Eating well within an abnormally busy lifestyle?

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SaraJ84
SaraJ84 Posts: 10
in Health and Weight Loss
How do you do it?

I get up at 6:30am, and don't stop/get home till 8pm. So I have no choice but to eat after 8pm....

What is best to eat at this time?

What is best to have for lunch when you only get half an hour? (& barely any prep time the night before due to being exhausted from long days!)

Weekends are just as busy, with no real time off.

I can't be the only one with a hectic life, i should be a size 8!!

Thank you in advance :)
Sara

Replies

  • Figuringoutme
    Figuringoutme Posts: 330
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    Ready to drink Chocolate shakes from costco are awesome
  • lipglossjunky73
    lipglossjunky73 Posts: 497 Member
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    I work full time, and have a 4 year old. I used to work 12-14 hour days, and now with a new job work significantly fewer, but my life is still extremely hectic.

    As exhausted as you are the night before, you MUST prepare the next day's food the evening before. If you want things to change, you have to change what you do, unfortunately. If I did not do that, I would be eating crap everyday. I used to be too exhausted, not pack anything for lunch, and then go to the bagel shop for lunch and get a big, unhealthy cream cheese bagel and Snapple. I felt like crap. It wasn't until I made it part of my routine to plan my food for the next day that I had more energy, and lost the weight.

    On the weekends, prepare vegetable dishes that you can use all week. Make enough quinoa to last a few days. Make a vegetable soup and put them in to go containers. Freeze them and take a few day's worth in the fridge to thaw out for your lunches. Pack small snacks in tupperware containers that will give you energy... wheat crackers and peanut butter, trail mix, string cheese, fruit.

    I am a fan of Cliff builder bars for the protein.

    I am obsessed with tupperware containers of all sizes. My sister in law gave me a very pretty lunch bag for Christmas with cool tupperware in it where you can freeze the lid as an ice pack!

    Once you get in the habit, you don't even think about not being able to do it. Like every other healthy thing, it becomes something you just do whether you can or not.... know what I mean?

    Trust me.... I can relate. My life was nightmarishly crazy for a while, and it affected my health. I had to carve out healthy time for myself, including waking up even earlier to work out. Ironically, I was able to get it alll done because of all the healthy choices I managed to squeeze in.....

    Message me if you ever want to talk!
  • lipglossjunky73
    lipglossjunky73 Posts: 497 Member
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    One more thing - on the days where I knew I wouldn't be able to eat until late, I packed my dinner as well.... But I am more of a grazer than a meal eater, but I made sure to eat the bulk of my calories before I got home, and then had a small snack at home instead of dinner....

    Also - don't buy shakes - for breakfast, make yourself a protein smoothie with your own ingredients.... put it in a large commuter mug to go!
  • eryn415
    eryn415 Posts: 98 Member
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    I have 2 kids (5 and 8 years old), am in nursing school, and work about 20 hours a week. You could say my life is a bit hectic. As I settled in to school last semester, I fell off the wagon a bit. I wasn't doing all the things that made me successful.... planning meals, drinking water, taking healthy meals and snacks with me everywhere I went, and exercising! If I have to leave at 6, I get up at 4:30 to work out. If the hubby is home one the weekend, I get up before anyone else to work out. Plan, plan, plan ahead and you will survive this! And even on days when you have to buy lunch or eat dinner out, find the best choices. Even McDonald's has oatmel these days! You can do it, no matter how nuts your schedule is.
  • Jo2926
    Jo2926 Posts: 489 Member
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    Left overs can be your friend, but it can be boring. Just cook a little bit more each night and have that for lunch the next day. Or buy just grab items from the supermarket for lunch - I like cottage cheese and fish sticks, or you can get nice low calorie soups if you have a microwave at work. Other lunch ideas - tun of tuna and bag of salad, sliced meat or individual cheeses, pitta bread sandwiches and so on.

    My best investments were a slow cooker and a pressure cooker - just throw everything in and it creates a meal for you whilst you do something else. You can even buy ready chopped veggies, or for a cheaper version frozen veg. I Love chicken soup in the pressure cooker with loads of veg.
  • lemonlime1
    lemonlime1 Posts: 48 Member
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    I am the same - I get up at 5.30, drop my son off at a friends before work, have half an hour for lunch then when I get home after work I have to make meals for everyone and sort my son out, so by the time I have any time for exercise its 8pm.

    I try to make lunch for the following day when Im preparing the evening meals, as leaving it until later just doesnt work for me, as Im too tired.

    The problem I find is the exercise - I could go for a walk in my half hour lunch break, but when would I eat my lunch??

    Any help would be appreciated!
  • SaraJ84
    SaraJ84 Posts: 10
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    Thanks all!

    My issue is I don't get time to stop between work & horses. No chance of me taking dinner and eating it at the stables. By the time I get home it's 8pm, i then have to cook, eat, shower and at some point rest and actually talk to my partner!

