Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

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Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby BiologyBabe23 » Tue Aug 20, 2013 3:12 pm

So far, I have really been enjoying this lifestyle! Finally the right formula to make me feel my best.

I am trying to follow the Maximum Weight Loss program as I am currently about 30 lbs overweight (5"2', 145/150 lbs right now).

The problem I am currently having is TIME! I work full time, go to college full time, and have a family to take care of. A typical day involves getting up at 4am, 4-5 am I take a shower and make lunches, driving an hour to get to work, working until 2:30pm, driving an hour to college, studying for an hour, and having class until 8pm. By the time I get home, I am exhausted and still need to study.

What are some iideas of MWL friendly meals that I can pack in very little time. I only have about 20 minutes each day to make my meals. Since I am gone all day ,the only meal I eat at home is breakfast. This means, I have to pack a snack or two, lunch, and dinner to take with me. What do you suggest I pack? I normally pack fresh fruit and/or vegetables for snacks, but I need help with quick lunch and dinner ideas. I just don't have the time right now to spend half and hour or more making recipes :(

Also, I manage to exercise 3-4 times per week. I include some interval sprints followed by some steady state cardio, These sessions last 30-60 minutes. I wish I could do more, but this has been what I can manage lately. How much exercise did you need to do to lose weight?
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby vgpedlr » Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:17 pm

The exercise looks fine. Most of the benefits come from 30 min of moderate aerobic exercise. With such a busy schedule, do what you can and let it go. The food is far more important for weight loss. Check out Jeff's SNAP meals, they are very quick and easy, especially when you consider the amount made. Also, use your weekends to prepare meals and ingredients ahead of time. Bake several pounds of potatoes to keep in the fridge. Make a soup or stew that will last several meals. Get one or more crock pots to help. Aside from crockpot simmering time, an hour or so in the kitchen on Sunday can yield most of the food for the week. And get the rest of the family involved. There is no reason you should to do all that yourself.
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby Katydid » Tue Aug 20, 2013 4:30 pm

Here is a simple recipe that is easy to change up and takes less than 5 minutes to make:
1 can of beans any variety (no salt or well rinsed)
1 can of corn any variety (no salt or well rinsed)
1 can of diced tomatoes (use seasoned varieties like Italian, Mexican, garlic and onion) etc. Or 2 cups salsa.

Mix together. Serve as is or serve over salad, cooked brown rice, microwaved potato, etc. Good hot or cold.

Kate
This diet can save your life - it saved mine! Read my story at:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/stars/cathy_stewart.htm
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby Vegankit » Tue Aug 20, 2013 6:43 pm

Here is a link to Jeff Novick's SNAP meals. You can vary the spices and the choice of veggies etc. to generate a wide variety of meals. They use some prepared foods from the grocery store that can speed up meal preparation.

viewtopic.php?t=10519

And here is more of how Jeff modifies simple cooking techniques:

viewtopic.php?t=7168

Jeff also has 2 DVDs with recipes and cooking instructions to make tasty meals quickly - burgers and fries etc.

I like to cook up large batches of rice which I store in the fridge - and reheat in the microwave with a quick stir fry of whatever veggies I have in the fridge.
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby schermel » Fri Aug 23, 2013 8:36 am

Split pea soup in a crock pot: pkg of split peas, carrots, onions, potato, bay leaf, italian seasoning (or whatever). Don't have to spend alot of time chopping--rough chop will do. Put in crock pot with enough water. cook on low for a 4-6 hours.

Works with lentils, too. I like to add tomato paste if I use lentils.

Black-eyed peas would be nice and these don't have to be soaked either. But I have not tried these.

You do not have to soak split peas or lentils. Makes a large amount which you can then freeze in 1 cup containers. Grab a container for lunch. (freezer to microwave containers by corning are what I use).
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby tbcmd3 » Mon Nov 18, 2013 10:40 pm

I believe in keep it simple in preparing meal. On weekend cook up several pot of whole grain rice. After cool off, pack one cup size of rice in quarts zip lock bag and freeze as many bags as you can. Rice cooker can also cook beans without prior soaking the beans, as long you choose the cooking setting in brown rice mode. The rice cooker should cooked about 90 plus minutes for the beans. After cool, mixed about half cup of beans in to the rice in the zip lock bag. Also include some of the frozen vegetable in the zip lock bag. When you at work you can just microwave it for about 1 minute and serve with some seasoning. As far as exercise concern, it is important, but it is not critical in weight loss. If you have the time do couple days of strengthen exercise that would be helpful. For some alternative medium intensity exercise, you can do jump squat, push-up, mountain climber, lunges , 20 reps each exercise. It does not take too much of your time and can do great for metabolism.
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby Trinity » Tue Nov 19, 2013 2:04 am

Dear Biology,

I highly recommend getting a rice cooker. When I was similarly busy last year, I would set the timer so that a whole cookerful of fresh brown rice would be ready by the time I needed to leave the house in the morning. I dumped it in a big Tupperware container and brought it with me to eat in the car for breakfast and lunch. Sometimes I would throw a whole (peeled) banana on top and eat that as I ate the rice, and I would bring a little container of soy sauce for lunchtime -- but honestly the fresh rice tastes good enough to eat alone.

