10 minutes to eat?!

honeylissabee
honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So, I started a new job nearly two weeks ago, and I have a love-hate relationship with it. Mainly, I love having a job and getting a paycheck, but this wasn't my first choice of a position.

I work about 28-35 hours a week as a shopper at a grocery store. People order groceries online; I shop for the items, bag them, and either set them up for pick-up, or pack them up for delivery. In a 5-6 hour shift, I spend almost all of it on my feet.

Unfortunately, I only get 15 minutes a shift to eat (no eating on the clock) and use the restroom, etc. I eat breakfast before work, but my shifts have been around 11-5pm. I eat breakfast at around 9-something on these days, and I get my break closer to 2. That's fine with me, but by then, I'm ready for a meal.

I find that I do better when I eat full meals rather than little snacks. If I'm hungry and only eat a little snack, it'll actually trigger my appetite and make me HUNGRIER.

I already pack my lunches, but I'm having a hard time getting enough food to fill me. I have great ideas for lunches from different wraps (turkey and yogurt cheese; cream cheese, ham, and carrots) to sandwiches to hummus and pita, etc- and those are just the cold lunches! However, I'm a believer in bulking up meal portions with fruit and veggies. A cold strawberry soup with a turkey and yogurt cheese wrap; butternut squash soup and/or an arugula salad with a grilled cheese; raw veggies to dip in hummus, etc. I'm having a hard time getting enough volume in during the 10 minutes I have to eat.

The other day, I had a full-fat Fage Blackberry Lime fruyo yogurt (thinking the fat would help), an organic string cheese (just wanted a little savory) and a few blackberries. I didn't have time to finish the blackberries before getting back to work.

Even having two 15 minute breaks would be better. I could eat half my lunch at each break, but with only 10-12 minutes to eat between the hours of 10;30 and 6:30 (traffic getting home is horrible!), I'm starting to slip back into old habits. I get home from work, sore (bad feet, I am in a LOT of pain after work), tired, and STARVING.

Replies

  • moontyrant
    moontyrant Posts: 160 Member
    Do you work with anyone else? How are your coworkers getting along with 6 hour shifts and no lunch breaks? I typically eat a sandwich and some veggie or fruit for lunch and I finish in about 10 minutes. I try to bring simple stuff that requires minimum heating/cutting. I find a yogurt cup, or some milk is very filling with minimum maintenance. You can keep healthy snacks in your car for the trip home so you don't stop in a drive thru. A bottle of water goes a long way, too.
  • bheathfit
    bheathfit Posts: 451 Member
    A temporary fix may be to drink a meal replacement shake or two.

    Longer term fix would be to have a discussion with the management about adjusting schedules to allow two breaks. (You can justify these breaks with improved employee output and morale if necessary) Always be concise and focus on what is in it for them with management discussions...

    Even longer term solution would be to devote 1 hour each day either before or after work to secure a better position at a different company. Possibly start your own business one day per week as a personal shopper or errand runner with delivery option. Someone out there has money and a basic need that needs filled.

    Cheers!
  • Wetcoaster
    Wetcoaster Posts: 1,788 Member
    I guess I don't understand.....you are only working a 5-6 hour shift.. 11 to 5......eat something right before you go to work.

    That shift sounds awesome to me.
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    I think most of my coworkers have different shifts that allow for better meal times and/or a 30 minute break.

    I eat breakfast when I wake up. If I were to eat breakfast right before leaving for work, I would still be eating around 9:30. That will hold me until close to 2pm.
  • weightliftingdiva
    weightliftingdiva Posts: 522 Member
    I'd just eat a more filling breakfast and then have a quick snack during the break. A lot of people have little break time or work long shifts. There's nothing wrong with shifting around when you consume the most calories. Unless you have a problem like diabetes, I think this is something you can work with.
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
    Eat a bigger breakfast. I never eat at work.
  • laserturkey
    laserturkey Posts: 1,680 Member
    I'm a cashier in a grocery store. I get a 20-minute break for a 6- or 7- hour shift. (That amounts to about 14 minutes for actual sitting down to rest or eat, if you consider the time walking across the store, a trip to the loo, etc.) What I do is eat a BIG breakfast or snack just before I go to work. Then I have a Quest bar and/or something from my Graze box with a Diet Dr. Pepper from the machine in our break room. I'm hungry for something more when I get home, so I'll have a proper meal then. I just look at my work break as a snack and make the food I have outside of work my full meals.
  • sshintaku
    sshintaku Posts: 228 Member
    I would probably eat a very small breakfast and an early lunch right before work (sandwich in the car, etc).
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    Right after I began my weightloss journey my hours went to 11-5/12-6 during the week, leaving me with two 15-minute breaks (I'm in retail also). I basically only had time to eat a protein bar I brought with me because A. no more chips or candy for me (since they were always quick grabs on the checkouts), and B. the break room is on the opposite end of the store from the grocery department and if I went down there to grab something, I would only have 3 or 4 minutes to eat.
  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,724 Member
    If traffic's so bad (I'm assuming this means long commute?) you can eat some of your snacks in the car.

