Day 1

[Rudyinfante]

Starting today for the second time.... only problem is that I work from 9am to 6pm then go to school from 615pm to 945pm!  I am always eating out!?!

[ShannonM816]

It's very, very difficult to find places to eat out on Whole30. You'll need to do some research on restaurants, and find out about all the ingredients, including cooking oils and ingredients in marinades and seasonings. This download has some tips for restaurant dining. Depending on where you are, you might be lucky enough to find a few restaurants that will work for you, but if you're surrounded by fast food or chain restaurants, it's going to be harder. If there's a grocery store anywhere near your school or work, that might be a better option than a restaurant. If your school has food service, you might be able to talk to them and find out more about ingredients and what's available or if they can provide you with options that you can eat.

If I were you, I'd plan to take meals with me as much as possible. Look for a cooler of some sort that you can carry -- they come in different sizes, so think about if you'll need to carry it with you a lot, or if you can mostly leave it in a locker or a car or at a desk. A thermos can be nice too, if you eat things like soup or chili or stew (look for a wide mouth version for food, as opposed to the more traditional ones for coffee that have a narrower opening and might be harder to get food in and out of or to clean). 

If you eat breakfast before you leave for work, you'll still probably need to take two full meals with you. This means prepping a fair amount of food. You might look at doing something like a weekly cookup if you have a day off where you can get most of your food for the week done. You might also look at these No Recipe Required ideas -- many of the canned/jarred foods and pantry items keep well and could be left in a desk at work, if you have space to leave personal items, and then they'd be there to supplement a meal if you were hungrier than normal or in case you forgot your food one day. Even just a can of tuna (with a can opener if it's not a pull tab) and a small bottle of olive oil would be a good start on a meal, since you can probably find a dry tossed salad of just vegetables somewhere to add to it. If you do keep very many items, just be sure you have containers that seal well once you open things like dried fruits -- your office mates won't be happy if you end up with bugs.

You can do this, but you are going to have to do a fair amount of planning ahead.

[jenmidge]

I work late a lot and often need to take two meals to work. You can totally do this but as Shannon says, it takes a lot of prep which I mostly do on weekends.  I plan all my meals for the week to make sure I'm not going to run out mid week and carry a cooler bag which takes two plastic tubs and an ice pack. I pack meals which are easy to eat with just a spoon or fork and taste okay hot or cold in case I'm out of the office. I don't tend to snack but do add more than a portion of fat to meals so they keep me satiated. Good luck.

[Radcliffec]

Even if when you're making supper - prepare enough meat/seafood for the next day and even if that's all you have ready the next morning it's easy to pour in some frozen veggies in the container the next morning as long as they're corn and pea-free,  

[MeadowLily]

On 11/18/2016 at 11:14 PM, ShannonM816 said:

It's very, very difficult to find places to eat out on Whole30. You'll need to do some research on restaurants, and find out about all the ingredients, including cooking oils and ingredients in marinades and seasonings. This download has some tips for restaurant dining. Depending on where you are, you might be lucky enough to find a few restaurants that will work for you, but if you're surrounded by fast food or chain restaurants, it's going to be harder. If there's a grocery store anywhere near your school or work, that might be a better option than a restaurant. If your school has food service, you might be able to talk to them and find out more about ingredients and what's available or if they can provide you with options that you can eat.

If I were you, I'd plan to take meals with me as much as possible. Look for a cooler of some sort that you can carry -- they come in different sizes, so think about if you'll need to carry it with you a lot, or if you can mostly leave it in a locker or a car or at a desk. A thermos can be nice too, if you eat things like soup or chili or stew (look for a wide mouth version for food, as opposed to the more traditional ones for coffee that have a narrower opening and might be harder to get food in and out of or to clean). 

If you eat breakfast before you leave for work, you'll still probably need to take two full meals with you. This means prepping a fair amount of food. You might look at doing something like a weekly cookup if you have a day off where you can get most of your food for the week done. You might also look at these No Recipe Required ideas -- many of the canned/jarred foods and pantry items keep well and could be left in a desk at work, if you have space to leave personal items, and then they'd be there to supplement a meal if you were hungrier than normal or in case you forgot your food one day. Even just a can of tuna (with a can opener if it's not a pull tab) and a small bottle of olive oil would be a good start on a meal, since you can probably find a dry tossed salad of just vegetables somewhere to add to it. If you do keep very many items, just be sure you have containers that seal well once you open things like dried fruits -- your office mates won't be happy if you end up with bugs.

You can do this, but you are going to have to do a fair amount of planning ahead.

I'm bumping this thread.  A widemouth thermos works for sporting events, crosscountry skiiing, in the vehicle or on the job.