How Much Food to Pack for a Full Day Out

[LemonKazoo]

I'm on day 7 of my first Whole30. I came into it being used to eating twice a day and I think I'm starting to adjust to 3 meals, but I'm struggling to get a feel for how much food I should make for a day.

I work long days so on a lot of days I eat breakfast at home, and pack lunch and dinner. The first few days I was eating two full sized meals and a little lunch, and struggling to eat it all. Yesterday though I got HUNGRY. I ate all the food I took to work, and was still hungry. I ended up having 2 Larabars and an entire liter of coconut water: not ideal, but that was all I could find complaint at the connivence store (why does all beef jerky need sugar?).

So I packed up what I would consider three full meals for my next long day tomorrow, and it felt like a lot of food as I was planning and getting it ready but seeing it all sitting on the table it doesn't look like much. I attached a photo of tomorrows plan: 

Breakfast: asparagus, pork, and potato hash with hollandaise and an egg

Lunch: spinach salad with spinach/artichoke spread, black olives, almonds, steak, and an avocado

Dinner: chicken stuffed with spinach/artichoke and wrapped with prosciutto, roasted potatoes, leeks, and onions, and some fresh fruit

I do ride a bike to work. I don't consider it a workout since it's only about 6.5 mostly flat miles, but maybe I need to add some food to eat as soon as I get off the bike?

It's a good sign that my body is getting hungry, a lot of the time I eat because of the time of day and never actually feel hungry, but I don't want to end up super hungry and desperate at work again.

[ShannonM816]

It's hard to tell portion sizes from the pictures, but be sure that for each meal, you have 1-2 palm-sized portions of protein, or if eggs are your only protein, as many whole eggs as you can hold in one hand. Have a serving or two of fat in addition to any oil you cook in. Then add 2-3 cups of veggies, more if you're having a salad that's mostly raw, leafy greens. 

You might also try having a big breakfast, big lunch, and then see how you feel at dinner -- theoretically when your hormones are all sorted out, you should be hungriest first thing in the morning, and then throughout the day your hunger should be less. This explains a little bit about how that should work:   https://www.thepaleomom.com/is-breakfast-really-most-important-meal/

If you have a place to leave things at work, you might consider getting a few non-perishable items to leave there, in case you get hungry or forget your lunch or something. Canned tuna or salmon, olives, olive oil, maybe jerky if you do find some that's compliant, maybe even some canned vegetables (don't forget to bring a can opener too). That way you have something you can eat without having to scramble to find something.