The art of planning ahead
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My wife and I have just finished cooking our lunches for the next week. I made a vegetable medley of assorted veges all simmered up with herbs and spices and she made a vegetable pasta bake. Both looked absolutely delicious. I’m sure they will taste great too.
This is one of the not so secret ’secrets’ to my success in losing weight. It’s planning ahead. I know that if I don’t make my lunches ahead of time then I’ll get to work and go looking for food. It’s amazing how hard it is to find decent healthy food in a decent healthy portion size on a University campus.
By bringing my lunches along I’m just not tempted to go off scavenging for treats and stuff.
So my tip to you is: “Be prepared.” I should have been a boy scout. 
Yeah, I remember those Uni days. It was hard when I was a student since I didn’t have anywhere to keep a pre-prepared lunch and was faced with either the option of a) carrying it around with me in my bag, having it leak everywhere, or b) buy something from the greasy chinese food stall since the line at the kebab place is always far too long. Quite often, I would go for neither a) or b) and starve myself - which is probably worst of all!
Now that I actually have a fridge of which to put my stuff in, I bring in my ingredients at the beginning of the week and make my meals on the fly, as I feel like. It’s awesome.
Ooh…greasy chinese food stall…hmmmm kebab place. Favourites both.
Haha, great boy scout advice. Really it does make it easier if you prepare and set everything out, but I rarely do that. Maybe I will make a better effort.
I’ve found that I have to do it Mary. If I’m not organized then things go horribly wrong.
One of the secrets for me too. Bring your own lunch. I don’t plan that far ahead. I usually can find something every morning. I plan my lunch to be a certain number of Points. Get protein at least two servings of fruit/veggies and a serving of dairy.
No…. at uni days, that’s before I was a vegetarian. Budget was the main issue… so the $1 sausages.. 2 of them makes a meal. Nice and cheap! Or the nice bacon and egg pie… hmm…
Vegs? No no, that’s what dinner and mum is for!
Well, healthy food in uni? Probably those sandwishes that are made to order… or some sushi… or the fruits… yeah… not much choices.
Apart from food, I found that it’s quite hard to get some nice drinks if you don’t want to drink coffee. There’s no much alternative, let alone “healthier” alternatives.
I try to do that as well as often as possible. When I go to the office, the only options in terms of food are McDonald’s or sandwiches, and not the most appealing kind of sandwiches either (they always put mayonnaise everywhere, gee how I dislike that thing). As a student, I live close to the campus, so at least I can go back home to cook if I have enough time (not just half a hour between classes, that is). But what has helped the most was finally getting a deep freezer. It’s a lifesaver to stock up on veggies.
I think we are somewhat lucky here, though. Food on campus isn’t necessarily the greatest thing if you only go to the cafeteria, but the actual campus restaurants offer complete meals (a salad, veggies, a starch, a source of protein, some bread with cheese, and a dessert). Alright, the fish is often fried and you have to perform a willpower battle with the canteen personnel so that they give you more veggies than pasta; nevertheless, having a somewhat proper meal remains possible, and I’m very grateful for that.
Sounds like your campus is a lot more healthy living friendly than mine! I like your deep freezer idea. Luckily for me there is a great fresh veggie food store a few minutes from my place so I get to stock up on fresh stuff whenever I need.
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Planning ahead is key! I work at an elementary school, so if I don’t pack my lunch and snacks every single day, I am stuck with no healthy options. It seemed like a lot of work when I first started, but it’s become second nature to me now.
Congrats on your success!
Thanks Exfatgirl. It does become easier over time.