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So, I'm on Day 7. The first week at work I got through with 100% fruit juice, fruit pouches or  dried fruit, fruit/nut bars on breaks, or when my energy was lagging and I needed a quick boost of energy. I work in a physically and emotionally demanding job where I'm on my feet 8 hours, can not eat or drink on the floor, am not in charge of when I take my breaks. ( I get 2 10 min and 1 30 min break during an 8 hour shift). I always eat breakfast before work however I walk to work so I am usually needing more fuel before my first 10 min break. This week I think I should eat something before I go on the floor, as well as at my 10 min break. Since dried fruit/fruit/fruit juice is not looked upon favorably, would something like Epic bars be more in line with the program? I also have rxbars and while a whole bar would be too many calories for a snack, perhaps half a bar before work and half a bar on my first 10 would be a good strategy. 

 

Anyone else in this kind of situation with work?

 

As a side note some of the people I work with are either more then or close to 20 years younger then me, some of them are closer to my daughter's age then my own. I am the only full time person in my position at my job, and the only full time person my age at my job. It is a fact that my job is made for younger people, but since I am youthful, I can do it. I say that to underline how physically demanding the job is.

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Okay, so if you can take things to work to eat on breaks, we would recommend that you go for protein and fat... meatballs and guacamole, hardboiled eggs, chicken and mayo... epic bars are okay but that'll get expensive and honestly, food you make yourself is going to be better (just my opinion).

Second, you say that a whole rxbar is too many calories... we don't count calories here... but RX bars due to being very nut and fruit heavy are for emergencies only and knowing you're going to be hungry every day at XX time is not an emergency.  

I would also really suggest laying off the fruit, juice, dried fruit and bars... you want your body to become fat adapted and giving it sugar and easily accessible carbs everytime you get hungry isn't going to get you there... :)

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Yes, that's why I posted this, because I don't want to have a repeat of last week. I do have some hardboiled eggs that I  made to go with the steak salad I already finished. 

See that's just it, I don't know what time Ill be hungry at because my start time varies from day to day, but if I eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, and I start work at x time.

Here are my shifts for the week, each one is different: Monday 10:30am-7pm, Tuesday 2:30pm-7pm, Wednesday 7am-3:30pm, Thursday 10:30am-7pm, Friday 9am-5:30pm.

I actually am doing the whole30 because my job caused me to gain 10 lbs. I lost 5, we'll see where I'm at after the whole30. 

 

(We do have a egg&fruit box I can mark out for lunch every day and eat one egg/fruit on my first 10 and the second egg/fruit on my 2nd 10, in addition to the lunch I bring from home. I could start doing that every day. That's about the only thing I can eat at work other then dried fruit, fruit pouches, and nuts.)

 

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Okay I don't know how the breaks of  your schedule work but why not default your day to the earliest... so you get up every day at 6 and eat by 7... noon would be your next meal... does that work with your first 10 min break on your 1030 shifts or your meal break on your 9am shift?  It's not ideal to eat a whole meal in 10 min but if you don't need to heat it, then it can be done... then your next meal would be around 5 which is either the end of your shift, after work when you're home or near what is probably your 2nd 10 min break... 

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I am not in control of when I get my 10 or my lunch, and asking if I can take my 10 or my lunch is not necessarily looked favorably upon. There is a written schedule of breaks and lunches, but that is up to the supervisors to follow or not. Ultimately its their call according to what's happening on the floor and if anybody called out that day. I have to eat a snack on my 10s and my lunch on my 30. I think the problem was the dried fruit bar/fruit pouch/nuts. By the end of the week, I discovered I could mix strawberry/apple juice/freeze dried strawberries for a quick burst of energy in the afternoon, but I know that's not looked favorable upon in the whole30. Ultimately though I know its up to me, as long as I am following the rules, i.e. no added sugar, which I am. 

I think the thing that's most stressful is not being able to eat when I need to eat, so I think that if two hours has passed since I started work that I will ask if I can have my 10 and ignore the potential disapproval for asking. I have let my coworkers know I am doing the whole30, and asking for a 10 min break after 2 hours of being on the floor is not an unreasonable request. Also, part of the problem is we are understaffed which it makes it harder for the supervisors to run breaks, and I understand. 

