I've fallen apart, need some advice...

[Deez Nuggets]

Here's the deal, I started working full time now as a personal banker and have found it extremely hard and at times nearly impossible to stick to an every 2 or three hour meal consumption. I work in NYC and the business is great, however it's non stop up until the bank closes so i'm always with clients and really never have time to step away from my desk.

My morning is still routine... wake up at 630.. shower, dressed, and then pound a shake with oats and maybe fruit or something else small on top of that just to hold me over during the hour commute out the door by 715.... get to work.... 6 egg whites, peppers, tomato around 930am... next thing I know.. it's 130 / 2pm and I'm going to lunch.... it's good that i'm busy because A)i'm making money B)i'm making money and C)so busy that i don't realize what time it is and how hungry i am but all at the sacrafice of trying to maintain weight, let alone trying to build....

my lunch is usually a grilled chicken salad with pepers, onions, tomato, fat free balsamic vinegrette or one of those pre-flavored pouches of tuna in a whole wheat wrap with veggies.... I also still manage to drink about a gallon of water a day which is good... but it's really tough for me to eat more then really 5 times a day... i get those 2 meals in during work as well as the shake/oats in the morning but that's it.... the bank closes around 4 but by the time i get home it's close to 630 (or later) and i'm starving not to mention exhausted... usually down a can of tuna with a rice cake right away (here is where i also just start reaching for what's available which i've got to stop doing)...

Between just trying to relax and do whatever it is I have to do when i get home, I really don't eat again after that meal... i do however, eat about two tblspn of natty pb before bed with a shake...


That's about it... at this point in time... my career is and rightfully so should be more important than looking like I once did....but i can't get training out of my blood... Right now I need some ideas on meals to bring to work with me that I could down in like 5 minutes.... meals that still pack enough protein and clean cals to allow me to maintain or grow... i'm already bringing those pre-flavored pouches of tuna to work... but I really don't feel like i even ate anything after i eat one.....


I've also fallen out of a set gym schedule but I don't feel that's hard for me to get back into...

Thankfully i've managed to stay around 180-185 and at about 10-12% bf (if that)... but i just look and feel really flat. I'm open to just about any type of food... tuna, chicken, red meat, sushi, etc etc.... just need to be easy to prepare, transport, and eat!

[redneck99]

this whole lifestyle is a balance.... it's great that ur work is going so well for you.... maybe bring some protein bars to the office and put them in plain sight on ur desk or something so that u have a constant reminder that u need to eat something...

I bring a small cooler to work with all of my food in it... my bosses are pretty cool with me eating and drinking shakes all day...

I also have some inspirational ads posted up in my cubicle to remind me about bodybuilding!

[ROCKILLER]

how about a shake at least between your first meal at work and lunch. Then bring soomething to eat after work, before the drive home at like 4:00.

[NYCmitch25]

i want to help you but im too dam lazy to read all of that LOL

[hlcn8]

i fell into the same rut with a new position recently, only i haven't maintained as well and have put on 10 pounds... it's dissapointing looking in the mirror now.
i talked it out w/ a few people and what i'm doing now is finding a place to get away for 5 minutes at a time, which is hard when there's so much going on but i find i'm mentally better prepared when i go back anyways, it's finding the detachment when so involved in things that i most relate to w/ you. so i started bringing in small meals, i'm trying to lose the fat mind you, so it's maybe some almonds, cottage cheese and some mixed salad usually. appointments run over and i can't always tell the next person "hold on, let me get something to eat" but sometimes i can say "hold on, fill this out, i'll be right back." perhaps not the best customer service, but when i get back i try to make up for it. better than eating in front of them.
the worst thing is that my new workplace has a gym, so i cancelled my other gym membership. now when i work out i get halfway through and hear my name paged and have to work something out... i think i'm gonna have to get back to the old gym, and accept that it'll be hard the first few weeks, working out later at night, but that the energy i gain from it will help in the long run.
rockkiller, great idea about having something to eat on the drive home, i'm gonna try that!

[Deez Nuggets]

Well to further on this...

Thanks to the hiring of more personal bankers and a less busy time of the year I've managed to find what works... bars and shakes are a common fill in meal, but what i've done now is either bring food in from home (usually Chicken breast with brown rice and brocoli) or buy one large lunch (gotta stop though, nyc prices are outrageous!) and I split it up into two servings... one to eat at lunch time and the other to down before I jump on the bus/train back to my house...

I've also managed to either throw down a bowl of chili or a shake with oats after I get home/pre workout and if there's time (don't get home from the gym until around 9-930) I will eat another meal before bed time... Generally though it's just my post work out shake that I consume before bed..

I'm back up to around 205... holding more body fat but I'm fine with that now as i'm trying to put on weight without really concern for my bf%.