with a challenging schedule?

goal06082021

Good afternoon, MFP! Let me introduce myself properly. Call me Em. I'm 5'3", 22 years old, and currently 188 pounds. I'm not new to weight loss, I'm not even new to MFP, but I really fell off the wagon in 2013 so I decided to start fresh, with a new account and everything. I'd like to tell you my story and sort of explain my situation; any advice or tips are appreciated.

Let's turn the clock back a bit to November 2012. Just before Thanksgiving, I'd lost nearly 70 lbs from my highest weight. I was down to 168 lbs, the lightest I had ever been as an adult. And then the 2012 holiday season happened, and then it was my last semester of college (lots of late nights and reasons to celebrate), and then I started a new job that required me to keep hours that I was not used to.

I work at a high school, doing academic and behavioral interventions with at-risk ninth graders. My schedule requires me to wake up at 4:15 AM five days a week, and the school's lunch schedule means I eat lunch at 10:30 AM. By 2:30 PM, I'm f***ing starving. Sometimes I buy a bag of hot chips from the vending machine; sometimes we have goodies in our room, brought by a teammate or given by an administrator or somebody as a token of appreciation. I pack my lunch, and try to remember to toss in a snack for the afternoon. Some days, though, I'm just too hungry at lunch to leave the snack, or I manage to leave the snack but get really hungry in the afternoon and stop at Burger King or something on my way home. I don't make much money, and the nature of my work (teens are exhausting to be around) makes it really easy to convince myself that I "deserve" to indulge in a "treat" more often than I should. As a result, I gained back 20 of the ~70 lbs I had lost, and this morning weighed in at 188 lbs. My goal for 2014 is to lose 30 lbs by December 31; that's about a pound a week, with some built-in wiggle room for the holidays, particularly stressful weeks, and/or my period. Very doable.

My circumstances are tough on both wallet and waistline, and I need to make a change. I think I'm better prepared now to deal with the reality of the hours I have to keep; right now I'm on winter break, and had some time to reflect and figure out what went wrong in terms of reaching (or, rather, not reaching) my fitness goals last year. I got a new water bottle for Christmas, and I'm hoping the novelty will help me want to use it more than I use the one I have currently.

I have about $200/month to spend on food, and I already tend to buy mostly fresh foods. I don't eat a lot of meat, but that's mostly because I forget to defrost it; I have no qualms about consuming animal flesh, and I'm not really interested in going full-veg. Veggie stir-fry and pasta are staple dinners. I'm not really picky, but I don't have a lot of time to devote to cooking, although I do enjoy it. I own a small (2 quart) crock pot, but I'm considering getting a larger one. I also have a rice cooker/steamer and a cheap Oster blender. I have some cooking skills; I can follow a recipe and I'm comfortable experimenting a little bit in the kitchen. I also bake my own bread most of the time.

I live with my boyfriend, and while he's never been obese, he's still got a bit of the Freshman Fifteen that followed him through college that he'd like to get rid of, so I have that support. Most of my team is also interested in slimming down a bit, so we've set up a group to support each other. My boyfriend and I are going to start taking walks in the evenings 3 days a week. We started out doing C25K over the summer, but then my work schedule got in the way of that; we need to go back to basics and ease into a routine, get used to walking regularly first, before we start trying to run again.

What I'm looking for are ideas for bulk meals that I can portion out and eat for a week, easily portable snacks and lunches (I do have access to a fridge and microwave), and foods that will keep me sated through my 15-hour days. I also really need more breakfast ideas; usually I cook up some eggs. Sometimes I toss in some meat or veggies and make a scramble. Like I said, I have a blender, and I'm not averse to smoothies as a breakfast option. I have some vanilla protein powder, too; any uses for that beyond "stick it in a smoothie" are also very welcome.

Tee2072

Try to add as many complex carbs and protein to your diet as possible.

Breakfast could be fruit and yoghurt or low fat cottage cheese.

Lunch should be something filling and slow release so a very thick granary bread sandwich with chicken and lots of salad.

Try to avoid fruit during lunch as it will burn quick and you'll be hungry sooner in the afternoon.

Slow cooker can be great for protein rich things that you can add a whole grain carb too, like chilli, pasta sauce (bring cooked whole wheat pasta and toss it all together in the micro at work), meat stew.

Good luck! You can do it!

GingerLolita

Feel free to check out my diary for ideas. I eat many small meals because I also get hungry often, so I eat six times each day. I always make sure to include whole grains, protein, fruit, and vegetables.

I know how you feel about the meat! I have trouble using a whole package fast enough and I hate dealing with freezer meat! I live with my boyfriend, so it's also just the two of us. The best solution I've found is to find a grocery store or butcher that will give any amount of meat you'd like to supply your meals for the week. You can also plan your meals around the amount of meat you have. I'm not a vegetarian either, but I have many cheap and easy vegetarian sources of protein in my diet, like quinoa or beans and brown rice.

I'm currently a student; during my busiest semesters, I cook breakfast and lunch dishes on the weekend and pre-pack simple snacks in the evenings. Some breakfast and snack pre-made dishes can be granola or granola bars and healthier baked goods. I make salads, sandwiches, chili, and pasta dishes for the week. I snack on cut-up fruits, veggies, hard-boiled eggs, and whole grain chips with hummus or peanut butter.