    I'm a very fussy eater so make my sandwiches the day of eating to avoid any soggyness. I am about to change from white to wholemeal bread though and don't have spreads (told you i was fussy!)

    I just need ideas on what's best to eat just an hour or so before bed, as it's unavoidable for me...

    Thank you! :D
  • mruntidy
    mruntidy Posts: 1,015 Member
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    What about spending a couple of hours with your partner on your off days cooking and then freezing meals that you can just microwave when you get in at 8? It's not ideal but you said you don't stop to eat at all when your at the stables and it means you can spend quality time with your partner and not have to worry about what to cook when you get in.

    If you don't want to do that, omelettes are a really good high protein meal, with good fats and a few carbs (depending on what you put in) or I use quick fry steak which you can pick up cheaply from most supermarkets and fry it up with some frozen spinach, it literally takes two minutes, throw in some peppers and Jalapenos and you have a really nice quick meal plus the peppers will speed up your metabolism.

    Hope this helps?
  • ejohndrow
    ejohndrow Posts: 1,399 Member
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    It all depends on what you eat. I personally eat a lot of fish. My food for tonight were two main meals: salmon, 1/2 avocado, zuchinni, 1/2 steamed carrots; tilapia with the same as mentioned before, cottage cheese with 3 peach slices for a snack, apple, oatmeal for breakfast. I go to work at 5:30 pm and turn my weapon in between 6:30am and 7:00am depending on where I was that day. Sometimes I make a few meals so I can grab them and go on my days off. I also eat a lot of salad with chicken, etc. But it just depends on what you want to eat, and what you are willing to do. A good meal can be made in 20 minutes, and you've got to have that somewhere.
  • SaraJ84
    SaraJ84 Posts: 10
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    What about spending a couple of hours with your partner on your off days cooking and then freezing meals that you can just microwave when you get in at 8? It's not ideal but you said you don't stop to eat at all when your at the stables and it means you can spend quality time with your partner and not have to worry about what to cook when you get in.

    If you don't want to do that, omelettes are a really good high protein meal, with good fats and a few carbs (depending on what you put in) or I use quick fry steak which you can pick up cheaply from most supermarkets and fry it up with some frozen spinach, it literally takes two minutes, throw in some peppers and Jalapenos and you have a really nice quick meal plus the peppers will speed up your metabolism.

    Hope this helps?

    That's a brilliant reply, thank you. I love peppers and would eat them with everything if I could - so good to hear they speed up your metabolism!

    Some great quick ideas there, thank you. Never thought of Omlette before...

    As I don't eat fish at all, or dairy really other than a splash of milk in tea, is there some supplement i should be taking?

    Thanks everyone :D
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    bump!

    I get up 5:30 go to the gym 1.5/2hours then work 10-8.. I get kinda a lil slack on the food front these days.. whoops
  • ruby_red_rose
    ruby_red_rose Posts: 321 Member
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    You can also try to attack this problem from another angle - if you have an extremely hectic lifestyle, then try and figure out if there are ways you can make it a little less hectic. Are you prioritizing properly? Can you say no to some things in life? I have friends who complain they have no time to eat well or exercise, yet they watch multiple hours of TV every week. It doesn't hurt to re-evaluate the things that keep you busy to see if they need to continue to be a part of your life.
  • castadiva
    castadiva Posts: 2,016 Member
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    Firstly, I empathise with the busy life! Secondly, can you keep food at work? Is there a fridge? I take a week's worth of soup (home-made or bought), some fruit and salad veg and a packet of sliced turkey breast/ham, plus a pot of hummus/guacamole/cottage cheese and a box of crispbreads into work every week, and use that for lunches, which saves both time and money. Leftovers can be good as well.
    Re. eating after 8 - it really doesn't matter when you eat, as long as there are no other health issues involved. If you want quick meals, omelettes, stir-fries and fresh pasta (if it fits into your calorific plan) are all very rapid meals, and the slow-cooker idea is great as well - you could chop the ingredients while you're cooking dinner, for example, and then have it all ready to throw in the pot in the morning and switch on.
    Finally, I have to agree with the many other posters who emphasised planning - cook a week's worth of meals at the weekend, or just make double or triple of everything you cook during a week and freeze individual portions, or a meal for two. Chopped pineapple keeps unbelievably well in small tupperware boxes, as do many other healthy snacks. You do have to prioritise it, but it needn't take much time - probably less in the long-run than trying to make a meal every night at the last minute. Good luck. Oh, and try to incorporate more dairy into your diet if you can - it's very important for both bone health (especially in women) and the brain. Yoghurt for breakfast or as a pudding is one of the simplest ways to do this.
  • SaraJ84
    SaraJ84 Posts: 10
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    Thank you for all your great ideas and views! Lots to think about.

    My hectic life will never change, that's the only thing that won't (unless I win the lotto). I have 4 horses that have to be tended to twice a day, and a full time job to pay for them! Weekends are for competing and if I'm not competing, catching up with housework and other chores. No rest for the wicked & all that!

    Thanks again :D

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