I do keep a snack on the back table just in case i need to take a quick bite because I am hungry and can't leave the floor. Its kind of ironic to be on a super restricted diet when I already am restricted from eating on the floor (I work in the retail/restaurant industry).

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I think you're getting hung up on snack vs. meal and the relative convenience and time-to-eat aspects.

If you're looking for more tips beyond finger food like meatballs and devilled eggs, you can also just eat part of whatever "full" meal you've brought. Take a few bites when you arrive after the walking commute, eat half the container when you get your first 10, etc.

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Is that so? If I eat my lunch for my break then I won't have anything left to eat for my lunch. I think I got this. Now that I know that walking to work does make me a bit hungry, I know to eat something before I go on the floor. I'm going to see if I can time things better tomorrow: eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, get to work early and eat something before going on the floor, and having an egg/fruit on each of my 10s. Believe me if I don't have my full lunch on my lunch, I'm going to be mad. Everything is physical about my work day, from my walk, to the actual labor, to the walk home. 

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I also have a physically demanding job working at UPS. I usually get up around 2:00 am. I only work 4-5 hour shifts, and don't have a problem bringing a protein and fat worthy snack with me for my one 10-minute break. I would like some suggestions on what to eat before work. I can't eat eggs, they don't agree with me. I could also stand to add some weight. Would eating carbs like sweet potatoes be a bad idea? Should I stick with the protein and fats before work too?  Lately I have been having a mug of bone broth with some ghee added to it, but it isn't food. I replaced it for coffee because the caffeine was bad for me. I appreciate any suggestions! Thank you.

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6 hours ago, Kymba55 said:

I also have a physically demanding job working at UPS. I usually get up around 2:00 am. I only work 4-5 hour shifts, and don't have a problem bringing a protein and fat worthy snack with me for my one 10-minute break. I would like some suggestions on what to eat before work. I can't eat eggs, they don't agree with me. I could also stand to add some weight. Would eating carbs like sweet potatoes be a bad idea? Should I stick with the protein and fats before work too?  Lately I have been having a mug of bone broth with some ghee added to it, but it isn't food. I replaced it for coffee because the caffeine was bad for me. I appreciate any suggestions! Thank you.

You should definitely be eating a template breakfast for when you eat breakfast... you don't have to eat eggs, you can have dinner leftovers.  Adding sweet potato to your meal is totally fine, we recommend everyone eat at least a fist sized serving a day and then more depending on context - if you want to put on weight, you can stand to eat more starch and probably more fat.

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17 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

You should definitely be eating a template breakfast for when you eat breakfast... you don't have to eat eggs, you can have dinner leftovers.  Adding sweet potato to your meal is totally fine, we recommend everyone eat at least a fist sized serving a day and then more depending on context - if you want to put on weight, you can stand to eat more starch and probably more fat.

Thank you! Leftovers are doable! I will add more fat and carbs! I am super hungry after work!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello everyone, 

I am on day 28 on my whole30 and am not sure if I should extend it or not. Staying compliant has not been a problem although I do think I have been feeding my sugar dragon with dried fruit and fruit and nut bars. My biggest problem has being not being able to control when I eat due to work. I am not in charge of when I take my breaks or my lunch at work. I know we are supposed to space meals every 4-5 hours 3x a day and I have not been able to do that yet. I was a grazer for a very long time before I started the whole30 and its very hard to break that habit. I was also a vegetarian/vegan for a very long time before I started the whole30 which is where the grazing came from. Now I work a very physically and emotionally demanding job where I can't afford to get hungry on the floor. I can eat a hard boiled egg and some fruit on my 10 minute breaks. I have been timing my meals with a stopwatch. If I have to lap my meal with the egg and fruit, that means I don't get to eat again until my next 10. Can I eat the meals 4-5 hours a part with the small snacks in between? Also what does several hours before bed mean in terms of stopping eating? Sometimes I close my store and don't get off until 7pm and then have to be at work at 7am the next morning. Those shifts kill me. I was thinking about asking my manager not to give me shifts like that but I wasn't sure how to word it. Truth of the matter its not good for my health. 

