10-12 Hours in a Vehicle

[millerlite]

Day three! My face looks thinner this morning

Can anyone give me advice about packing lunch & dinner. I'm a day sleeper/breakfast skipper. I work 10 (sometimes longer) in a patrol car. I eat my meals in the drivers seat. I have access to a microwave on most days. I'm already worried about getting bored. Boredom = trips to 7-11. I will probably be on induction for awhile (60lbs to lose).
How are the Adkins shakes/bars? I almost bought some, but want feedback before I spend money on them. On court days, I'll need pocket snacks. I cannot think of anything but bars to stash in my uniform.

I think I'm going to need a bigger lunch box.

Also,,,my husband is NOT on Adkins. How have ya'll dealt with having THEIR food in the house?

[scottie mike]

Welcome to Atkins.

As to the bars and shakes, there are not the best products -- the bars in particular as they contain sugar alcohols which some people process as sugar. Thus the carb count is considerably higher.

You are best off packing meat and/or hard cheese. Both should last well un-refrigerated, better in a cooler.

After doing a 5 day, 3,000+ mile road trip and from working a 12 hour day (with commute), my suggestions are:

• start eating a good breakfast as it will tide you over for a while. This is good for the Atkin diet, any diet or any WOE. I can cook and eat 3 eggs and 2 strips of bacon ( pre cooked) in 10 minutes or less. So time is really not a factor.
• plan to take a meal every 4-5 hours which is a good plan for every one
• plan what you are going to eat each day a week in advance. This is good until you settle into a routine.
• pack a meal(s) -- leftovers/burgers/sliced meat/tuna salad/chicken salad of the correct size for you. I took extra at first until I got the portions figured out.
• Pack it the night before if possible. Then you are less likely to eat off plan.
• even during induction, even fast food burgers sans bun are OK. Bring fork, knife and plate to cut them up. Or just wrap them in lettuce.
• You may have to pack a second meal or a snack given the length of your shift. I tended to get hungry after 4 hour. Protein shakes might be a good "snack" to tide you over to dinner. All you need is cold water. You can pack baggies with a scoop of powder. Nothing to spoil.

As to the house hold, that is the harder thing. The best plan is to discard/donate the offending items. Much easier that way.

Other ideas is put them into a different place ie the man cave or a higher shelf. Something to keep them out of your line of sight.

Personally, I will not open an item, but might eat out of an open bag. So buy individually packed items. More expensive. Less temptations.

You might encourage him to cook for himself -- less temptation for you. Or eat what you are making. You might find your husband might likes Atkins. Lots of red meat, lots of fat. And healthier for him.



Good luck.

[lally]

I second everything that Mike just said. Also, for court days. why not pack a cheese stick or two? They last pretty handily unrefrigerated for eight hours or so, i take them to work frequently. Is it possible for you to pack a cooler? If so, that should be helpful on car days. Good luck!

PS>I am on day three as well

[millerlite]

My reply disapperard. Starting over

Mike,
Thank you!
I cooked a weeks worth of sausage patties this morning and boiled eggs. I also packaged three days of lettuce, tuna and canned chicken. I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot last night. I think I'll be OK as long as I plan ahead.
I bought one Pure Protein by Worldwide Sport Nutritional Supplements, Inc. I haven't tried it yet. Can you recommend a powder.
As far as the non-Adkins food- I took your advice and put the bread and crackers in the cupboard. I am really craving peanuts. I'm withdrawing. How do you feel about KFC or store bought deli fried chicken?

[millerlite]

Thank you Blue and Ally,
I'm going to try your celery wrap idea and cheese sticks. Court for a police officer can be 15 minutes or 3 hours. We never know until we get there. No, no cafeteria. I wish.
I'm definitely hearing the same message... plan ahead.
Ally, how is day three? I had a slight headache yesterday. I drank a diet Dr. Pepper and it went away.

[Tril]

Found this for KFC... looks like the best choice there is the grilled chicken with either a plain side salad or green beans. Avoid the cole slaw... it has nearly as many carbs as the potato salad!

http://www.kfc.com/nutrition/pdf/kfc_nutrition.pdf

[tracyred]

hi there officer! the other thing is that atkins keeps you from those insulin-crashes which make you feel really starving...so you don't need to be worried about snacks, in fact, after w while you may find that you need to remind yourself to eat! at first you may feel really hungry (i did, and it was worrying, til i posted about it and other people told me they had the same crazy-hunger in the first couple weeks) - all you do is add more fat..it does go away and you get a very nice equilibrium.

