Hey everyone,
I am starting IP soon and I need some tips as to what kind of food I should bring to work! I am an intern at a high school so I basically substitute all day and my schedule is always different. What are some good, portable, not "smelly" lunches that you pack to bring to work?

I drink the RTD chocolate drinks from Ideal Protein for breakfast and lunch. That way if I forget to get them cold, pop them in the freezer for 30-60 min and good to go!

Where I work I can get salad and veggies so I don't have to worry about packing that.

I'm really not good at organizing myself in the morning, so I always buy a huge bag of prechopped salad and a few peppers or a cuke to leave in the fridge at work (I took over the crisper!LOL). I have my premade shakes, decaf coffee for the Keurig machine, and a stash of "bars" and pre-made puddings. I put a few cereal packs for a quick IP snack/lunch if I need it. I've actually kind of taken over a section on a book shelf with a dollar store basket with all my goodies in it and a big sign so no one thinks it's free food.
I have frozen soup purees that I can grab too, that I can nuke at lunch (without my IP soup in it). That lets me have a soup, salad and IP item (shake, bar or pudding) for a nice 3 course lunch

I work in schools, too, so I also don't have the opportunity to run out and get something for lunch--not that there is much that I can have in the fast food world, anyway! I always have a salad (usually just lettuce), and usually 2 c. of some raw veggies--celery and peppers are my regulars. Sometimes I will take leftover veggies from my meal the night before, if there are any left. But if you can't count on a microwave, then raw veggies are my go-to. I save my IP packet for later in the afternoon, because I just can't go from lunch to dinner without eating something. I used to get home from work and spend the rest of the evening grazing! Explains how I got to the point of needing IP, huh?

I'm a teacher. I started the school year bringing IP soups with added veggie puree in a thermos. I also brought celery or cukes.

When I got tired of this, I started bringing a salty restricted with stir-fried veggies (which required a microwave to heat)

Lately I've been taking IP potato/zucchini muffins and also another cup of veggies (varying between hot & cold)

For some reason, I end up HUNGRIER if I eat salad at lunch. I'm not sure why but its been like this for YEARS. It just isn't a good lunch for me.

I tend to eat the same thing for lunch A LOT.

I buy a Costco bag of romaine lettuce and clean and spin it all dry then pack it in large ziploc bags into the fridge. Ialso buy radishes, cucumbers and celery and prewash them.
Each morning:
I take a 2 cup container and add romaine (sometimes spring greens also) then I chop cucumber, radish and celery and put it in the salad container with a drizzle of WF sesame ginger or EVOO. I grab an IP soup and a mug and put it in my lunch bag.

I store my salad in the fridge at work(add my sea salt at lunch time). With my soup, I use warm water out of our water filter, mix the soup with a spoon and then add hot water to it. I'm happy with my lunch and tend to eat the same thing each day.

The potato puree is great because you can pour that into a bowl, add 2 oz hot water and stir to make instant mashed potatoes. I have also pre-peeled and sliced a zucchini in a container with 1 TBSP WF pancake syrup, nutmeg and cinnamon-stored that in the fridge until lunch, then microwaved it for 2 minutes for faux apple.

Those are my usual lunches. Lots more ideas on the thread "what are you eating today ipeeps"

Zuchinni and cinnamon/maple syrup?? Now I'm intrigued!....

It's sooo good! It was posted by "Wuv" as faux apple on the recipe threads. I can imagine apple when I eat it. You peel and slice zucchini (scoop out any seeds), then put in a microwavable bowl and add some spices. Her recipe called for splenda, cinnamon and nutmeg, but I don't have splenda, so I used WF pancake syrup, cinnamon and nutmeg and microwaved it (covered) for about 2 minutes. It was YUMMY. So, I alternate that with salads during the week for lunch. It's kind of nice to eat veggies sweet sometimes

I bring a salad with my two cups of veggies for lunch every day. I love salad at lunch. I also have stocked my desk with bars and keep pudding and shakes in the fridge for my snacks.

WOW!

These are some great ideas! I am so glad to hear there are other teachers out there on IP. I especially love the idea of taking over a space with a small basket of IP foods.

I think one of my greatest fears about falling off the bandwagon is having feelings of starvation (especially early on in the program) and not having anything IP compliant and then grabbing food in the faculty room to fulfill my hunger. So if I know that I have a couple of extra packets stored away for such an occasion, I have no excuse to go off program.

I DO have a question about the soup and puree! Do you add the puree to the soup just before you microwave or do you eat it separately? How do you like the consistency?

For phase 1, it was spinach salad - 2 cups of spinach, sometimes other veggies, a couple of ounces of meat (leftover from dinner or precooked chicken), and vinegar/oil dressing. 2 months into maintenance, still the same, but I add an apple or two, and maybe a protein bar for snacks.

I bring cut veggies to snack on, hard boiled egg whites, lettuce salads, spinach salads, stir fry. For meat, I like doing seasoned ground beef with hot sauce. I eat it over a big salad, or add in some fresh salsa for a quick chili type of thing.

I have also really enjoyed buffalo chicken meatballs, or I do regular chicken. Maybe steak tips.

I think it helps that I don't mind eating cold meat! If I don't have time to microwave, I just pick a piece up and nom LOL.

Great ideas!

I did a "shout-out" for you the other day on the Daily but I don't know if you saw it...how's your re-start going?

Blech :-( I was weak and relapsed. So many restarts! LOL. I hate being addicted to food!

I had a death in the family and it through me for a loop. I know it's just an excuse, but my mind said, "It's okay Anna. Take this week off and restart on the weekend". I knew it was wrong, but I did it! I need to find that spark that originally helped me get on the wagon. SOMETHING to help me push through the justifications in my head.