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5 hours ago, Sugar free barista said:

Hello everyone, 

I am on day 28 on my whole30 and am not sure if I should extend it or not. Staying compliant has not been a problem although I do think I have been feeding my sugar dragon with dried fruit and fruit and nut bars. My biggest problem has being not being able to control when I eat due to work. I am not in charge of when I take my breaks or my lunch at work. I know we are supposed to space meals every 4-5 hours 3x a day and I have not been able to do that yet. I was a grazer for a very long time before I started the whole30 and its very hard to break that habit. I was also a vegetarian/vegan for a very long time before I started the whole30 which is where the grazing came from. Now I work a very physically and emotionally demanding job where I can't afford to get hungry on the floor. I can eat a hard boiled egg and some fruit on my 10 minute breaks. I have been timing my meals with a stopwatch. If I have to lap my meal with the egg and fruit, that means I don't get to eat again until my next 10. Can I eat the meals 4-5 hours a part with the small snacks in between? Also what does several hours before bed mean in terms of stopping eating? Sometimes I close my store and don't get off until 7pm and then have to be at work at 7am the next morning. Those shifts kill me. I was thinking about asking my manager not to give me shifts like that but I wasn't sure how to word it. Truth of the matter its not good for my health. 

I've merged your new post with your previous thread as it's regarding the same topic.

I'm a little confused because if you're eating template meals 4-5 hours apart then what's the snack for?  Are you making your meals match the template and are they getting you the 4-5 hours?  Have you looked up labor laws in your area or with your company/union?  There should be some guidelines for breaks so they're not giving you a lunch break and then an hour later a snack break and the leaving you on the floor for the next six hours... 

Did you try the suggestions that you were given in this previous thread?

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13 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

I've merged your new post with your previous thread as it's regarding the same topic.

I'm a little confused because if you're eating template meals 4-5 hours apart then what's the snack for?  Are you making your meals match the template and are they getting you the 4-5 hours?  Have you looked up labor laws in your area or with your company/union?  There should be some guidelines for breaks so they're not giving you a lunch break and then an hour later a snack break and the leaving you on the floor for the next six hours... 

Did you try the suggestions that you were given in this previous thread?

I think there's some confusion here as I am not being understood. You have to get a lunch within 5 hours. I eat breakfast within an hour before my shift. My ten is within 2 hours of my shift. So it will be either eat in 2.5 hours or on lunch. I will look and see when I am scheduled to eat. I have another question but since you merged my thread you might do it again so I'll ask it here. How many hours is several hours before bedtime? As in stop eating. 2? 3?

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12 minutes ago, Sugar free barista said:

I think there's some confusion here as I am not being understood. You have to get a lunch within 5 hours. I eat breakfast within an hour before my shift. My ten is within 2 hours of my shift. So it will be either eat in 2.5 hours or on lunch. I will look and see when I am scheduled to eat. I have another question but since you merged my thread you might do it again so I'll ask it here. How many hours is several hours before bedtime? As in stop eating. 2? 3?

There is no number recommendation in how many hours to stop eating before bed and it's just a recommendation... if you need to eat an hour before bed and that's the difference between having and not having dinner, then definitely eat.

I think the confusion lies in us not know what your schedule is... I don't know if your shift starts an hour after you wake up in which case the 5 hour lunch mark works... Maybe you can try giving us a sample day and we can see if give suggestions but honestly, it's not prescriptive.  If your particular context means you need to eat mini meals between your meals because of meal timing, then definitely go ahead and do so.  At some point you do want to put three proper template meals in there.

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Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I'm still confused about why the precise timing of meals seems to be such a huge hang up. Yes, the ideal is 3 template meals every day, with pre- or post-workout mini meals/snacks as appropriate. 

So you work on your feet in a busy coffee shop (I know exactly which one you're referring to, but naming the place seems to be an issue so I won't). Getting hungry during your shift is a problem, but marking out an egg and fruit protein box is fine. You don't know the precise times when you'll get lunch, but you know it will be roughly at the 5 hour mark. 