anyhoo - all the a bove suggestions are absolutely brilliant - follow them, good luck and keep us posted ej? oh with my husband - i just cook him rice/potatoes or pasta with his meal, but i eat the meat and (legal) veggies. he is a biiiig eater (naturally slim: sigh) and so needs more food to go with his meals than just meat and veg..unless it's potato

take care,
tracy

[millerlite]

Super excited! Down 2 pounds. My stomach is flatter. NOW I'm going to try to avoid the scale for a week. I was tired last night. Tonight is my first shift since New Years Eve. I know I have some challenges ahead tonight (i.e. packing my lunch, not having my sunflower seeds and peer pressure) My co-workers and I eat dinner out every shift. I haven't decided how I'm going to deal with that. Sitting with them at the restaurant won't work because I do not have enough will power to not order something or to not take that 'one bite'.
I am joining The Biggest Loser contest at work. Another goal this week is to get a co-worker to join Atkins with me. She has been making statements about needing to do something.
Thank you so much for the support. That is the #1 reason I joined this site.
KFC will be my backup in case I forget my lunch.
One more question. Both my Dr. Atkins' Carbohydrate Gram Counter pocket book and Dr Atkins' New Diet Revolution book do not mention provolone cheese. I bought a package from Sams Club. Castle Wood Reserve brand. States 0g Carbs, 0g sugars. Do I consider this a free food?

[tracyred]

hey there - well done on the 2 pounds and flatter stomach - it is encouraging isn't it??anyway re going out for dinner with your co-workers - stop with the quitter-talk! good grief i don't mean to sound harsh, but have a think about what foods you can eat (loads of foods, by the way) - if we are talking a proper restaurant then they'll generally have nice big burgers with bacon and mayo - just get one without the bun! and a salad or veggies on the side instead of fries of course - pick ou the carrots and roast potato and voila! or get the chicken caesar salad..or etcetc...it's actually a bit of fun to work out what you can eat...and Most times people don't notice anyway. if they look at you funny about having no bun just tell them you're cutting down on bread. enough said, you don't have to go into the whole atkins spiel, which a lot of people don't get anyway, or you end up spending an hour explaining. even at mcdonalds you can get the burger (no ketchup), and skip the bun - eat it with a knife and fork. get the bacon-couble cheeseburger. if they ask, tell your coworkers - "have you read the bun ingredients???" -i'm cutting them out!"there's no need to fear temptation if yu know that you can eat really really well without compromising. it is true, after all good luck and let us know how you went okay?tracy

[millerlite]

I got a lot of teasing from the guys about skipping dinner with them. So.... of course I went. We ate at our usual italian restuarant. I had a house salad with chicken, olives, house italian and cucumbers. I ate my packed tuna about three hours later. I am happy to say that the garlic bread and the basket of homemade baked bread did not appeal to me. My shift was busy and I did not get all my food in. What should I do in this situation? It's a problem I deal with a lot. So at 0345 I'm home and will be going to bed in about an hour. Do I try to eat now so I end my day with 20g or call it good with 14g? I was on Jenny Craig before and my diet lady told me to eat all my food even if I eat it at bedtime. I'm not hungry now.

One lesson learned tonight: I made these perfect celery, provolone and ham wraps that Blue told me about. I wrapped them in tin foil. WELL, I underestimated the heat blowing on the floorboard of my car and later discovered a blob of provolone. I still ate one. Delish. I'll give it a try tomorrow and this time I'll put them on a freezer block.

I'm less tired today. I only had one cup of coffee. That's really good for me. HOWEVER.. I cannot get enough Diet Dr. Pepper. It is satisfying my sweet tooth, I guess. I'm not thrilled. I try to avoid soda pop. I'm starting back into my day sleeping routine so I'm curious if my energy will stay the same.

[tracyred]

heeeeeeeeey well done you!!! the provolone blob sounds hilarious i would try to get all yourcarbs - you can try a higher carb veggie in your day if you are finding it hard to get all 20 in - maybe add a tomato for around 3.5 net grams

night-night

[tracyred]

oh yes i know tomatoes are fruit, but we are allowed to have them

[millerlite]

are there any good Atkins Facebook pages?

[Allie58]

Well I don't know too much about the bars but I plan to stay away from them till I get used to not eating much thats sweet. I would think pepperoni sticks and cheese sticks would be good pocket snacks.
My hubby isn't on Atkins either and I'm still going to be cooking for him which always involves alot of pasta which I love. Haven't quite figured that out yet since dinner is always a quick grab after long shifts. Guess I'll just be dipping my piggy puffs in sour cream while he's eating the good chips LOL

[Tril]

Piggy Puffs!!!!!!!! OMG... that is SO funny. But appropriate! LOL