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Alright guys, let’s talk what to eat when at the hospital! Every shift is a little different but there are definitely some snacks and lunches that I have in the rotation. When I was counting macros, obviously the food that I ate at the hospital revolved around that. I bring a lot of the same foods then as I do now, but packing the night before is less work because I basically just pack a bunch of things and then eat whatever im in the food for/have time for. In general though, I like to pack things that are easy for my to eat at my computer (I know that won’t apply to everyone but working in a ICU we have a designated cubby/computer area so I keep my bag and coffee and water with me there all day) or are easy snacks to have a few bites of in the break room and then put away. Meaning, I try to make most of my snacks convenient. We don’t need a whole set up happening LOL– unless it’s part of my lunch than that’s a different story.
I think the best way to approach this post is to just list a lot of my favorite/common snacks and lunches that I bring. So here we go!
Snacks:
-individual packs of trail mix
-lara bars, ONE bars —any kind of bars are easy to pack!
-pita chips and/or carrots and hummus (will usually have this with lunch)
-mini babybel cheeses or string cheese
-laughing cow cheese w/ mini sweet bell peppers
-apple slices, blackberries, grapes
-yogurts (love YQ by Yoplait, Siggis, and the Chobani ones w/ less sugar)
-cottage cheese (love to bring the individual servings by the brand Good Culture)
When I counted macros, I’d be really specific on what snacks I would bring because I knew what to eat to hit my numbers. Honestly now though I just pack a ton of snacks and eat what I’m in the mood for 🙂
Lunch Ideas:
-Bowls! I’m all about the bowls of any kind. Meaning, I pick a base (brown rice, cauliflower rice, quinoa, etc) and then add toppings. Think: ground turkey, chicken, black beans, cheese, avocado, salsa. I just back the condiments in individual containers.
-Salads. easy. pick your greens, a protein, and add toppings. Super easy to mix it up with toppings so you don’t get bored.
-Protein + veggies and/or starch. Sometimes I’ll just pack grilled chicken that we’ve prepped from earlier in the week, and then do a side of broccoli and potatoes. Usually I’ll do this when we had that meal that night or the night before and I’ll just save some to pack for lunch the next day.
-Whole wheat or brown rice pasta. When I counted macros I would never bring pasta because, well, carbs. But now I will bring it occasionally! I typically do a tomato sauce with a protein like chicken or ground turkey.
-Wraps. I love the low carb tortillas from Trader Joes. I’ll do wraps with turkey slices, laughing cow cheese (any cheese works), avocado and cucumber.
For breakfast I typically have something like yogurt and granola, PB toast w/ banana, or avocado toast. Then I’ll usually have 1-2 snacks before lunch and then 1-2 again before I leave my shift. When I counted macros I made it more of a point to get my snacks in since I needed to hit certain numbers but now I just eat if I’m hungry or not. Hopefully this helps! I always recommend Pinterest for food ideas because there are a ton! And they are probably a lot more creative than me 😉