Why wouldn't this work and simplify everything:

Breakfast - proper template meal that would get a non-barista through to the 5 hour mark

1st break (whenever that is) - mark out an egg and fruit box and eat 1 of the eggs, maybe a bit of the apple or grapes

Lunch - eat the template lunch you brought

2nd break - eat the other egg, maybe a bit of the fruit

Dinner - another template meal

That completely removes the dried fruit/fruit and nut bar/etc and is 3 template meals and 2 eggs. Bingo :)

Edited to add: Stop eating after dinner. Then you've gotten a bit of time before bed where you're not eating. Seems to tick all the boxes. 

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9 hours ago, SugarcubeOD said:

There is no number recommendation in how many hours to stop eating before bed and it's just a recommendation... if you need to eat an hour before bed and that's the difference between having and not having dinner, then definitely eat.

I think the confusion lies in us not know what your schedule is... I don't know if your shift starts an hour after you wake up in which case the 5 hour lunch mark works... Maybe you can try giving us a sample day and we can see if give suggestions but honestly, it's not prescriptive.  If your particular context means you need to eat mini meals between your meals because of meal timing, then definitely go ahead and do so.  At some point you do want to put three proper template meals in there.

My schedule changes from day to day, today it was 8:30am-5pm, tomorrow and wednesday 7am-3:30pm, 8:30am-5pm. So today I ate breakfast before 8, on my 10 at 10:30am I had two hard boiled eggs and grapes and apples, on my lunch I had buffalo chicken casserole + roasted broccoli + sweet potato fries, on my 2nd 10 I had an epic bar and a lara bar and a banana and some blueberries. So now my dilemma is when to eat dinner and how much time to allow before bed. I try to allow 9 hours in bed and 2 hours to get ready for work. 

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7 minutes ago, Sugar free barista said:

My schedule changes from day to day, today it was 8:30am-5pm, tomorrow and wednesday 7am-3:30pm, 8:30am-5pm. So today I ate breakfast before 8, on my 10 at 10:30am I had two hard boiled eggs and grapes and apples, on my lunch I had buffalo chicken casserole + roasted broccoli + sweet potato fries, on my 2nd 10 I had an epic bar and a lara bar and a banana and some blueberries. So now my dilemma is when to eat dinner and how much time to allow before bed. I try to allow 9 hours in bed and 2 hours to get ready for work. 

What time was your lunch at?

I am still confused... I totally get eating between breakfast and lunch if your lunch was delayed longer than 1 or 1:30ish.  If that was the case, then you would be ready for dinner about 630 unless you can't make that timing either? 

We have loads of people who have jobs like yours that are busy and a bit unpredictable - waiters, waitresses, baristas, cashiers, bartenders, postal workers, nurses... 

I can't really tell you when to eat dinner the way you've phrased this question because I don't know what time it is where you are, I don't know when you go to bed and get up, when you ate your second mini meal (which incidentally is pretty fruit heavy and not going to hold you for long).

 

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7 minutes ago, SugarcubeOD said:

What time was your lunch at?

I am still confused... I totally get eating between breakfast and lunch if your lunch was delayed longer than 1 or 1:30ish.  If that was the case, then you would be ready for dinner about 630 unless you can't make that timing either? 

We have loads of people who have jobs like yours that are busy and a bit unpredictable - waiters, waitresses, baristas, cashiers, bartenders, postal workers, nurses... 

I can't really tell you when to eat dinner the way you've phrased this question because I don't know what time it is where you are, I don't know when you go to bed and get up, when you ate your second mini meal (which incidentally is pretty fruit heavy and not going to hold you for long).

 

My lunch was at 1:30pm. I ate a mini meal at 4:20pm. Yes, I'm a barista. I was telling you what my work schedule was because what time I go to bed depends on what time I have to get up. So ideally tonight I would go to bed at 8pm since I have to be up at 5am, but that's probably not going to happen. I try to allow myself 9 hours of "bed time" that way it gives me a fusion. So I am getting ready for bed at 8pm tonight. I ate a fruit heavy mini meal because I needed the carbs, my job is very physical and after my 10 I was going to do a physical task. I've already logged over 12k steps today and 57 active minutes. 