    I pack a lunch now and it's almost annoying how quickly I'm done eating then need to get back to work :( 2 minutes to nuke the food if the microwave's available then chow down. But there are no restrictions on snack time, so there's that

    I had a chicken/apple salad the other day. Required no microwaving since it's eaten cold. So long as you can take bathroom breaks anytime, I'd just stick to having a sensible lunch once it's lunch time and go to the bathroom etc during the actual work shift
  • suremeansyes
    suremeansyes Posts: 962 Member
    Eat a calorie dense snack before and after work is what I'd suggest. :)
  • SunnyDuckling
    SunnyDuckling Posts: 204 Member
    Would it be possible to eat breakfast as normal (or even earlier?), but then get yourself to work 15-20 early in order to eat your main meal then?

    That would leave you approx 3-3.5 hours til your break, treat it as a snack break rather than lunch, then after work, before battling the commute home, eat another meal? Then a lighter dinner at home?

    I'm trying to think back to my days of working retail and having shifts at odd times like this. I think this is what I used to do. I never really thought about it, I just got into work earlier and left later, in order to get my food in.
  • RebelliousRibbons
    RebelliousRibbons Posts: 391 Member
    Protein bars! Look for ones that have at least 10 to 20g of protein per bar. They will make a world of difference in your life.

    The Clif Builders Bars are my favorite. Fast, tasty, and filling!


    Also, they're not full of scary chemicals like a lot of other bars.
  • F00LofaT00K
    F00LofaT00K Posts: 688 Member
    I feel your pain. I work from roughly 8am-4pm and then have 45 minutes to drive home, shower, eat, get my uniform on and head to school. By the time I get home, I have 30 minutes to do the rest. I usually microwave a frozen entree thing and eat it as quickly as possible. It's gotten to the point where I microwave my food THEN shower so it's cool enough to scarf down in 4 or 5 minutes. :(

    I grab a Power Bar with 20g of protein to eat during break at school also. I saw somebody else mention a protein bar. That is an excellent suggestion. It's not a lot quantity-wise, but some of them are around 300cals.
  • olletho
    olletho Posts: 20 Member
    Wow, 6 hours and only one break would be breaking labour laws where I am. My kneejerk reaction would be tell them to get stuffed... but that's not helpful.
  • florentinovillaro
    florentinovillaro Posts: 342 Member
    If I were in your situation, this is how I would schedule my day based on what currently works for me.

    1030am - Eat a (larger and later) breakfast (the additional fasting WILL burn off more fat stores), up to 4 cups of food, roughly the size of your stomach.

    11am Start work - Perfect to start burning off that breakfast (minimize carbs, increased proteins will keep you fuller longer).

    1230 - Stomach completes churning and releases food into the intestinal tract. Drink 32 ounces of water (fill up that stomach again) at this point.

    2pm - Break - Snack, though you probably won't need it as you will still feel full from breakfast and the water.

    5pm - Finish work - Work out, get your grub on.
  • honeylissabee
    honeylissabee Posts: 217 Member
    I eat breakfast as late as I can manage before heading to work. My favorite breakfast is steamed greens (spinach, kale, collards) with two eggs, a teaspoon of chipotle olive oil, and a cup of fresh fruit. Sometimes, I will indulge and add a small roasted sweet potato, but not always. This breakfast actually keeps me pretty full for about 4 hours with or without the potato. I also like hard boiled eggs, cheese, deviled eggs, celery with peanut butter. My basic breakfast consists of protein, fat (egg yolks, full fat dairy, etc), fruit, and vegetables.

    I guess I could skip breakfast and go to work early and eat lunch at 10:30 and dinner at 7-9ish. I'm not going to get up at 6 to eat breakfast if I'm eating at 10:30.

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