What should I eat for breakfast/lunch?

English muffin + peanut butter
Protein drink
Instant oatmeal in microwave (I often eat in the car on the way to work)
English Muffin pizza

You just need to get creative. Lots of quickie stuff if you look around on the internet and this site.

Oats are great for breakfast, I soak mine in apple juice overnight and add yoghurt and dried fruit in the morn. Put it in a pot to take to work. Pasta salads, houmous and veg, soups, etc, are all things that you can make the night before to grab in the morn, or soup you can take in flasks. Its all about MAKING time. I love rice cakes, and my gross yet delicious favourite snack is crab sticks

Oh i see I forgot about protein shakes, the only supplements I use are mesomorph which is ofcourse a pre work out shake.

What are some affordable protein shakes?

Randy,

I would recommend that you head over here:

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/forumdisplay.php?f=13
and start reading this thread:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121703981

Secondarily and most importantly: what are your goals?

Filling your blood up with animal fats will slow you down.

I think Sheldon Cooper puts it so very well...


Thats alot of Hocum

If you are needing to boost your calories throughout the day, protein bars are great and so are some dried fruit and nuts (very easy to travel)

Cooking in bulk (spend an hour and cook several chicken breasts in under an hour!) takes very very little time. Less time in fact than writing on a forum

We can all find ways to reach our goals if we want it bad enough. Do your research and then do what it takes, when it stops working, re-evaluate and fix. That and don't believe everything you simply read on the forum. We all may mean well, but it doesn't mean we all are correct.

The link Sidesteal gave was a good one (thanks for that!) , so I would start there and then make the small amount of time you need to go after your goals and get it done.

What makes you think your metabolism is slow, have you had a full medical and do you have a diagnosis? Do you know what your bodyfat percentage is not just your weight? Really the amount of daily activity you are doing with a physical job and sports your metabolism should be running well because physical activity boosts the metabolic rate. Four hours in the afternoon is not too long to go without eating if you have a substantial lunch but try to get a snack in during the morning. Just tell your boss you need to eat and will make up the time, don't make up childish excuses.

Your sleep is an issue, that puts the body into a state of stress which encourages poor food choices and encourages weight gain around the waist. Work to resolve your sleep issues and be honest about what you are putting in your mouth (track real quantities not guesstimates, if you have a smartphone do your diary at every meal and snack not at the end of the day when you have forgotten stuff). The truth is that research suggests overweight people tend to underestimate the amount of calories they eat and overestimate the amount of exercise they do - and since many Westerners are or have been overweight that likely means a huge percentage of us underestimate what we eat.

What nutrients are you low on, protein, omega-3s from oily fish, vitamins, minerals from fruits and veggies? Aim to eat real wholefoods that look much like they came off the plant or animal and a wide variety not the same thing day after day. Think about having different types of protein at each meal (meat/ fish/ eggs/ dairy), fruits and vegetables from all the colour groups (green, yellow/ orange, red, blue/ purple) and different carbs not just wheat (barley, oats, beans, lentils).

Numerous healthy foods are easy to carry if you have tupperware and a can opener. Nuts or seeds, any dried fruit, some fresh fruits, hardboiled eggs, hard cheese, individual yoghurts, any canned beans and lentils, cooked chicken portions, any canned fish. Many vegetables can be eaten raw with something tasty to dip or cover them in (broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, asparagus tips, spinach, bell peppers, baby corn, carrots, snap peas, scallions, celery etc). If it is hot where you work get a small cool bag and some ice blocks to keep your food fresh.