What do you pack for breakfast & lunch?

[shuubie]

Hello Everyone!

So I've been working at a private ASC. It's very fast-paced. My hours are 6-2 daily. Lunch is 30 mins. Since it has been so busy lately, I've only had 15 mins to spend for lunch. I'm in my OR scrubs so if I had to walk out, I'd have to change out of my clothes. The question is... what do you busy ppl pack for breakfast & lunch?? Sometimes I eat a lil bit of my sandwich, yogurt...etc for breakfast and then finish the rest for lunch. But I want to eat healthier.

Any suggestions for quick recipes? :) I'm sick of sandwiches!

[dcarriv]

what is breakfast and lunch? I am lucky if I get a chance to go to the bathroom.

[catshowlady]

Lunch for me is a Lean Cuisine. If you're really hungry, there are some larger meals called "dinnertime selects". I bring these to eat at 6p when I work 11a-11p. That way I'm not hungry when I get home (and therefore don't eat and go to bed). They take awhile to microwave, though. I love their panini sandwiches, and they only take 2:45 to cook. I also take a yogurt and some kind of fruit (I'm hooked on Ranier cherries right now). A vault Zero to drink, and sometimes a 100-calorie Special Dark chocolate bar for dessert.

I'm not a breakfast eater, but have recently discovered fiber bars. They don't hold me forever, but I can at least eat them without feeling nauseous.

I don't get a snack, but if I'm famished, our pt kitchen has individual packs of graham crackers and single-serving peanut butter portions. I can scoop the peanut butter out with the crackers and eat it in about 3 minutes. Employer doesn't seem to mind the occasional forage into the pt kitchen, especially if it's busy. They are known to bring up sandwich lunches for us if it's exceptionally crazy.

I second the cheese sticks and fruit or nuts for a quick snack too.

:paw:

[whodatnurse]

Breakfast is a hard-boiled egg.

Mid-morning snack is cheese and fruit.

Lunch is always some kid of pasta dish I make at home that also contains protein and veggies. (I'm Italian; plus, I really like having some sort of starchy carb at lunch.)

Mid-afternoon snack is nuts.

There's lots of inspiration out there on the 'Net for simple, nutritious recipes. Try the websites for Prevention, Weight Watchers, Hungry Girl, Diabetic Living, and Food Fit. (And if you like Italian, also check out Giada De Laurentis on the foodnetwork.com.) :)

[NursePiggy]

I eat before I leave the house...it takes some getting used to though. I used to get nauseous eating at the crack of dawn, but now it feels normal. I usually eat a huge egg white omlette, sometimes with some oatmeal and fruit. The protein and fiber holds me for a long time.

I bring yogurt and fruit for snacks and a simple sandwich for lunch (usually go for PB&J on wheat).

[ok2bme]

I make a smoothie for breakfast and drink it on the way to work. I have a Magic Bullet and love it! I put yogurt, frozen fruit, milk, and a spoonful of ground flax seeds in the cup and it takes 10 seconds to blend.

I get really sick of sandwiches. Usually I'll bring an english muffin pizza. Take a whole wheat english muffin, half it, spread marinara sauce on top, cheese, whatever toppings you like (I like turkey pepporoni and pinapple) and put it in the toaster oven for a few minutes. You can make it the night before, it's yummy cold or hot.

My other go-to meal is a burrito. Sometimes I make it breakfast style, with scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage. Othertimes, I put leftover grilled chicken in it and lettuce. And with either, salsa and cheese.

I bring a side of green beans (drained from the can) and a pudding or yogurt.

It's really easy and balanced. And quick to eat, no heating required, for me anyway. Hope I gave you some ideas!

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

You guys are way healthier than I am, obviously. I work 12 hour nights. I usually stop and grab some fast food for "breakfast" on my way in to work. Then dinner, at around midnight, usually consists of either take out we ordered 4 hours earlier or ramen noodles, whatever chips the day shift left for us, and the graham crackers/saltines/coffee that are in the patient stock cabinets.

And despite this horrendous diet I've managed to lose 30 lbs since February.

[Blackheartednurse]

I'm a semi vegetarian (I eat cheese,organic eggs) but I avoid meat so anything that is not meat related.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

Oh, and for those that need a good breakfast fast...the McDonalds Egg McMuffin is typically on most diets as one of the best things you can eat...full of protein, most of the fat is from the eggs, english muffin instead of breakfast.

It's about the same calorie/fat content as a lean cuisine. I have these almost any morning I work...that way I can have something good before I go home, I don't have to cook or have something else frozen.

[ECRN 4085]

Coffee.... Coffee... Coffee... Coffee... Coffee... And then for lunch.....

[TDCHIM]

Whole-grain wraps are quick and easy, especially if you have access to a microwave (though they're also good cold). I like spicy food, so I'll throw together one with some shredded low-fat/part-skim mozzarella, small pieces of thin-slice deli turkey (the Hillshire Farms stuff is fine), chopped bell peppers, maybe a little sweet red onion, and tabasco sauce. They're relatively low-cal, help me get some veggies and calcium in, and tide me over far better than a salad while being much less dull than a sandwich. At my last place of employment, I often worked 12, sometimes 14 hours with 10 or 15 minutes for lunch if I was lucky, and those wraps were a godsend!

[iNurseUK, RN]

On an Early shift tea, tea and more tea except on Sundays when the tradition is to treat ourselves to a nice greasy fried breakfast courtesy of the otherwise little-used staff canteen.

Bacon, eggs, sausages, mushrooms, hash browns and tomatoes.

You can probably hear the arteries clogging up from over the pond there

[shuubie]

all are great suggestions! Thanks!!