How do you eat healthy when you're never at home?

intrepidelephant
intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I leave home at about 7AM and get back at around 9PM. I don't usually eat breakfast until about 9AM since I'm never hungry right when I wake up. The thing is I eat at least 2500 calories a day (2-4 hours walking with 1/2 hour runs 4 times a week). I live in Toronto and don't have a car so if I don't get takeout I have to carry 2500 calories of food and containers with me every day for 14 hours (excepting the 9 hours in between when I work) which is a total drag especially when they leak. Seriously, I'm sitting in the Starbucks right now.

I haven't cooked anything from scratch in about a year and a half. I think cooking is onerous, women's slave work. My mother hated every minute of cooking she was obliged to do. I can't tell the difference between fancy food and boring food. My palate is mostly for candy.

Also, every time I used the kitchen my roommate keeps going on about how everyone at his job is conspiring against him (housing is expensive in Toronto. This place doesn't leak or have bugs so I'm staying here). I like sandwiches and yougourt and cold stuff and I'm OK with having warm food only twice a week or so. What should I do. Sometimes I wish I could eat less so that I wouldn't have to carry all this extra bulk with me every day

Replies

  • Anxieux
    Anxieux Posts: 275 Member
    Make one of your days off prep day, where you make home meals for the week.
  • ironsun
    ironsun Posts: 30
    I don't cook much either. I just make healthier takeout choices. Subway sandwiches with lots of vegetables, panera salads, hard boiled eggs, cut up fruit and veggies from my work cafeteria....etc. it can be done. Does your work have ample refrigerator space? Sometimes I'll bring a couple bags of Steamfresh veggies, leave them in the refrigerator and eat them as snacks during the week.
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Everyone's definition of healthy is different. My advice is to check out the nutritional info for places you frequently eat at and fit what you can into your daily goals. I don't feel you need to know how to cook to eat healthy.

    Also here to learn more about woman's slave work. :laugh:
  • skinnyinnotime
    skinnyinnotime Posts: 4,078 Member
    Can you keep food at work? A loaf of bread and some fillings and you can have all the sandwiches you want.
  • intrepidelephant
    intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
    Can you keep food at work? A loaf of bread and some fillings and you can have all the sandwiches you want.

    No, we don't have a fridge at work
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Here is the list of foods at Starbucks that are under 350 calories:
    http://www.starbucks.com/menu/nutrition/35-under-350
  • ryanwood935
    ryanwood935 Posts: 245 Member
    I'm encountering this as well. I can bring food in a small cooler, but no fridge/microwave. I usually pack up some variation of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, PB&J, lunch meat and bananas.
  • intrepidelephant
    intrepidelephant Posts: 100 Member
    I'm encountering this as well. I can bring food in a small cooler, but no fridge/microwave. I usually pack up some variation of greek yogurt, cottage cheese, string cheese, PB&J, lunch meat and bananas.

    Not too keen on the idea of carrying around a cooler for 5 hours after work especially in winter when it's 20 below. I tend to carry my life in a small messenger bag.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    The advantage of living in a big city is that you have lots of food options wherever you go. Choose places to eat / pick up food that have choices that fit into your calories for the day
  • TheSwoleMinister
    TheSwoleMinister Posts: 70 Member
    You MUST learn to prep your meals the day before, and pack out all of your food. It's not that hard once you get in the groove, I did the same thing (below) for 2 1/2 years without missing a day. You don't need a "cooler", you can get a flexible insulated zipper bag for less than $10. Just depends on how dedicated you want to be.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR1OpcLjCvw
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
    Granola bars, nuts, trail mix, dried fruit... No cooler needed. Get milk or juice to drink from a gas station, or Starbucks.
  • Navtendon
    Navtendon Posts: 168
    1) I bought a large soft cooler (and I mean large.... for reference's sake I eat close to 4000 cals per day.. someone asked me to count my calories once... I would never have done that on my own). I stuff this cooler with ice packs. This cooler was about $40. Great investment

    2) I make all of my own food from scratch in the morning or the night before. It takes about an hour. And I just put it all in the cooler and it stays cold the whole day. I work 12-14 hours a day, and once a month an additional 40 hour weekend, so I don't have a lot of spare time and I spend a lot of time at work. I just make time for that one hour in the morning. I also make my wife's food for the day, but she doesn't eat nearly as much as I do.

