1) I'm not hungry when I wake up first thing in the morning, ergo I am missing out breakfast, the most important meal of the day.
2) There is very little that I can eat in the uni cafeteria, ergo I am eating fatty fried food for lunch
3) On days when I have work straight after uni, my dinner hour gets all messed up, ergo I am eating crap or eating late.
Let's tackle #1 first... I wish I could drink an "Up & Go" or similar fibre-packed breakfast smoothie. At last check, they hadn't brought out any soy-based versions that were dairy free. I'm willing to do an experiment here though... using a blender at that time of the morning would probably get me shot but I can attempt to make a soy version of a breakfast shake the night before and see if that is easier to digest before catching the train.
#2... Convenient, chuck-straight-in-the-bag, minimal prep meals. Tuna and crackers, fruit and sandwiches if I'm feeling particularly bountiful on time. Little packets of rice crackers or healthier style chips. When I ran my own house I used to deliberately cook so there would be left-overs; doing some cooking on the weekend could allow for food to reheat during the week, even in
#3, the evenings. This one requires a little more thought and effort, on the other hand it's only once or twice a week that it's an issue. I drive to uni on the days that I have work afterwards. What's to stop me dropping a meal into the work fridge on the way?
I think the key to getting my healthy eating back on track and feeling energetic lies with methodically planning - the same way I'm tackling my school work. Any ideas on how I can make this work even better? Recipes and advice most welcome in the comments.
Breakfast is always an issue for me. I am NOT hungry in the mornings. In fact, the thought of food is a little sickening for me until about 10 am, at which point I am up to my eyes in business. I also tend to forget to stop for lunch when I'm really busy, which leads to me eating a small goat for my very late dinner. Maybe we are suffering in the mornings because we eat too much late at night, and have not properly digested our dinners by the morning.
ReplyDeleteHey... I find that I have the same problems with eating at uni... A goods couple of snack items that you can have in your bag for when you just need a boost or something quick and healthy could include some mixed nuts which are great for energy, soy crisps, even a muesli bar or two. The good thing with them is that you can keep them in your bag for those times when you relaly need them and you don't have to worry about them going off. Even chop up soem fresh fruit the night before and you then you don't have to worry too much when you are heading to uni, just grab it out of the fridge and your good to go! It's a battle though, and I suppose it is about being prepared which is hard when you have such a busy schedule. Good luck :)
ReplyDeleteOoooh, do you have 'So Good' soy products in NZ? My current obsession is their chocolate milkshake/smoothie/some-kind-of-beverage - they're packaged just like an 'Up & Go', but are soy (and dairy free.. I believe!), and 98.5% fat free! Oh, and they're low GI, too - hooray for staying fuller for longer! Okay, I realise I sound like a raving infomercial right now, but I only discovered them last weekend and they're now my breakfast obsession!
ReplyDeleteI have been exactly the same over the past two weeks - its terrible, i totally love food but now i'm not in the habit of eating breakfast again (i just had a mini chocolate bar which i've counted as breakfast!!). Must get onto eating healthly again!!
ReplyDeleteThose all sound like good plans. I also enjoy rice crackers with cottage cheese and a blob of jam (sweet) or some cucumber/tomato and salt and pepper (savoury). Yum! I had the same problem when I was working long hours, and I went the leftovers route too ... one good trick I used regularly was to make a huge pot of vegetable soup on the weekend, then put it in five containers to heat and eat during the week.
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out that NO ONE is hungry at breakfast time. Well, no females in the 20+ age bracket and probably a bit before that as well. the reason why breakfast is so important is it kick starts your metabolism, so it can work all day and not just from lunch time onwards (or whenever you start to eat). That's why breakfast shakes work so well - all the benefits of breakfast, but you don't have to chew!
ReplyDeleteI do eat the up and go's now that I have Ava, but I used to mix half a weetbix, some fruit (canned fruit is easiest) and juice, some acidophilous powder and honey in a little snaplock bag. you make 5 of them and stick them in the freezer. Then in the morning all you have to do is stick your so good / milk in a blender and chuck in the frozen stuff and you get an instant smoothie that takes about 10 seconds. And no you can't taste the weetbix. And it's also good if you beat up about 3 eggs and add two tablespoons to each bag - extra protein.
For me and Kaidin's lunch (kaidin at school, me at uni) I do chicken wraps. On Sunday night I cook up a heap of chicken (the frozen crumbed fillets) and stick it in a container. I bought a container with four little partitions and in there goes a heap of grated carrot, onion, tomato and cucumber. I use snow pea sprouts instead of lettuce and wholegrain tortilla wraps. It takes about 3 minutes to grab everything out of the fridge, roll two wraps and stick it all back in. You can also add things like avocado, cheese, whatever so it's really healthy and filling.
I suggest buying a heap of little containers and making your own snacks. It's easier to prepare 5 small containers of grapes / nuts and dried fruit / cheese cubes / whatever and stick them in the fridge. then you just grab one each day and that's your snack. It's a lot cheaper than buying pre packaged stuff.
It is all about pre-planning and my morning routine is far from perfect and some days I do grab greasy cafe food too, but it's a lot better than spending heaps of $5 on shit, half cold food that makes you feel gross instead of full! Oh and always always have water bottles filled up in your fridge so you can grab one on your way out. A lot of the time people think they are hungry but they are actually thirsty!