I am horrible at planning ahead and having food ready for myself while at work. Just wondering what others have for ideas for quick breakfast/lunch/snacks while at work. Not necessarily "diet" food but good healthy snacks I can keep in my drawer/computer bag while at work or on the go at work? My default is usually poptarts from the vending machine just need some quick ideas so I can be prepared. Right now all I have is Medifast shakes (which are horrible, and why I end up at the vending machine) and now that i am working on IE it is hard to even think what i could have instead of "only allowed medifast shakes" which i don't eat anyway.

You can pack a lunch box with ice. Stock it with hard boiled eggs, greek yogurt (which I like to mix with stevia and cinnamon), canned fish like sardines or tuna, raw nuts, salad with olive oil and lemon juice, steel cut oatmeal (you can prepare it the night before...find a recipe online which is easy). I hope that helps

What do you like to snack on? Can you portion control and/or make healthy substitutions for those things? For me the whole having to eat 'diet' foods turns me right off so I eat things I actually like. One of my favourites is a protein bar that gives me a chocolate fix.

In one of the IE books I read (I think it may have been Overcoming Overeating) it was suggested to keep snacks with you at all times so that you can address your hunger when needed. I carried protein bars (Have you tried Kind bars? They're awesome), pretzels, clementines, dried fruits, a jar of peanut butter, cheese sticks, banana, chocolate, almonds, hummus and veggies, ants on a log, hard boiled eggs, you name it.

This is a great thread! My favourite snacks of all time include:

- apple sauce
- cheese and crackers
- hummus and carrots or cucumbers
- dried fruit and nuts (no added sugar and no salt)
- larabars (the bomb!)
- hard boiled eggs
- plain greek yogurt with granola and a bit of honey
- almond butter and apples (or any nut butter, be careful of added sugar!)
- chocolate oatmeal cookies or peanut butter cookies (once in a while!)

Those are the "healthy" ones but as someone else suggested, you could eat what you want in reasonable portions. I find that hard to do so I tend to avoid certain things. Those honestly fill me up and keep me going until the next meal time.

For a typical 12 hour shift:
6am green smoothie and HB egg (just before work)
11am chicken leg or salmon packet and salad veggies and oil(lunch)
3pm raw veggies with tuna packet and mayo packet mixed (break)
7pm green smoothie (on the way home)
8pm dinner at home (crockpots can be helpful)

I have a PB and J 1/2 raisin bagel from Cosco , for breakfast. Then I eat the same other 1/2 at snack time b4 lunch. At lunch a special K protein shake. Then for noon snack, celery and cream cheese, or pb ? Then all day drink loads of water and flavor water. Then in this heated weather at dinner I had a green salad w/ lt ranch dressing and 1/2 bagel w/ pesto on it. After walk I had 2 apple newtons and 4 more chicken nuggets and Good Seed Cosco multi grain bread. Then diluted nf milk w/ water and ice cubes. Then some popcorn. Then some nf yogurt and 1/2 banana. Then bedtime and no more food...

I pack my snacks for the day the night before. I always have one fruit, a baggie of vegetables with dip, and I bring a cup of homemade soup for lunch. I vary the types of everything from day to day, but I've been eating these for over six years now.

My favorite healthy snacks are kale chips, dried fruit, raw nuts and seeds, and carrots with hummus. One protein powder brand I recommend is Vega, it's delicious, filling and healthy. It doesn't have sugar or other crap most "healthy" protein powders have. If you're looking to pack a meal for work, try this basic formula: a protein, a vegetable, and a carb or fat. So an idea is a spring roll wrapped in a collard leaf instead of a rice wrapper, filled with vegetables and a protein. You can have some nuts for a fat or some baked sweet potato fries for a carb. Try to prepare your work meals the night before so they're all ready to go in the morning.

lots of great ideas in here! one i might add, that i plan to do actually tonight, is prepare homemade breakfast tacos. The key to freezing, and reheating, the tacos so the texture doesn't get funky, is letting it sit out at room temp for a few minutes, then reheating at 50% power (or so i've read)

I plan to put 4oz of southwest egg beaters (scrambled), with 1-2 chopped turkey sausage patties or links (or crumbles, I think they make some premade crumbles), some cheese, in a tortilla, then wrap it up. Roll it in some wax paper and put inside of a big freezer bag and freeze. When you're ready to eat, get out a taco from your bag, unwrap it, and let it sit at room temp for a few minutes. Then heat up at 50% for a minute or so until warm.

I will be making 6 of these tonight to get me to the weekend. I take care of kids for a living and frankly don't have the time to cook for them plus me lol, so I really think this will help me get in a good breakfast.

I've also read not to put salsa on the tacos before freezing, to serve it with them after reheating. Otherwise the reheated salsa might taste like microwaved ketchup But you could cook in some peppers or onions etc with the eggs if you want

I think it's important to find things you actually like. As you seem to be learning, the shakes that you hate are leading you to making not so great choices at the vending machine! Hopefully you've found some ideas in here that seem appealing to you already.

I can't keep a stockpile of things in my desk at work or else I risk eating it all at once. I personally do better when I prepare everything the night before and only bring what I need for the day. I like homemade fruit & veggie smoothies, hard boiled eggs, homemade soup (batch cook and freeze), apples with peanut butter (I only bring a couple tablespoons of PB in a container, and a knife to cut the apple), and small servings of hummus with veggies. Costco sells individual packets of hummus which are perfect in helping me avoid eating ALL THE HUMMUS.

Holli - I used to make those all the time, but I put it all together in the tortilla and then froze it. Just had to make sure to put one in the fridge the night before to defrost a bit overnight. I love them but I don't really eat breakfast anymore.

Everyone on 3FC has very different dietary needs and dietary plans. For you, not snacking and eat low or no fat foods may be ideal, but for many of us snacking and full fut foods are important. Fat fills me up, personally. I don't snack much, but when I do I like to have a plan. Eggs are incredibly filling at my cholesterol levels are just fine, so it's not a worry.

Just wanted to point out that what works for you may not work for the rest of us.

I usually have fruit, iogurt and i bring in a cooked meal for lunch. The thing is i must have a big lunch, eat it out of my desk and on a plate with a knife and fork. I can't grasp the idea of having a sandwich for lunch! My lunch usually is a big salad with protein (green salad+cheese+nuts or dark green leafs+tomatoes+croutons+cheese) and a medium portion of rice and beans, pasta or anything that makes me feel satisfied. Not that easy to do, but I cook my lunch meal every night. Dinner-type meals are not so common where i live, we usually just have coffe, juice, bread, iogurt, cheese and fruits (nothing needs to be cooked, fried, etc.). I also eat a lot at per kilo restaurants, which allows me to eat something pretty close to a homemade meal.