Another thing I did a lot was turn on the stove, dump a whole bag of frozen shredded potatoes (hash browns) in a nonstick frying pan, and let it cook on low while I got a shower, etc. Just take a break while you're getting ready to flip it over once and it'll be cooked by the time you leave (40 minutes, especially if the stove is low) -- another thing you can dump in a Tupperware and take with you with a fork, ketchup optional.

Since you're already bringing fruit and vegetables for snacks, this may be able to get you through the day. Just get a really big rice cooker. And the monotony will help you lose weight too, in the style of a Mary's mini type thing.

As an added bonus, no need to refrigerate or microwave (or make anything in advance). Everything (in my opinion) stays warm enough to be edible.
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby JOJO1947 » Tue Nov 19, 2013 8:47 am

I make a bean dip with Eden Organic no added salt pinto beans - sometimes add a few red pepper flakes, black pepper and minced garlic. Then spread it on salt-free Brown Rice Cakes, or make a bean dip/spinach sandwich with Ezekial bread.

I have a baked oatmeal banana bar recipe I like.
4-Ingredient Banana Oat Bars (With Options!)
Makes one 9x9-inch pan.
2 large, very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1/4 cup pitted, chopped dried dates
1/4 cup chopped nuts — such as walnuts, hazelnuts or pecans
Grated nutmeg or cinnamon (optional)
Heat the oven to 350°F and VERY LIGHTLY grease a 9x9-inch square baking dish with olive oil. (I haven't tried using parchment paper yet in lieu of the teeny bit of oil but I plan to)
Peel the bananas and mash their flesh in a medium mixing bowl. Mash very thoroughly until no large chunks remain; the bananas should be essentially liquid. (You will have between 1 cup and 1 1/4 cup.) Stir in the vanilla, if using. Add the oats and stir them in. Stir in the salt, dates, and nuts.
Pat the thick mixture evenly into the baking pan. If desired, sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges just begin to crisp up.
Place the baking pan on a rack to cool. When the pan is mostly cool, cut into bars.
THESE BARS ARE MUCH BETTER THE NEXT DAY IF ALLOWED TO SOFTEN IN A ZIP-LOCK BAGGIE.
I don't use nuts or salt, but I plan to try dried cranberries as an addition.

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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby Demosthenes » Tue Nov 19, 2013 11:48 am

I work full time and am a full time graduate student. I also have a four hour round trip commute from work each day. I understand your pain! :) I cook most of my food for the week on Sunday mornings, as Saturday is the day I go to the market. I make beans, oatmeal, steamed veggies, brown rice (or another cooked cereal like cracked wheat), and I prep fruit that takes time (like pomegranate), and I bake several pounds of potatoes. So oatmeal is breakfast, fruit is for snacks; rice, beans, and steamed veggies are for lunches, and those baked potatoes I eat when I get home and I'm too tired to cook dinner or I eat dinner at the bus stop before classes. The only other food I eat in the week is if I get home and feel like a hot dinner, and that's when I slice up a large sweet potato, roast it, and eat it with ketchup. So most of my meals I just dump a bunch of this pre-cooked food onto a plate and heat it in the microwave- meals without prep time!
"Rice is great if you're really hungry and want to eat 2,000 of something."- Mitch Hedberg
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Zero Prep time option

Postby NC » Tue Nov 26, 2013 12:37 pm

Birdseye makes frozen mixtures of starch and vegetables. A number of these have no added sauce or salt. They are truly a no compromise, pre-packaged starch based meal. While I mostly pre-cook on the weekends I usually keep a couple of these in the freezer in case I get caught short or feel like something different. My favorite is a mixture of white corn, yellow corn, carrots, and asparagus. They also make several varieties that include either brown rice and veggies or brown and wild rice with veggies. You can simply heat and eat or add the sauce or condiment of your choice. These require ZERO preparation and can be ready to eat in 3-4 minutes out of the freezer. If you want to eat them away from home a microwave is handy but if one isn’t available you could pre-heat them and pack them in one of those carriers designed to keep food hot.
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Re: Quick & No Prep Meals && exercise when no time

Postby Melissa88 » Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:16 pm

I understand your situation. I too have limited time to prepare foods.

I found making a large quantity of foods on the weekends help.

You could try Lindsay Nixon's meal plans just follow the Low Fat alternatives to stay within the MWL plan.
Here is the link: https://www.getmealplans.com/

You get a grocery list, a schedule of meals, a prep list to prepare all of the meals on a Sunday, and of course the recipes. I've purchase two plans so far. I loved the first one but the second one wasn't as appealing to me. So I just keep making foods from the first. The recipes change from week to week.
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