    If you want an example

    I will cook 100% grass fed bison or elk steaks on BBQ or pan fry in coconut oil or grass fed ghee. Or 100% grass fed lamb chops or beef steaks. Or wild fish. I eat it cold at whenever time during the day and it actually tastes amazing cold. I just keep in in those glass containers with great sealing.

    I'll also make my own guacamole with lots of olive oil. Dipping broccoli or carrots into this is delicious.

    A spinach salad with liberal olive oil/avocado oil homemade dressing, throw in tomatoes, walnuts, grass fed cheese cubes etc.

    A broccoli stalk coleslaw with homemade dressing.

    Kale chips baked with coconut oil only take 20 minutes to make in the oven so I start those first.

    Bags of raw nuts of different varieties, but mostly macadamia nuts.

    Plenty of high percentage organic dark chocolate, preferrably without soy.

    A small container of berries.

    Olives to snack on. Maybe also a few additional strips of grass fed cheese

    And all that will last me throughout the day and I'll usually make breakfast beforehand and make dinner when I come home. I know it's a lot of food preparation, but I enjoy it. And yes I do have time and energy for many other things to have fun because I make time for that as well. And I throw in about 20 minutes of total high intensity exercise per week, usually in only one or two sessions. I try to walk when I can and stand as much as I can at work.

    Of course, it's expensive. But I would argue that eating out is more expensive.

    I'm the kind of person who can get obese easily (and I was obese before when I was only eating about 2500 cals a day but not being discriminate about what was actually going in my mouth, and working out everyday), but using this current method, I've been ripped for 2 years straight. Iron tight control over the TYPE of food I eat, NOT the amount, along with smart exercising, is how I do it. And my lipid profile is now wonderful. And the food is absolutely delicious. So the investment was amazing.

    Anyways, that's how I eat healthy when I'm never home.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    The advantage of living in a big city is that you have lots of food options wherever you go. Choose places to eat / pick up food that have choices that fit into your calories for the day

    this.
  • Fitteacherc
    Fitteacherc Posts: 38 Member
    I live in NYC. I leave home at around 8 am and return as late as 10 pm on lifting days. Here are a few suggestions:

    1. Plan what you eat the next day in MFP by adding calories to 'tomorrow'. I get a rough sense of what I'm going to eat and account for special events (maybe I'm going to a team lunch, maybe someone invited me to coffee, etc).

    2. Find recurring staples that are easy to pack. Right now, my staples are Isopure coffee protein/Bluebonnet protein, small sweet potatoes, chicken thighs, kale, chickpeas, arugala, Quest Bars, and apples. I eat breakfast before I leave (protein + sweet potatoes or oatmeal), pack the greens/chickpeas for lunch (these aren't heavy), and pack the fruit/Quest bars for snacks. Even if I get home and cook dinner late, I've had a snack before and after my post-work activity.

    3. Plan a few healthy restaurant options. If I'm going to an opera or out for a drink, I know that I should eat before I go so I don't indulge in too many drinks or extra food. I know that I can eat at Chipotle if I need a lot of protein and want to skim on carbs and Subway if I need a ton of carbs (thank goodness they've taken the poison out of their bread...). I try to make sure I have a few places in mind around my office and gym.

    Hope this helps!
  • Fitteacherc
    Fitteacherc Posts: 38 Member
    About your palate - change takes time. If you like sweet things, I would try to get into sweet potatoes - you can zap them in the microwave if they are small enough. Over time, you can develop a taste for veggies. Maybe you could also try low sodium soups and pre-packaged meals (if you plan carefully so you don't go over your calories). These might be helpful because they aren't heavy to carry and it's easy to calculate the calories/macros.

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