How do you eat 6x a day when never hungry?

HI all :) Recently because of the heat and me working 12 hours a day and taking care of my 4 year old I just have trouble eating.  I take to work some yogurts and cheese sticks to nibble on but it's so hot in where I work and I'm so busy I just can't stomach any food at all.   I am drinking a ton of water because I'm sweating so much.  I work 7pm-7am and when I get home in the morning I'm so exhausted I go right to bed and need to wake by 1:30pm to pick up my son from school, make him supper, bath, then get myself ready for work for another 12 hour shift....rinse repeat.  I also bean having allot of blockages when I do eat.  For example,  The other day I took my father to eat for fathers day.  I ordered  a sandwich and some vegies.  I ate a little  less then half the sandwich with no problems and took the rest along with the vegies home.  2 hours later I tried to finish the other half of the sandwich but after 2 bites I was in pain and had to hack it up.  Was very tired so went to bed because I have to work the next evening  and that was all I ate that day.   Don't understand the frequent blockages when I eat very slow and chew chew chew.  I'm not nearly getting my  protein in because I can't stand the shakes and cannot afford the protein bullet things cus there $45.00 for 12 tubes which I need to order every 10 days.  When I do eat I try to eat as much fish and other meat as possible , more like an atkins type diet avoiding allot of the carbs and such.  I also don't really know how to cook or have the time so it's like I'm eating the same things.  I'm sick of the lean cuisines, yogurts, cheese sticks, tuna with cheese.  I made a tuna salad which was fine but my intestines gave me a little trouble for some reason.  I don't know, I'm just  worried about my nutrition intake...I feel fine but if I don't start eating better I know it's going to catch up with me sooner or later.  I go for blood work this week so I'll have to see where I stand with that.  I am loosing weight no problem atm.  I very active, I exercise 3-4 days a week and drinking nothing bu****er...just need to eat better :/  Anyone have any suggestions on some quick things to nibble on throughout the day?   Kinda like something I can just take out of fridge and just eat it?  Something different besides yogurts and cheese sticks lol.  I go to the store and just don't know what to buy for myself anymore. Thanks ps  sorry so long post :/

How about a 1/4 cup of mixed nuts, you get the healthy monosaturated fats, omega 3's if you are choosing walnuts or almonds.  hard boiled eggs, easy to fix once a week, then you can grab and go Add 2 tbsp of chia seeds and 1 scoop of nonflavored protein powder to your yogurt, you have boosted the protein, omega 3, calcium levels as well as added fiber to this mini meal are you taking your vitamins? this is critical, don't skip a day chia seeds can be ordered online, just google chia seeds part of eating 6 small meals is not about hunger, but about nutrition, putting your health first. This has to be a priority for you. Trust me, the hunger will come back eventually. 1/2 a sandwich, or a meat/cheese roll up in a lettuce leaf, with a small amount of a condiment is fine. Youm need to provide fluids and fuel for your body to function at its best. you might want to consider those protein bullets from a different aspect. The money that you invest in them is money that you aren't spending on other foods for yourself, so consider it part of your food budget. You won't want to live on them forever, but for a few more months, it is a brief investment in your health. I wish you the best. Chris

Thank you I will try your suggestions.  You are right about the protein bullets, I hardly spend any money on food anymore so yeah I should just buy them.  I never thought about it that way lol.  I love mixed nuts but I wasn't sure if I was allowed to eat those yet.  I like the idea if adding scoop of protein powder to yogurt and Yeah I am taking vitamins.  Thanks much! :) *googles chia seeds* hehe

