It’s a brand new year, the fire is lit, and you’re ready to do what it takes to reach your health and fitness goals…the only problem is that your schedule doesn’t want to cooperate with your dreams of a slimmer, fitter you. Guys, this is a question we get all the time – how am I supposed to structure my meals with my crazy, long schedule? It can be so difficult to find a healthy?eating schedule that coordinates with odd hour shifts, long days, and just general busyness. Luckily, after many years on the road and working around the clock, Chris and I have come up with a few solutions to keep you on track. Here are a few of our tried-and-true methods:
- Spread out your meals longer than every three hours. Although at first glance this may seem counter-intuitive to what we always preach?”eat every three hours no matter what!”?in some cases, it’s just not feasible, and we understand that. There have been several times that we, ourselves, have worked 20 straight hours, so spacing out our meals was a must. If every three hours is just not going to cut it, try eating a healthy, balanced meal every 3 1/2 or 4 hours instead.
- Cut your meals in half, eating each half-meal every 3 hours. Some jobs, like first responders, for example, require you to be up for 24 hours straight, which would mean eating every 3 hours and would give you 8 meals a day! Even if you’re eating clean, 8 full meals is quite the caloric bomb. On days where I’ve been required to be up 16+ hours, I try to cut my meals in half and continue on my regular eating schedule. That way, I’m satisfied and never hungry, but not overdoing it either.
- Plump up your meals with extra veggies! I don’t know about you, but when I’m tired, I’m hungry, or hangry (so hungry I’m angry), as Chris lovingly refers to it. 😉 Satisfying your appetite when you lead such a crazy schedule can be difficult, so instead of loading your plates with more carbs or fats that’ll just leave you feeling groggier, fill up your plate with veggies. It’s a great way to make your meals go farther and keep you feeling fuller longer.
Do you work a long schedule or lead a crazy lifestyle? What works for you? I’m always on the hunt for helpful hints for staying on track! Let me know in the comments below. 🙂
For more meal planning and healthy eating tips and tools, check out our new book,?Extreme Transformation, and?subscribe?to my YouTube channel?here!
Xoxo,
Heidi
Related reading:
Ask The Powells: How Do I Gain Healthy Weight?
1-Minute Breakfast in a Mug
Ask The Powells: How Do We Handle the Holidays?
Tip of the Day: Curb Those Cravings!
117 Responses
Thanks for sharing these meal structuring tips! I love the emphasis on balance and variety to keep meals nutritious and satisfying. Incorporating different food groups not only helps with nutrition but also makes meals more enjoyable. Excited to try some of these ideas!
You are so welcome! I’m so glad the tips were helpful for you!
Hi Chris and Heidi
I live in Australia and am confused about protein powder. Your diet and recipes call for one scoop of protein powder, yet our protein powders call for three scoops in a shake. This yields 21.6 grams of protein. How much protein is in your one scoop? How many of our scoops should I be using?
I’m only couple of weeks into the program and am enjoying the variety and freedom it offers.
Hi Terri: For protein powders in our recipes, a scoop is about 31 g. And we love that you’re loving the program! 🙂
Hey Heidi,
I am currently workin governights which are from 1045p-715a wed-fri some weeks and other weeks it is Wed-Sun not counting if i pick up some other days.
I also may come in from 7p-7a. how in the world can i do this?? my life is all over and i am so confused as to how to approach this,
Please help
Hi Nita: It can be tricky to plan your meals on a crazy schedule. This post has some great ideas on how to fit your meals into your day, and just do the best you can, and plan for each day as best you can. You can do this!
Hi Chris and Heidi!
I’ve been watching your tv show for years now (it’s really popular in France too ^^) and I found out about your book recently. A few years ago, I lost 25 kg (around 55lbs, if I’m right…) but took a bit back over the past few months. Reading your book, I understood that I need to change in my mind to be able to keep the weight off ^^
I’m now reading your book for the 2nd time, to take time to understand everything and take notes but I have a few questions ^^
I understood I should eat every 3 hours. In the book, you explained that even two and a half hours or four hours is fine but because of my job, I’m not sure I can do even a 4 hours gap. I usually leave home at 11AM so I’m at my workplace for 12. Then I have a lunch break, but we never know in advance when it’s gonna be (usually around 3PM). And then, I’m working till 8PM so I’m home at 9PM. So there is a huge 6 hours gap while I won’t be able to eat and I don’t know what to do with it…
And I also wanted to know, as I’m vegetarian, I read on your blog that I can substitute meat with tempeh and tofu. But I wanted to know about the other meat substitutes we can find. Like seitan or soya steaks/burgers. Seitan is made of gluten so is it a carb? And should I avoid all the industrial meat substitutes or are they ok?
Thank you for all your work and thank you so much for teaching me to love myself! (even if it’s gonna take a bit more time 😉 )
Hi Alissane: Is it possible to keep some healthy snacks with you that don’t need refrigeration so you can eat more regularly? If so, I’d definitely recommend that. As far as vegatarian protein subs, as long as what you’re subbing has similar macros/calories to the meat option, you’re good to go!
thank you for your answer ^^
unfortunately, I really can’t eat during those 6 hours. I mean, it’s fine if I take a couple of minutes to grab a glass of water in the break room, but that’s all so I guess it would be difficult to eat enough in a few minutes.
For the vegetarian options, I never looked at calories or anything when I was eating meat so I don’t really know what I should aim for. I guess between 25 and 30g of proteins per serving would be fine, but what about fat?
thank you for helping me on my journey ^^
Hi Alissane: That’s a tough schedule! For the vegetarian subs, you should be okay to sub the same amount as what’s listed in any recipes, especially for recipes calling for chicken breast. You could consult with a calorie counting website like calorieking.com, and this site has some awesome information on calorie and macro counts for thousands of foods. Do the best you can, and you can do this!
Thanks for the tips! One question: so I know which gap I should do, how many hours should there be between the last meal and sleep? Obviously, I don’t want to have my last meal immediately before bed, right? This will help me determine if I should be doing 3.5 or 4 hours between meals on my long days.
Thanks again!
Hi Sunshine: I’d do whatever works best for you and your schedule. We’re more picky about getting in those 5 meals than the space between your last meal and sleeping since you do have a crazy schedule. If you can get in 3 hours between your meal and sleep, that’s optimal, but just do the best you can! 🙂