Really need help with SIMPLE breakfast/lunch/snacks.

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amandy0707
amandy0707 Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
I'm talking SUPER easy. I am failing because I have so little time to prep/plan. Not getting home till 8pm most nights then cooking, laundry, kids etc makes very little time. I know this is where I am failing. I just need extremely simple items for work for breakfast, lunch and snacks. I would like to stay under 600 calories TOTAL for breakfast, lunch and morning/afternoon snacks. My dinners are usually 6-800 calories because I just can't take the time to cook myself a separate meal than everyone else. I eat about 600 during the day, and 6-800 at night on dinner, and burn about 200 at the gym. If I eat a light dinner, I reward myself with a beer for the extra calories I need to make up :)

I just need breakfast, lunch and daytime snack ideas. I'm not very picky, but am on a VERY tight budget due to moving from CA to FL in 30 days :) I don't like fish, or hummus, and am not a huge yogurt fan but I can eat it. Under 600 calories total? Very few ingredients? Budget friendly?

Thank you! :)

Replies

  • slmitchell2
    slmitchell2 Posts: 1
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    Snacks: 1) unsweetned applesauce (individual containers for portion control) with 2 oz of deli meat and about 8 almonds = about 164 calories. 2) A medium or small apple with a light string cheese plus almonds = about 200 calories. 3)A wedge of laughing cow light cheese spread on celery (35 calories for cheese, negligible for celery) along with a half a cup of grapes or some cherry tomatoes = about 90 calories. 4) a boiled egg, 1/2 cup strawberries, tablespoon of sunflower seeds = about 175 calories. On a weekend or day off, bag up pre-portioned baggies of grapes, cherry tomatoes, celery, deli meat, almonds, peanuts, etc. Then just grab a protein (the string cheese, laughing cow cheese, boiled egg or deli meat), a carb (grapes, apples, applesauce, tomatoes, celery etc.) and a fat (nuts) and you are good to go. For fat you could take a tablespon or so of almond butter instead and spread it on apple or celery. These are all quickly grabbed items that you can mix and match.
    I'll post some lunches and breakfast when I have more time. I am "restarting" my efforts to lose and have a HUGE amount to lose, but at one time, these were the type of things I ate that helped me lose a lot of weight. I had problems and still do with time (working full time, teenager at home and lots of volunteer work) so planning is the key for me...plan, plan and plan. Have good foods on hand, but have my meals, snacks, everything planned out! Hope some of these ideas help a bit.
  • doubleduofa
    doubleduofa Posts: 284 Member
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    Lots of good ideas posted!

    I don't have time on weekdays either, so I make a bunch of stuff on Saturday/Sunday for the week (for myself).

    Breakfasts: (Keep in mind I like a substantial breakfast)
    2 harboiled eggs and a trio bar (nuts/seeds bar - raw nuts and a few dried cranberries would work)
    2 mini "quiches" (I roast veggies, then put them in cupcake pans with egg and a little cheese) and nuts and fruit
    Bulletprrof coffee (or tea) - 24 oz of coffee with 2 tbl Coconut oil, 2 Tbl heavy cream, and 1 cup almond milk (I use an immersion blender)
    2 sausage patties, nuts, dried fruit (small amount), or fruit that is in season

    Lunches/Dinners:
    Brown rice spaghetti with roasted veggie sauce (had a lot of veggies from my garden) and pork meatballs - baked it with a bit of gruyere/cheddar/parm on top
    Shepard's pie - just ground beef with whatever veggies I have on hand, a bit of olive oil and red wine. Topped with mashed sweet potatoes (or a mix of of regular/swee potatoes) and a bit of cheese
    Chicken enchilada casserole - nice because it cooks in the slow cooker until assembly. Assemble like a lasagna, but with tortillas
    Veggie and meat lasagna - use the no boil noodles to make life easier. They make brown rice ones now!
    Chicken, pork, steak with roasted veggies - I chop up veggies, toss with olive oil, herbs, and garlic, then put meat on top and roast in the oven.
    Trader joes carne asada (and kind of meat really) and salad mix, little goat cheese or feta

    Snacks:
    Nut butter and fruit
    Cheese and fruit
    Raw veggies - I like carrots, mushrooms, and tomatoes
    Cooked veggies - broccoli, cauliflower, carrots
    Celery and nut butter or cream cheese (not for me, but it works)
    Hard boiled eggs
    Sounds weird, but I like cottage cheese mixed with applesauce
  • micheleb15
    micheleb15 Posts: 1,418 Member
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    For BF - Two microwavable turkey sausage links, cheese, and a piece of fruit. If I have time an English muffin too so it's a sandwich.
    L - Brown rice, black beans, grilled chicken, cheese and salsa (all prepared on Sunday, I just throw it in a bowl each morning)
    Snacks - yogurt, edamame, fruit, string cheese, crackers with PB, etc.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Whip up a batch of breakfast burritos and freeze them, they reheat fine. Or cook any egg dish really, doesn't take all that much time

