Need help, advice and anything else you can offer!!
So I started Phase 1 of NROLFW in the beginning of August and I'm only on the 11th workout of 16! Eeek! Ive definitely been taking more days off although that 11 workouts doesn't include the days where I just did some cardio.
Anyways, as I posted on my blog, I recently got a 9-5 internship that is possibly going to turn into a fulltime job. I love love love the internship but its long hours because I commute to it and it's pretty far. I wake up around 6am, and don't get home around 6:30 (which actually isn't too bad) but gotta be in bed again around 11. Jeez I am so not used to this. Because this is an unpaid internship at the time, I am still maintaining my serving/bartending job and going to be working on friday and saturday night (yes, Ill be working twice on fridays!).
I've only worked there one week and Ive managed to make it to the gym almost every night (thank god for my love affair with the gym! Im def not one to make excuses not to go...ever.) I've been making protein smoothies for breakfast and putting some kashi cereal in a bag to snack on. I also snack on some carrots and dip, hardboiled eggs, and cashews. I also carry around my 1L water bottle and fill it up at least once a day. I drink a lot of water in the office!
So I know a lot of you are career women here and can offer me some help. How do you do it? how do you maintain a healthy lifestyle when you gotta eat outside the house a lot? What kind of lunches do you pack?
As much as I want to make a job out of this, my own life and fitness are so important to me and I am not willing to compromise it.
Lunches for me are usually protein leftover from the night before with some vegetables, like frozen peppers or raw (carrots, celery, grape tomatoes, pepper strips, jicama.
Usually I'll warm the protein up in the microwave but not always. Sometimes I'll have the meat over a green salad, sometimes warmed and with a side salad or combined into a wrap (like bbq chicken wrap or chicken caesar wrap).
Some weeks I'll make Greek salad on Sunday and have it 3 days for lunch with leftover protein of the day.
So things like hamburger patties, chicken breast, slices of steak, pork chop or pork loin, turkey burgers, left over fajita (chicken, peppers, onions), left over turkey burrito fixings. Usually once a week I'll have nothing left over and make a tuna salad instead.
Those are the basic building blocks and I tend to put them together differently depending how many calories I want for that meal.
I get up around 5:30am, get dressed, go to the gym, hit the grocery store afterwards (it's almost next door to the gym), go home, have breakfast, take a shower, get dressed, packup snacks and lunch, come home around 7pm and go to bed around 9:30pm. The most helpful thing I found is to plan meals (including snacks) for the week ahead of time. If I make grilled chicken for dinner, I'll make extra so I have enough for a couple snacks. Add in some frozen veggies that you can quickly nuke, take along some fruit and you've got some very healthy and tasty portable meals.
The main thing is making the week's worth of lunches on Sunday.
I'm lucky enough to be able to take a long lunch break to go to the gym. I get up at 4:30 to study for a couple of hours before getting ready for work since I'm going to school. I suppose I could reverse study and gym if I had to. Early to bed, early to rise...
My gym is a block from my office, so I usually go during my lunch hour. Then I eat lunch at my desk afterwards. Usually somethign like a Kashi frozen meal, or a turkey sandwich, or leftovers from my dinner. Not very enticing, I know. I also keep snacks at the office, like greek yogurt, nuts, string cheese, and fruit. If I don't bring my own snacks, I end up eating the snacks the office provides, which are not exactly healthy. It has taken me a long time to figure out how to maintain balance-- I'm still figuring it out.
No microwave? What kind of barbaric place are you working in?
Well, you can always take sandwich and salad fixings for the week and leave them in the fridge. That way you at least don't have to bring something every day.
I have to leave for work at 6:15 and I don't get back until 5:15, I have a commute as well. I don't know about you, but I eat six small meals a day, so I usually bring an apple, almonds, a banana, and string cheese as some of my snacks and then at lunch time I eat leftovers or wraps, green salads, pasta salads, sandwiches. If you stay there for a long time, you could always donate one of those ten dollar microwaves from walmart! I actually find it easier to eat healthily at work because I just eat what I packed, I don't have another choice! Always pack your lunch the night before or on Sunday so you'll never have to worry about a time crunch in the morning.
As for keeping with the gym, if you ever do have trouble, I always go straight after work, I don't sit down or do anything else because then I can talk myself out of it.
My idea was to hit the gym as soon as or shortly after it opens. I found getting my workout out of the way first thing set the pace for the day. I would be home by 7 a.m. to get the rest of the family motivated. Then I go to work for 9:30.
I plan a whole week's menu in advance, shop, and then prepare. Yes, it takes several hours to prepare. I'm lucky that my husband takes an interest and helps. I just finished up an evening session of preparing meals for the week for DH and me. I boiled 30 eggs, washed and spun lettuces, and folded and bagged my wraps -- for the whole week. I made my lunches in advance too -- fried eggplant, sliced tomatoes, and a slice of mozzerella cheese all boxed up in plastic containers for the week. Afternoon snack is an easy grab - yogurt and a banana. Like you, I'll make a smoothie in the morning. I make dinner when I get home from work or from the gym.
Need help, advice and anything else you can offer!!
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