Help me with a crazy idea for a food plan!!

Ok so I am frequently on the go and don't always have time for sit down fully planned meals but want to not live on protein bars. On the flip side I also get bored eating the same thing every day over and over. People in my support group talk about carrying around their little food containers that are packed so perfectly each day- I wish. I am up about 6:30 with the little ones and wor****il midnight 5 nights a week. It is hard to plan food tonight that I am even interested in the next day. I liked plans like Ediets before surgery as I weighed in every week and then printed out my eating plan for the week. I used to shuffle around the meals maybe trading a lunch on Monday for Fridays lunch if that was more on my mind. So with that thought in mind I am thinking of putting a bunch of food/meal ideas on cards and putting them in a recipe box. Everyday I can choose 3 for meals and 1 for a snack between.  What do you think each card should be about 300 calories?? Nuts I know but fun all the same.I am thinking about using the staples I always have in my house- Celery and PB Shrimp and ****tail sauce Cheese and an apple fruit and nut combos Veggies and meat sauteed w/canned tomatoes( a favorite) Keep in mind I can eat anything with no problem.  Please forward your ideas for my cards and whether you think this is even a do-able plan. Also at work I have access to a fridge and microwave -occasionally I can use the stove and grill. Jennifer

Hi Jennifer, I think your idea sounds wonderful.  I don't really have any ideas for you, I'm still a newbie around here and only 7 weeks out from RNY.  Good luck with your project. Jules

I think this is a do-able plan, but how can you plan what you're going to eat for the day/week if you can't pack food the night before that you will feel like eating the next day?  That doesn't really seem to flow with your proposed program.  Otherwise, I think it sounds like a decent idea.  While choosing your cards for the day, you would have to pay attention to which nutrients are in each meal, so you're not getting too much of one thing as opposed to another (i.e., too high in fat for the day, or too low in protein).  Linda

I understand what you are saying after reading my post again. I guess I am looking for a group of ideas in one spot NOT in my head. I get up in the morning and can't think of any good ideas so I throw a bunch of Luna bars and some propel in my purse and off I go next thing you know I am at a store/deli or someplace trying to make a smart choice. I guess I was looking for some simple things I could flip through the cards for ideas to change it up a bit.  I am writing the cards now and a few things I forgot I like came back to me already.

Are you able to keep a stash at work for a week's worth of food?  For my first year, I had a lunchpack in the fridge full of string cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc., and I would open it up and pick what sounded good at the time.

I do that a bit but the fridge is small and the officers like to steal my crap. For Christmas I got a really nice food thermos and I got some cook books for my crock pot. I am hoping to start dinner for the family and have the leftovers for myself. Again I am enjoying the cards-I am entering the stuff into Fitday to come up with the calorie counts and it all sounds so good. I am going back to my roots I think- When surgery was fresh in my mind and I had a better imagination for food. How about Turkey burger w/ tomato.onion and mushroom over spag squash or grilled chicken and cheese over a salad with low cal dressing both between 200-300 calories and so yummy.

Something that works for me while being gone for my typical 12 hour work day is preplanning.  I'll pack up leftovers from tonight's dinner and take them to work tomorrow for lunch.  I also make up a batch of the Vanilla Egg Custard (recipe in my profile) and take a dish of that with me to work everyday for breakfast.  I also have a stash of good snacks in my desk that I have on hand if needed (dry roasted edamame, peanut butter crackers, protein bars, etc.).  I leave my house at 7:30 a.m. and my rule of thumb is that if lunch takes more than 30 seconds to pack, it doesn't get done.  So having my lunch set aside in the fridge the night before (from dinner leftovers) makes it fast and easy.  If for some reason it comes around to lunchtime at work and I decide that I don't want to eat what I packed, I can always run out and get something else for lunch --- soup from Big Apple Bagel, Pintos and Cheese from Taco Bell, Chilli from Wendy's, etc. I like your meal-card-ideas plan.  I think it's a great way to remember all the great things you love so you don't get bored.  But I also can see that it could actually be MORE time consuming ... deciding on 3 different cards each day, pulling together the food, packing it up would take so much more time than just grabbing and going with what's been prepped beforehand.  Just some thoughts... Pam

I keep a lot of the things you mentioned constantly in my fridge and throw enough food for 12 hours in a lunch sack with a huge ice pack as people steal from our work fridge too.  I commonly pick from: 100 calorie Yoplait light yogurt, Breakstones individually packed cottage cheese, 8 rice crackers, 3-4 oz sliced turkey, chicken or lean ham with .5 ounces of jarlsberg cheese rolled up, 1 Tb peanut butter with Wasa crisp crackers, small prepackaged romaine lettuce with a handful of dried cranberries or mandrain oranges & leftover chicken, string cheese, oranges, apples, grapes, strawberries, 1/4 c tamari roasted almonds, left overs from the previous night, tuna fish salad, chicken salad or egg salad made with fage yogurt instead of mayo with rice crackers. I generally find that I can throw this stuff, my water, CA & vitamins in my lunch bag in 5 minutes each morning as long as the fridge is stocked up weekly. Hope this is helpful!  Please share any other great ideas you might find!  Good luck! Amy

Awesome thoughts  Thanks Jennifer I have been packing rolled up ham and cheese but now I am hearing the fact that deli meat is crap. I just can't win. I am still enjoying it for now.

A few quick thoughts...Wendi's Chili (with cheese), dry roasted peanuts, beef jerkey, vegetable beef soup, turkey vegetable soup, a crock pot stew (it will last a week), and last (one of my favorites) Healthy Choice Lemon Pepper Fish frozen dinner.  Good luck, Brian