Maybe you are a busy college student who sees a kitchen only three times a year. Perhaps you are a teenager, hanging out with friends when not in school—loaded down with homework, or running to an after-school job or sports practice. Or you’re traveling for work, and grabbing your meals out of supermarkets to save time and money. Whatever your circumstances, know that you are not alone. Many of us need a portable “Plan B,” at least some of the time. So here is a very simple plan based mostly on ready-to-eat fare procurable from just about any grocery store with a decent deli and a reasonably good salad bar.
The Portable Plan lays out four very simple meals a day: breakfast, two “lunch-snacks,” and dinner. Try to eat these meals approximately three hours apart, limiting each one to a single sitting, rather than grazing. Drink lots of water in between. You may have one alcoholic drink (not sugar-sweetened) daily, if you wish.
THE PORTABLE PLAN can be followed with no kitchen to speak of, but you can do more if you have access to the following:
Can opener
Microwave
Cook top (even just a burner or two)
Refrigerator (any size—even tiny)
Sharp paring knife for cutting fruit
A few basic dishes and some silverware
Thus equipped, you can microwave your oatmeal or some very decent scrambled eggs for breakfast (see here). If you have an actual stove and can cook some whole-grain cereal but lack the time in the morning, simmer it the night before, then heat it up and take it with you—or vice versa—the next day. If even this is not an option, use unsweetened instant oatmeal (you can find some boiling water along the way) and buy a couple of hard-boiled eggs to enjoy with salt and pepper.
For dinner, you can heat some boxed vegetable broth, prepare a simple pasta meal, cook or heat a burger, and heat stewed tomatoes and chili from a can. If you can’t do any of these, resort to the basic dinner of protein and unlimited salad, and keep it as varied as possible with different dressings, vegetables, etc.
Follow the Portable Plan for a week and then repeat it if you wish. After two weeks, you can take a few days off to eat just normally (whatever that means to you) and then, if you like, go back on for another week or two or three—until you reach your desired weight goal. Clearly, this plan is very limited, but it is easy to follow and nutritionally balanced. (Don’t forget to drink lots of water and take your daily multivitamin!)
Read through Chapter 15 (here) before you begin. There you will find more detailed ideas for navigating ethnic restaurants, salad bars, delis, diners, and fast-food joints, as well as a section called How to Eat on the Go While Managing Your Weight.
The dinners in these menus are interchangeable. You can trade one for another at your convenience, depending on what’s available. Also, although coffee and tea are suggested at breakfast only, feel free to drink them throughout the day if you wish, as long as you don’t shortchange your intake of water.
See the Shopping Guide, starting on here, for all specifications for asterisked items.
Breakfast
Up to 4 cups cut-up fresh fruit (melon, apples, berries, plums, peaches, pineapple, kiwi, 1 medium banana)
2 tablespoons nuts
1 cup low-fat milk
Coffee or tea (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar or honey, or non-caloric sweetener to taste (optional)
Lunch-Snack 1
Up to 2 good-quality protein bars*
Lunch-Snack 2
cup Hummus (here or a commercial brand)
Vegetables (unlimited) (any combination of baby carrots, bell pepper strips, celery sticks, cucumber slices, radishes, raw mushrooms, edible-pod peas, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes—and cooked vegetables)
1 serving whole-grain crackers*
Breakfast
1 cup cooked oatmeal or whole-grain cereal (hot or cold)*
1 tablespoon raisins
1 cup low-fat milk
Coffee or tea (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar or honey, or non-caloric sweetener to taste (optional)
Lunch-Snack 1
Up to cup Hummus (here or a commercial brand)
1 serving whole-grain crackers*
Vegetables (unlimited) (any combination of baby carrots, bell pepper strips, celery sticks, cucumber slices, radishes, raw mushrooms, edible-pod peas, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes—and cooked vegetables)
Lunch-Snack 2
2 medium apples
¼ cup nuts