From someone who used to work in an ICU ... I feel your pain. Though thank goodness, I never had to do 24's. Hit the 'low hanging fruit' first.

Finding the easiest possible thing to eat in the car in the morning was key for me. I did NOT care enough at 5 am to get up even a minute earlier than I had to, breakfast be damned. I just kept a bunch of bananas on the kitchen table and grabbed one on the way out the door in the morning. Not a complete breakfast but better than nothing to start the day.

Find a protein bar/granola bar/portable snack of your choice and stick 2 in your scrubs/white coat/whatever your uniform is pocket every morning. Or put the whole box in your locker at work if you're provided with one. Individual yogurts were a lifesaver too - even on the busiest days I could step away for a minute minutes and inhale one. It was just enough to keep me going, and not dizzy and cranky at 3.

As far as meal prep, honestly a great tip I got from another MFP'er is to get on youtube and look up easy meal prep. There's bound to be someone offering ideas that fit your style and tastes. At the most basic, you can take 30 - 45 minutes on your day off to make rice, vegetables from frozen, and bake some chicken or your protein of choice, and package it into x number of tupperwares for the week. Pro tip - buy a couple different sauces or dressings at the store for variety so you don't feel like you're eating the same thing every day. This only works if you can carve out the time to eat at work though - otherwise I'd just figure out a balanced day's worth of portable snacks and fill your pockets to bursting lol.

Good luck! Feel free to add me

I second donatelife.org!!

I feel your pain, im at the hospital 12hrs a day 7 days a week. I LITERALLY bring my whole life to work with me bc I have to get up at 4 to get my workout in so I def feel your pain. I do have a few tricks that work for me, my only problem is that by the end of the week im bored with the food ive been eating and tend to give into the cafeteria food.

my first actual meal is my protein shake after working out.

I eat my breakfast in the car on the way to work. I do overnight oats for 2-3 days, hard boil and entire carton of eggs, and a couple of breakfast burritos ( I freeze these and pop them in the microwave before leaving the house).

I also portion out fruits, veggies, almonds, and hummus as my snacks. I make sure I have enough for 2 snacks each day (mid morning and mid afternoon). Small things like almonds, blueberries etc i keep in my white coat for when Im really busy and miss a meal.

I plan and cook my lunch and dinners for the entire week in advance. this is the part that gets boring for me, I usually just do two lean meats and prepare them several different ways. Ex this week is chicken and salmon. I have garlic and herb chicken breast, chicken fajitias , chicken salad, baked salmon, and salmon salad. what ever I eat for dinner the night before is my lunch for the next day.

I keep everything in the fridge and lined up so in the am I can grab my breakfast, two snacks, lunch and dinner and be out. I have a huge lunch bag that takes up way too much space, but its the only way I can bring all my food lol.

BTW im open to suggestions for things to add/ change to this schedule bc like I said its boring. Im on day two and already im eating chicken f

I work as a hospice nurse case manager driving between homes, hospitals and nursing homes. I work 8 to 10 hours day and am on the road as well which means passing up all the fast food restaurants. If I pack a lunch the car gets too hot and the food is too warm by the time I eat it even when I use a small igloo in the car gets so hot it doesn't seem to keep it cold enough. I have the added problem that since I dive so much I don't walk enough and am considered sedentary even though I'm busy all day.

Lots of good suggestions above! I like to buy the rotisserie cooked turkey breasts in the deli section of the grocery store and make wraps, , throw in salads. I buy lots of greek yogurt-fat free and low sugar. May add peeled sections of a cutie (mandarin orange) or low sugar cranberries, few sliced almonds into it. I really like the mini-quiche recipes you can make and bake in muffin pans, refrigerate if eating within a few days. or freeze to last longer. (Eggs with cheese n choice of vegs like onions, mushrooms, peppers, jalapenos, kale, or even pizza or mexican style with pepperoni, olives, beans, salsa, etc.) As said by others above, I carry granola bars, nut mixes, fruit in my car, or store in my locker. I watch the sodium, so some delicious snacks are out of my scope. Still try to keep within my calories and macros. I think the hardest part is trying to carve out exercise time!!!! But so worth it, sometimes have to force myself to exercise, but it always feels better afterwards.