Salad lunches for work

In my job, I work shifts, and lots of different shifts at that. I do earlies (07.30-15.30, lates (13.30-21.30), Twilights (16.00-00.00 or 18.00-02.00), and nights (21.00-08.00 and occasionally 22.00-06.00). This makes eating sensibly quite difficult, and without forward planning I end up eating junk, canteen food, or overpriced costa food. I find eat sensibly particularly difficult when I do nights, as I do 7 in a row. I try to eat a normal dinner before I go, and then we always bring in snacks for through the night, and then I try to eat something before bed or else I wake up due to hunger.

When I am on early shift, I always say to myself that I will get up and make lunch, but I never do. Then its off to the canteen for a baked potato, or something naughty from costa. This wastes money, and isn't always a healthy option. Sometimes, a treat is well needed though, and a costa lunch goes down great!

So, last night I made two salads up, for today and tomorrow's lunches. I love salads, but it does take a while to cut up and prepare everything. To make it more worthwhile, I usually make two servings, either for dinner one night and lunch the next day, or like this, two lunches.

This salad contains (per box)-

Mixed salad leaves

1 tomato

6 Cherry Tomatoes

Half a red pepper

Quarter of a mozzarella ball

olives with feta

Tinned anchovies

Served with honey and mustard dressing.

Using my favourite weight-loss tool, the myfitnesspal app and website (more about this another day), I worked out the calorie content as 314. I love salads, and with the olives, anchovies and mozzarella, this was tasty with a good variety. It is perfect for a low calorie diet, as its a balanced and tasty meal, and pretty low calorie. I had the first salad for my lunch, on its own, and as the second was for dinner on a late, I added some weightwatchers tomato soup. I also love my little pink salad box, which I will give its own special post.

What healthy lunch ideas do you have?

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I have writing a beauty blog for a couple of years- here. Although I am not the best at updating it, I enjoy it when I do, and love reading other blogs. I do however get very stressed about not posting, about posts being perfect and so on. I want this blog to be different, more personal, and on my terms.

So whats it all about? Well, like the title suggests I need to shape up. I am currently overweight, and unhappy about that. I am by nature a lazy person, and I enjoy eating! I am not looking to have some completely dramatic life overhaul, where I spend all my waking hours exercising and only eat lettuce. I know that is not realistic, and I'd be miserable. Instead, I want to make changes where I can, try to do at least some exercise, and be more aware of what I eat. By writing this blog and tracking my eating and exercise, I hope that I will be able to loose some weight and increase my fitness. I'll still eat crisps and junk food sometimes, cos I enjoy them! However, I need to learn to use them as treats, and stop at one.

As a background about me, I have just turned 30, and I am a Staff Nurse in A&E. At least my job keeps me very active. I am from Scotland, but currently working in England, and living in hospital accommodation. However,  I have recently managed to get a job back in Scotland, and am going to be moving in with my boyfriend for the first time. Although we do have bad eating habits when we are together, we are both looking forward to this as a new start, and plan on doing weekly shops and menu planning.

So, on this blog i'll be talking about my progress, things I use to help me, foods and recipes, and whatever else I think of. If anyone else is embarking on a similar journey i'd love some pals for support!

Anna x