Finding the Time To Eat

Being in college and working its hard to find time to eat 3 meals let alone 6 meals. What I’m wondering is the only alternative basically protein bars? I know Biotest has great bars but I’m wondering what some of you in similar situations do to get the food you need quick and fast? Keep in mind most college students are poor =].

Protein Bars are one of your best options.

When I was in the Marine Corps, I had the same problem, and the advice I got was “Prepare your food the night before, and bring it to work in a cooler”, well, they don’t take kindly to marines walking around with big red igloo coolers in one hand an a weapon in the other, just as it can be difficult to lug that around in college.

I assume you carry a backpack, just get a soft cooler bag type of thing, and you can keep food cool like that and it should fit in your bag okay, if not, just get protein bars that have good nutritional profiles so your getting the most out of each meal. And I’m sure you could pack some fruits and nuts, or a can of tuna. I used to buy protein bars like it was going out of style, I probably spent 200 bucks a month just on bars (a lot compared to now that I can actually eat), but it was better than nothing.

As for the poor thing, I’ve never been in college, but I have managed to bang a few coeds, and I’ll be damned if im leaving in the morning without a free breakfast. Most college cafeterias I’ve been in are almost like buffet style, so just steal tons of food.

I’m a university student too, though have the advantage of living really close (walking distance) to campus.

Try a little bag of almonds or some other nuts that have a good profile for you; fibre fills you up well.

Shakes can be carried in a bottle; I never eat protein bars - haven’t tried Biotest ones but the ones here in Australia taste shocking.

Sandwich if you aren’t low carb; hard-boiled eggs if you are…

I’m just getting back into lifting and diet so I’m sure there are some more seasoned people around with smarter ideas =)

I’d be interested as well.

My trick is to mix up a massive shake in the morning and put it in a bottle, which I then drink gulps of whenever I get the chance. I usually blend up something like this (I add amounts to taste):

loads of whey
leucine
smooth pb
broccoli (yeah I know)
eggs
and
some kind of low-sugar pudding mix for flavouring and texture.

'06 WPO champ Matt Kroczalewski. on cooking/eating while in school:

"Make pre-cooking your food and tupperware your best friends. I often prepare an entire day’s worth of food all at once and then package all of it into tupperware that fits into a large cooler that I take everywhere with me. If you were to talk to people I work with they would all talk about my cooler and food intake.

In pharmacy school I was intially known as the big weightlifter guy that sits in the back with his cooler and gallon of milk eating and drinking all the time. When someone doesn’t know me people just say “You know the muscle dude that carries that cooler around all the time.” And people immediately know who they are referring to.

Some foods I frequently package up and take with me are round steak, baked potatoes, cottage cheese, yogurt, sirloin burgers, oatmeal and whey protein (if you have access to a microwave or you can put it in a shaker cup), chicken or turkey breasts and eggs.

I often have had all four burners on my stove going while I take a shower and get ready for work. I time it so that I start everything, hop in the shower for about ten minutes and I’m back right on time to turn everything off and put it into tupperware.

Really it just takes planning, preparation and making it part of your everyday routine. After a while you just do it without really even thinking about it. I am able to get out of bed, cook my food, shower/shave and pack my cooler in thirty minutes and be out the door."

I’m just about to start classes at university after being out of school for 3 years and I can say that time management/prep work is key to finding the time to eat.

Do you drive to school? I just bought a bunch of tupperware, a soft sided cooler and some ice packs. I’m going to pack 2 meals in the cooler, toss it in the car and eat on breaks between classes.

While I’m currently not poor, I have a feeling all that is about to change after the coming 9 months…I’m on a degree completion program that is pricey.

Good luck!

i also have a pretty difficult schedule in terms of find time to eat always. you just gotta find 5-10 minutes and EAT, no one says you have to be sitting down to have nice slow social meals. a cheeseburger, some chicken salad, toss a couple meals in your bag eat between classes, eat during breaks, eat while you study. it really only takes >5 mins to heat and eat something.

coconut milk in your protein shake goes along way into the morning. a bag of nuts the size of a tobacco pouch will fit in your pocket and you get over 1,000 calories from just 3 fingers of nuts. boil a couple dozen eggs once a week and buy apple and bananas and jerkey when you’re out on the go. what else do you need ? protein bars suck.

These are all some really good advice, I think im going to try and combine all the advice a bit and work something out. I’m going to go shopping this weekend and try and find some cheap food that was recommends and get a tupperware/cooler. I liked the idea of the huge protein shake also though, because their is a gym on campus that I lift at right now and I usually don’t have time to go home in order to get a pwo shake in. What kind of liquid did you use obviously not sure how milk will work unless they sell really big coolers.

Thanks though I’m pretty convinced not to do the bars now since that is bit more expensive and not as good as real food.

[quote]shizen wrote:
What kind of liquid did you use obviously not sure how milk will work unless they sell really big coolers.[/quote]

I use water in mine (I’m lactose intolerant) and usually I blend some ice into the mix as well to help keep it cool for longer. If it’s hot where you are - put the shake in a thermos flask and it’ll stay cool all day.