hectic schedule/no time for lunch

[leina89]

Hello! I'm on day 10 of The Whole30 and having a little bit of difficulty with scheduling my meals, and figuring out if I'm on the right track with what I am eating. My biggest difficulty so far is that I typically have breakfast early, about 7am (after a 3 mile walk in the morning, most days), but am not able to get a lunch break usually until about 1. My job has me on the road, with no means to heat up a meal (i stick with salad for this reason). Unfortunately during the work day I end up rushed through lunch (if i even get to take a break before 3) and then have indigestion from shoveling my food down. On the days I can't take lunch until after 1, I'll have a snack of about 1/4 cup almonds/macadamia nuts. My lunch has been a salad (1 portion chicken, cucumber, tomato, red pepper, avocado, dressing) with a piece of fruit (an apple or clementine). On the days that I work out after work usually about 5:30, I definitely need a snack before (usually an egg). So far I don't have very much energy to workout. I usually just have dinner right after my workout. I feel like pre and post work out snacks would be too much, especially because I have the snack before lunch. 

On the weekend it's much easier to have three meals with no snacks in between because my days don't start as early, and I am able to workout after breakfast or lunch, and have an earlier dinner. So my main frustration is making this work with my hectic workweek schedule. Any suggestions are much appreciated

 

[ShannonM816]

I don't know what to tell you about the timing. Is there no way to take 10-15 minutes to eat earlier in the day, maybe just pulled over in a parking lot somewhere? Only you know your job -- some people find that if they insist they need 15-20 minutes to eat at a time that works for them, the people around them adjust and life goes on, while in other jobs you truly have absolutely no options.  And it might be that three meals a day on workdays is just not going to happen for you -- you may eat breakfast, and divide your lunch into two servings to eat in two shorter time periods in the day, and then you eat a full dinner. And you eat pre-workout if you need it -- the egg is a good option, and you eat a post-workout of a few bites of protein. Pre- and post-workout are absolutely in addition to your three meals, and skipping that post-workout may be contributing to you feeling like you don't have energy to work out. 

I will say that if you need to eat between meals, it's okay to do so, but see if you can find something other than nuts -- those are hard on the digestive system and may be adding to the issues you're having. Can you take a cooler and keep some cooked chicken or meatballs or leftover frittata/egg casserole and some roasted root vegetables, maybe with some mayo or guacamole or other dip for them? To me, those are okay cold. You could also look into a thermos or other insulated container to keep warm foods warm if you want some non-salad options. There are even food warmer type things that plug in to your car's cigarette lighter/charger (what do we call that now that there's not really lighters in them anymore?) I've never used them, and I suspect it's less that they warm your food up from cold and more that they keep it warm if it started out warm, but if being on the road this much is something you'll be doing for a while, it might be worth looking into, just so you have some more options.