What do you eat for breakfast? I need something fast because I have 2 little ones to get to daycare and have to be to work by 7. I would like something I could eat on my way to work.

I then have a break at 9:30....what are some good snacks?

And lunch.....what should I bring. My hubby and I work together so we eat lunch together. We have been in a bad habit of getting little personal pizzas because we don't have much time.

Sorry if I should've posted this somewhere else. I'm new to all of this.

I keep it simple for breakfast during the work week - usually, a bowl of cereal (this, of course, would be tough to eat while traveling to work) and some fruit, or plain yogurt with fruit. Doesn't get much faster than that. Or you could make yourself a smoothie for the road - I don't think you'd want to make it in advance, but you could have all the ingredients cut up the night before, and just blend it quickly in the morning. For snacks, I'll eat string cheese, sometimes with crackers. Lunch is usually something that I can pack the night before - sometimes I'll bring in soup or chili that I've made in advance - and an occasional lean cuisine works too, although I try not to overdo it there, since they tend to be high in sodium. The old standby of a turkey sandwich with an apple works fine too.

I work full time and go to school full time, so I feel your pain! Breakfast is usually a ready to go can of slimfast ( not the best, but it's fast! ). Then I take a break around 10:30am and have cottage cheese, yogurt, or lowfat cheese and whole wheat crackers. Lunch is either left overs from the day before or Lean Cuisine with fruit and salad. Afternoon snack could be fruit, cheese stick, oatmeal, cereal with skim milk. I don't ever go into the cafeteria at work, because I know I will walk out with something I should not be eating. I work 12 hour shifts, so I am gone 8am-10pm. I eat dinner when I get home..........left overs, lean cuisine, cereal. Whatever is fast. On my days off I have school most of the day so I pack my food with me, the cafeteria is full of high fat crap so I never eat there. I keep a little cooler with ice packs in my car with fruit, cheese sticks, slimfast, water. Also, when I get home from school I cook. I also cook on the weekends so I have something fast in my fridge.

It's hard to do, but possible with some organization and planning. Good luck!

Shannon

Thanks! I love cottage cheese, cheese and wheat crackers. I'll have to remember those! I have een eating the crap out of cheese sticks the past few weeks. Yummy!

I work full time, go to school full time, am studying for a GRE, and in training for my first triathlon. (I'm tired just typing that!) My only saving grace is PLANNING.

Once a month, I draw up menus. Dinners are spelled out in their entirety, so whoever gets home first can start the meal. Breakfast, lunch, and snack choices are listed on a "pick list." I make my lunch the night before. We also make crockpot soup or chili on Sunday to have for the week. My pick list for typical week will look something like this:

BREAKFAST:

egg cups & tomato juice
yogurt & walnuts
smoothie
cereal bar & soy milk

LUNCH:

salad w/dressing
leftover chili or soup
leftover chicken w/green beans

SNACKS (2/day):

cereal bar
apple & low fat cheese
kiwi & walnuts
yogurt & walnuts
string cheese
celery & low fat cheese

I'll also grab an apple or cereal bar if I know I'll be working out between work & class or class & home.

Good luck to you on your weight loss journey!

Nasty looking but tasty and high in protein....1/2 lowfat cottage cheese, 1/2 c fat free plain yogurt mixed with a tablespoon of sugar free preserves.

Low carb whole wheat bread toasted with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter

Oatmeal mixed with splenda, cinnamon, salt and canned peaches.

Did I mention I'm cheap and lazy?

If you search around the site, you might be able to find a good low calorie recipe for a breakfast muffin that you can bake on the weekends, then take one with you to eat in the car.

I get a smoothie from Jamba Juice.

I'm always on the quest to fit in veggies at breakfast, so I've been having two slices of whole wheat bread.. toasted with 1 tomato, thinly sliced cheese, cucumber, and lettuce. I also put light mayo and mustard on it. It's very yummy, and filling! It's the quickest breakfast I've found that fits all my needs. Another thing I've done is layer frozen fruit and fat free yogurt, and put it into the fridge for later.. so yummy!

