Losing weight for a picky and super busy person...

[stumblymonkeyremix]

I'm seriously obese...my BMI is cracking on for 40. I've lost weight successfully in the past but I'm so busy at the moment I'm really struggling to think about what to eat.

Some ideas would be great but....I'm also a picky eater, there are lots of things I don't like so I may drive you a bit mad.

Please can someone help tell me what I should think about eating?

I know the nutritional concepts but the combination of my schedule (mainly) and pickiness (partly) is putting me at a loss when it comes to putting it into practice.

Idea of my schedule:

I get up at around 5am. Get ready and leave for work (two hour commute, busy, stressful job).

I don't get breaks during the day other than to grab something on the go and quite often have to eat it while working or in a meeting. I move between offices during the day so aren't necessarily near a microwave or fridge.

On a good day I get home at 7.30pm. On a busy day I get home at 10pm.

Weekends are free though.

Idea of Picky Eating:

I don't like...chicken or turkey, eggs, salmon, fresh tuna, shellfish, prawns, salad, soup.

And a food diary for last two days...

Monday

Up at 5am. Latte on train.

Lunch: Half cheese/salad/pickle baguette and Diet Coke from Pret grabbed between meetings

Snack: One choc biscuit offered by colleague

Dinner: Whole cheese/salad/pickle baguette, portion mango and Diet Coke eaten in Pret while working at station. Home at 9pm - bed.

Tuesday

Up at 6.30am. Left at 7am. Breakfast latte and almond croissant grabbed on way to work, eaten in meeting.

Lunch: Lamb souvlaki and small chips, Diet Coke. Eaten while working

Dinner: At home at 7.30pm, at 2 x small wholemeal toast with butter and organic peanut butter; 1 x pikelet with butter, large tea with one sugar and coconut milk

What vegetables do you like? And what about beans (e.g. Bean salad, bean stew etc)? And do you like muesli or porridge?

I like porridge but don't really have time to make it.

I'm a bit meh about beans but would eat them, again, just don't have the time to make anything like that.

I like most veg other than salad....broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, peppers, etc, etc.

I hate celery, radish, raw onion and lettuce/rocket.

Ok how about:

Breakfast - porridge bought at Pret (quick and easy and filing)

Lunch - bean salad (made night before and brought to work in Tupperware.) If you mix 1/2 tin of some kind of beans with cumin, feta cheese and peppers - properly yummy and takes less than 5 mins to make.

Snacks: fruits/nuts (again brought in to work so you are less likely to take colleagues' biscuits)

Dinner: cous cous served with pre-cooked chicken and any veg to hand. Will take less than 10 mins to make. Probably 5.

Dessert: Greek yoghurt and honey or a mini-magnum

Does that appeal?

It's a terrible diet, if you don't mind my saying so. Not only your diet, but your working hours are really crappy, too, by the sound of it.

It's not really advice, but if I were obliged to come up with a suggestion, I'd suggest eating oatmeal porridge for lunch. Throw 1/2 deciliter in a plastic bag together with 6-10 raisins. Then cook it in a microwave oven at work (or at home bring it in a thermos flask there are thermos flasks for food). Then just one small tetra with milk, like 1/2 deciliter or so. Cut out all latte, switch to espresso. Bring a shaved carrot in another plastic bag, for a snack, or two - eat one at 9 a.m. and the other at 3 p.m. (and lunch-porridge at noon). For dinner, pick things like a can of tuna and salad, or mackerel in tomato sause and salad. Cut out all cheese and white bread. Bring some nuts or almonds in a third plastic bag, for emergency situations, but not more than what is to be eaten at once. Sparkling water to go with the meals and in between - cut out the diet coke. Get off one stop before your usual stop, and walk home. During that time you could also work on an escape plan from that crappy job, the working hours are dreadful it'll cost you your health to keep up that schedule for any period of time. A heart attack at fifty, or something similar, or diabetes.

Yes, and one more thing, you can't keep to what you LIKE to eat and skip what you don't LIKE to eat as you only seem to like unhealthy stuff (latte, cheese, white bread, coke, chips) and seem not to like healthy things (fish, salad, soup, sparkling water). Just go for it anyway, and trust you will start to like the healthy stuff once you get used to it, and have come off that addiction to sugar and fast calories that you seem to thrive on now. Skip the diet coke, you're only kidding yourself. If you need caffein go for espresso or black coffee.