    Lunch is easy, sandwiches, millions of combos
  • lilcassers
    lilcassers Posts: 163
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    fruits
    veggies w/ hummus
    natural quest bars
    nuts
    natural pb on ezekiel bread
  • dluberts
    dluberts Posts: 26 Member
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    for breakfast eat oatmeal(not instant)i make up baggies ahead of time with 2 tsp brown sugar in them.then in the morning when im doing my hair i throw it in the microwave so then by the time im done its ready to go.i take it in a tupperware to work and eat at my desk.its approx 100 calories and filling.then for morning snack i eat fresh fruit.for lunch salad or lunch roll ups.sometimes i skip the tortillas and bread and just eat meat and cheese lettuce tomato,some more fresh fruit,and a low calorie chip or 100 calorie pack.i dont go over 300 usually.then afternoon snack-approx 100-200 calories.i rarely go over 1200 calories with dinner included in that.the key to my success is the ahead planning..make up the baggies ahead of time.or plan your meals for the week,and why would you make something different for yourself for dinner?!?!everybody in your house can eat what youre eating.
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
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    Oatmeal is my go-to breakfast food. I just finished up on my packets and will be cracking open the big tub tomorrow. Word of note: if you go the tub route, understand that the packets almost invariably have sugar added so if you want that sugary taste you will need to add it yourself. On the bright side, you can add blueberries and strawberries instead of eating blue and pink figs.

    Today's lunch was a serving of pasta with red sauce, green beans, and cheese for 366 calories. If you wanted to drop that down to 300, you could swap out the cheese for an ounce of chicken breast. I like to get the three minute pastas for the sake of time.

    Beans and rice are fast too. Top that with some diced tomatoes and hot sauce and you've got your complete protein and a vegetable. Hash brown potatoes are easy to portion out and dump in a lunch box, same with any frozen vegetable. I've got a set of plasticware cubes I suspect my buddy picked up from the dollar impulse section of the local Target (she knows I don't set foot in those) that happen to be perfect half cups. If you run across these or something like it, buy them.

    Ramen breaks on the fold well, and each half block is roughly 200 calories. Do as the Japanese do and drown that puppy in vegetables. Half an onion thinly sliced takes only a minute to cook in the microwave and goes well with so many things, not just ramen.

    And spices. Go straight to bulk unless it comes in the jumbo shakers for a buck. No containers? Then keep them in the plastic baggies until some single mom replies to your Craigslist post for empty baby food jars, which should take inside of a day and more likely inside of half an hour.
  • arains89
    arains89 Posts: 442 Member
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    Breakfast: A banana, piece of toast, and hard boiled egg
    Lunch: Tuna sandwich on wheat, turkey and mustard on wheat, baby spinach salad with tuna or hard boiled egg and veggies.
    Snacks: Apple and peanut butter, Greek yogurt, grapes, peanuts, string cheese, raw veggies and dip

    All that being said, I keep dinner below 500 and consume around 1000 cals during the day with breakfast lunch and two snacks. Maybe you can find a way to spread out your calories more so you aren't starving during the day and gorging on dinner at night. Good luck.
  • KelseyWood91
    KelseyWood91 Posts: 21
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    I also do oatmeal for breakfast. I just google (or pinterest) some overnight crock pot oatmeal recipes and it's done by the time I wake up.

    Lunch I do either veggie pasta of some sort, an omelet, or a whole wheat english muffin Pizza. (Just put the english muffin and toppings in the oven til melted)

    and Dinner I do less carbs so either an omelet or protein shake

    the best snack is homemade apple sauce : Just peel a few apples, a few teaspoons of cinnamon, and chop em up, and boil em in some water (about an inch from bottom of pot) and boil for abouttttt 20 minutes, or until soft. Once done, just mash em! Goes good on ice cream, too.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
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    i love to make healthy pancakes on sundays. i make enough so i have breakfast for a few days during the week. snacks are using greek yogurt and a banana or a homemade granola bar. afternoon snacks are grapes or peanuts or popcorn or string cheese. sometimes even a hard boiled egg. lunch typically is the night before's dinner but a smaller portion or hummus/carrots or some type of salad.

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