There are great ideas around, experiment until you find what works

-Aimee

I get 100% whole wheat<make sure the first ingredient listed is WHOLE WHEAT, not enriched flour>, slice one piece in half, cus they're pretty good sized, tops with shredded meat, I do a bunch of chicken, pork, beef whatever on the weekends, I just toss an extra whatever in while I'm making dinner on weekends, and shredd it, and weigh it all out in 1-2 ounce servings, then use it during week. Anyway, grab the bread, toss an ounce or two of meat/poultry on it, with fresh spinach leaves, tomatoe and some cheese, and let that toast in the morning. Another good one, is frozen fruit, no sugar added!, tossed into some plain, non fat yogurt and make my own, I normally add ground flax seed and a tsp of honey to it too.

You're a trip chick_in_the_hat LOL!

A bowl of *whole grain* (NOT the instant) cereal or oats are extremely filling; a 1/2 cup dry is 150 calories and gets much bigger after cooking in water. I add a tablespoon of nuts to fill me up or if its not sweetened I add a tablespoon of sugar free blueberry preserves; I often add a cup of berries or a banana also while cooking and the fruit mushes up. I use Kashi brand (in the packets) or Irish oats; I put 1/2 cup in bowl, 2/3 water and fruit and/or nuts, cook on high for 1 1/2 to 2 mins. You will be full for hours on this.

For lunch, I've been eating simple clean sandwiches. Usually turkey breast or ham with one slice cheese and some greens and tomato w/ a splash of vinegar over the veggies. Subway sandwiches are convenient and lo cal but I get it w/ double meat and extra veggies as its almost all bread (you can split a large one with DH and it will be cheaper). Or you can bring a portion of deli meat, cheese and bread and quickly make the sandwiches at your lunch time (I hate soggy sandwiches).

Another quickie that is very filling: FF yogurt w/ 1 tablespoon walnuts. Nuts are expensive and very high in calories, but I find they really fill me up when I'm hungry, and once I'm satisfied I'm not in danger of eating more and more to curb my hunger. So definitely worth it.

I have a couple things I do. I will either make a smoothie for breakfast or I'll eat some premade steel cut oats. My favorite recipe right now is:

1 15 oz can of pumpkin puree
1 cup of steel cut oats
4 scoops of vanilla protein powder
1 tsp (or more) of pumpkin pie spice or a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves or just plain cinnamon.
6 cups of water (or so, may need more)
dash of salt

I put that all in my rice cooker the day before and then portion it out in the morning to eat. It is good cold or hot. I will also sometimes add walnuts to it.

Made from scratch wholewheat/ oatbran waffles or pancakes with syrup. I've been having this for breakfast for years, even when my kids were still little. It really doesn't take long- sometimes it takes longer for the skillet or waffle iron to heat up than for me to mix the batter.

I see no reason to eat yucky food just because I'm on a diet, or in a hurry. For me it's worth it to get up 5 minutes earlier and have a real meal.

Edit- and I do work full time.

I think the key to all of it is planning. Something I felt I was so good at. I guess this is one of the things I've never really planned out.

But I already wrote myself a list and I'm off to the store after my dr appt. I should be able to get some good things for lunch and snacks at work. I am going to stick with smaller portions at night and then focus later on changing that too. I just figure I'll stick with it if I do slight changes. Ease myself into things.

Check out our planning thread! I work full time and post my daily meals in there.

Todat for example:

breaskfast - quaker instant oatmeal supreme - maple and walnuts; banana
snacks - mini oranges; arrowroot cookies; cottage cheese w/fruit container
lunch - left overs from last night - small amount of thin rice noodles with some stir fry veggies and chicken breast

-another thing I love for breakfast is a toasted english muffin with some sliced deli meat
-a banana with peanut butter
-toast and tomato

and a variation of all of them! i dont like cerel because it doesnt keep my full, but sometimes I will have it mixed it with some yogurt