Here We Go Again!! - Saint Petersburg,FL

Protein to keep the hunger pains down! tiny servings of nuts or cheese for snacking so youi're not stared when meals time comes. lunches, fruit, lunch meat rollups (turkey lunch meat rolled up in a tortilla) heres a sweet salad, soak craisins in mandarin oranges with juice(not heavy syrup) then drain some of the juice and mix with leafy greens, sometimes I add strawberries. Its a treat so very satisfying
I look forward to see what other people suggest....

I used to pack a salad and a yogurt every day for lunch and it was great! You can add all kinds of yummy stuff in your salad to mix it up and just get a small container for the dressing. The dressing is the tricky part atually, you have to find stuff that isn't too high in calories but still tastes good! Adding chicken, tuna, or salmon to your salad adds protein and filling. I would also do taco salad if we had tacos the night before and that was great too. As far as snacks I would do nuts, veggies and fruits. I'm a snacker so it's really hard to focus on the healthy stuff! Cheese, cottage cheese and hard boiled eggs would be good too if you have a fridge for snacks!

Take the carbs out of your diet. Instead of white bread, choose pumpernickel or rye. No chips. No rice. No potatoes. No pasta.
Take the soda out of your diet - even the diet soda. Go with water or seltzer water.
Snacks: Nuts - almonds are crunchy and full of protein. Peanuts are good, too, but since you are in a child care setting, you probably don't allow those.
Lunch: Salad with cheese and meat and even some walnuts or sunflower seeds. Tuna on rye. Ham and cheese on pumpernickel or swirl bread.
Roast beef on pumpernickel. Make sure you have protein. Protein keeps the munchies away.
Good luck!
LBC

When I started trying to lose the baby weight a few years ago I did a form of Atkins Induction. For breakfast I would have eggs (any style) with a bacon or sausage, etc. (No bread & nothing with real sugar, i.e., coffee, etc) For a snack I would eat nuts or a low carb protein bar. There were days when I would cook up some hamburger patties with melted cheese the night before and eat those as a snack the next day. Just put some mustard on them & eat them without bread. For lunch I loved the lettuce wraps!! Just get yourself some hearts of romaine lettuce & use those as the bread. I would smear cream cheese, meat, regular cheese, black olives, cucumbers, salt/pepper & top it with another lettuce leaf & eat it like a sandwich. SO GOOD!! High vege & a reasonable amount of meats everyday with no rice/bread/pasta/baked potatoes (sweet potatoes are ok)...after about 30 days I dropped so much weight people were constantly asking what my secret was. Try it!! You wont be disappointed =) Oh..& beware your fruit intake while doing this b/c its high in sugar.

Snack Idea: Raw carrots. They fill you up great, and if you cut them up and store them in the fridge in water with a little salt with them, they hold for a VERY long time, and the salt brings out the taste so you don't need dip! Good Luck!

I love oatmeal for lunch - easy if you have a microwave at work. Add raisins, chopped fruit or slivered almonds. Almonds (in 1/2-1 oz servings) are great - they are filling and actually associated with successful weight loss. Pack of big container of veggie sticks (carrots, kohlrabi, cucumbers, peppers, etc) for snacking. Cottage cheese with fresh fruit is great. I buy these mini whole grain brown rice (they have other grains as well) and either eat them plain or spread with low fat laughing cow cheese. The crackers are 20 calories each and 100% whole grains. The Laughing Cow is 35 calories a wedge.

Eating healthy is also modeling a great behavior for the children you work with. I HATE having my son watch his teachers eat chips and candy while he is eating the healthy stuff. Sets a bad example.

-apples, bananas, grapes, strawberries, precut pineapple (pre-measure in zippy bags/tupperware for appropriate serving sizes)
-yogurt (w/ granola opt.)
-cottage cheese (w/fruit opt.)
-air popped popcorn (no butter, have w/a glass milk or water)
-salads (get one of those containers that you just pop the dressing and shake--makes it easy!)
-I like Ritz crackers w/Laughing Cow cheese and topped w/Craisins (making it on a plate and putting it together makes it feel more satiating than eating on the go, and it has 3 food groups)

*Make sure you have a lunch of substance too, so you feel satisfied.

Pay attention to how often you eat so you're not just stuffing your face constantly or waiting too long btwn. every 3-5 hours is good so your metabolism stays active.

Also, keep up the water intake all day long!

Can you do sit-ups/crunches for 5 min per day with a baby on top of you?