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If you know you're about to go do a physical task, then you would want a pre-workout type snack and that would be protein and fat, not a ton of fruit. Subsisting on larabars and fruit is never going to help you get out of the idea of "needing" sugar to get through things. 

I really still just don't understand what the confusion is. If you're getting out of work at 3:30pm, then assuming some commuting time and time to cook, you should be eating dinner at 5:30pm, 6pm at the latest. Then there's an easy couple hours before dinner where you're not eating, and you're able to wind down and get to bed at 8ish. 

The whole point of those mini-meals that would theoretically be eaten is not to cram an entire additional meal into 10 minutes which then pushes your dinner off until midnight. It would be to give you a little boost to get to dinner. If it's pushing off your dinner, then it's probably too much. 

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7 hours ago, laura_juggles said:

Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I'm still confused about why the precise timing of meals seems to be such a huge hang up. Yes, the ideal is 3 template meals every day, with pre- or post-workout mini meals/snacks as appropriate. 

So you work on your feet in a busy coffee shop (I know exactly which one you're referring to, but naming the place seems to be an issue so I won't). Getting hungry during your shift is a problem, but marking out an egg and fruit protein box is fine. You don't know the precise times when you'll get lunch, but you know it will be roughly at the 5 hour mark. 

Why wouldn't this work and simplify everything:

Breakfast - proper template meal that would get a non-barista through to the 5 hour mark

1st break (whenever that is) - mark out an egg and fruit box and eat 1 of the eggs, maybe a bit of the apple or grapes

Lunch - eat the template lunch you brought

2nd break - eat the other egg, maybe a bit of the fruit

Dinner - another template meal

That completely removes the dried fruit/fruit and nut bar/etc and is 3 template meals and 2 eggs. Bingo :)

Edited to add: Stop eating after dinner. Then you've gotten a bit of time before bed where you're not eating. Seems to tick all the boxes. 

I’ll try that tomorrow and as to the commute time or whatever what I was trying to say is I don’t get off at the same time every day. Today it was 5pm. I used to close and that’s how I ended up wanting to do the Whole30 in the first place. 

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1 hour ago, laura_juggles said:

If you know you're about to go do a physical task, then you would want a pre-workout type snack and that would be protein and fat, not a ton of fruit. Subsisting on larabars and fruit is never going to help you get out of the idea of "needing" sugar to get through things. 

I really still just don't understand what the confusion is. If you're getting out of work at 3:30pm, then assuming some commuting time and time to cook, you should be eating dinner at 5:30pm, 6pm at the latest. Then there's an easy couple hours before dinner where you're not eating, and you're able to wind down and get to bed at 8ish. 

The whole point of those mini-meals that would theoretically be eaten is not to cram an entire additional meal into 10 minutes which then pushes your dinner off until midnight. It would be to give you a little boost to get to dinner. If it's pushing off your dinner, then it's probably too much. 

Tomorrow I get off at 3:30pm, today I got off at 5. That’s what I was trying to say, my schedule changes from day to day. At any rate I’m doing everything right, except today’s lunch was a breakfast casserole, but I guess that doesn’t matter. Let’s put it this way, I break a sweat at least a couple of times a day at work. I’ll try again tomorrow. Tomorrow is day 30 but I feel like until I get control over this I need to keep going. 

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1 hour ago, laura_juggles said:

If you know you're about to go do a physical task, then you would want a pre-workout type snack and that would be protein and fat, not a ton of fruit. Subsisting on larabars and fruit is never going to help you get out of the idea of "needing" sugar to get through things. 

I really still just don't understand what the confusion is. If you're getting out of work at 3:30pm, then assuming some commuting time and time to cook, you should be eating dinner at 5:30pm, 6pm at the latest. Then there's an easy couple hours before dinner where you're not eating, and you're able to wind down and get to bed at 8ish. 

The whole point of those mini-meals that would theoretically be eaten is not to cram an entire additional meal into 10 minutes which then pushes your dinner off until midnight. It would be to give you a little boost to get to dinner. If it's pushing off your dinner, then it's probably too much. 

I think I might have mentioned I ate an epic bar? If I forgot to mention it above, yes I also had an epic bar.

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