Irregular Eating Habits - Bad Diet!

Ilyana

Sorry if this kind of thread is already done, but I couldn't find one!

My problem is that my job is making any semblance of a diet pretty difficult. I work as a bar food waitress, and I'm surrounded by unhealthy but delicious food constantly.

My irregular hours and lack of time mean that some days I eat good meals, but most days I skip lunch or dinner and snack on bad stuff instead, often white bread, fizzy drinks and chocolate. I know, so bad!

My exercise isn't too bad, I walk to work most days and try to swim 2-3 times a week (30-40 lengths). I will try to improve this however.

Ideally I'd like to lose about 10lbs. Atm I weigh roughly 9st 12lbs and I'm 5ft 1", and I'm a 19 year old girl.

Any advice at all would really be appreciated!

EileenG

Contrary to myth, irregular eating is not a diet disaster. Humans didn't evolve eating three square meals at the same time every day. The human body is well able to adapt to irregular meals. In fact, many athletes do this deliberately and call it calorie cycling.

The problem is the urge to grab junk when you're short of time. A bit of planning goes a long way here. What about stocking your fridge at work with a few tubs of cottage cheese or greek yogurt? Carry some tins of fish and buy a bag of salad leaves for a quick meal. Or just pinch some salad from work. Have a couple of packets of raw nuts or seeds handy to snack on. Hard boil a dozen eggs, and have them ready if you are starving.

MiniSquish

My friend is a waitress as well and is trying to eat healthily to lose weight for a holiday at the end of the Summer. She now makes sure to have a breakfast before she goes to work, even if it is a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast. She only gets one break around 5 and she starts at twelve in the day and she finishes at nine. She tries to grab a bowl of soup or something while its quiet and then tries to eat some form of a healthy dinner when she gets her break. She used to not eat a breakfast and just rely on the one break she gets in the day as a meal time. She said that because of that when she'd finish she'd be starving so would munch on junk and takeaways and stuff but she really finds that making the effort to have a breakfast and a snack during the day when she can really helps her.

Ilyana

Thanks for the replies

I'll definitely try those snack ideas to keep me going during the day, and try to resist the chocolate biccies!

I always eat cereal or toast for breakfast, that's one good habit I do have :pac:

EileenG

Eating breakfast is excellent, but both cereal and toast are pure carbs. Try adding some eggs or cottage cheese to increase the protein and make them more filling.