I think the roll ups are a good idea with lunch meat.  I do that often - and I make them ahead of time sometimes.  I like a little bit of ff cream cheese spread on some ham and then rolled around a 2% cheesestick, or layered with a bit of sliced cheese and 2 slices of thin pickel. I use nf ricotta cheese as well.  Sweeten with splenda and cinnamon and it tastes like rice pudding.  Or use spaghetti sauce and ff mozz and heat it up it's like a noodless lasagna or ziti.  1/2 cup of nf ricotta has 20gm of protein. The nuts are a good idea So are the hard boiled eggs - you could also make them into egg salad and add some nuts and celery or other veggies for crunch.  You could also make chicken salad - cook some chicken breasts once a week - just pop them in the oven with some salt and pepper and maybe a little olive oil, cook till they are no longer pink, let cool, and mix with may and what not. PB on apples is good too.  You can by the lower fat version of PB and 2 tbspns is something like 10gm of protein. You have to eat by the clock, end of story.  I work the over nights too, so I understand.  However - it must be done.  I get hungry at this point - but not all the time.  However, I'm so used to eating "by the clock" and knowing when it's been 3 hours, I automatically start to look for food or my snack. Hang in there - it will get better. Pam

At 3 mos. out you can get by on 4-5 meals a day as long as you get your protein in.  Have you tried oatmeal cottage cheese pancakes?  I use muscle milk 'n oats oatmeal, 2% cottage cheese, and egg beaters.  To make one serving is 1/8 cup oatmeal, 1/8 cup cottage cheese, 1/4 cup egg beaters.  For added flavor I put into the batter 1 tsp. cary sugar free syrup, 1 tsp. smuckers no sugar added preserves, 1 tsp. Da Vinci Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup.  It makes 1 thick pancake or a scant stack of 3.  Good protein and calcium.

Another good protein meal is an omelette made with egg beaters, cooked chicken, low fat cheese, sometimes with a few sauteed mushrooms and onions.  I use spray oil to grease the pan.

How about unjury chicken broth.

There was also a recipe I posted for crustless quiche

Its make with cottage cheese. broccoli or spinach, cheese, soy flour, egg beaters and baked in the oven.  One quiche makes at least 8 servings.

There are a lot of boca and morning star products out there that have good protein, jus****ch out the carbs since they are not made with real meat. Most of them can be nuked.

One of my favorites early on was Dinty Moore low fat Turkey Stew, Campbells Chunky Soups, Turkey Chili ... All of these can be nuked and then add some protein powder to it.  At this point for you Bread, Pasta, and Rice should still be a no no since it can get stuck as well as cause an intestinal blockage.

 

Do you have a grill? If you do... on your day off grill up a bunch of stuff- chicken, lean hamburgers, steaks, veggies and some fruits... then cut them into the right portions for yourself and freeze some and leave some down for your son... There is a sugar free bbq sauce by KC Masterpiece if you wanted to chop up some of the chicken to make a bbq wrap... when I do it I use about a tbsp of the sauce... enough for taste but not to much to make it slide... I also add shredded cheese to this...

A great chicken salad is this... it makes a lot of us... but if you feed it to your son it won't be too much...
2 chicken breast- cooked and diced
1/2 cup of shreaded carrots (you might to chopped them up a little if they are too big)
1/2 cup of diced celery
1/2 cup of diced seedless grapes
1/4 cup of walnuts or pecans (or any nut ya like) diced up
1/2 cup of chopped of salad greens of your choice
2 hard boiled eggs- broken up
1/4 cup of fat free mayo

Add everything to a bowl and gently mix together... until everything is lightly coated... the juice from the grapes will help stretch the mayo... and when I say lightly coated it is very lightly coated...

I eat 1/2 cup with 1/2 a piece of dry toast


Another one is this one: Killer Shrimp Salad
Directions:

Steam Shrimp...

1 cup of apple cider vinegar

1 cup of water

3 tablespoons of old bay

2 pounds of shrimp

I add the first three ingredients bring to a boil. Then I add the shrimp. I steam for about 8 minutes then stir then steam another 5 - 8 minutes. Some people say you only need 5 minutes, but that makes them rubbery and raw tasting in the middle. Remove them from the liquid and let them cool.

Dressing:

3 tablespoons of the boiling liquid

5 tablespoons of Mayonnaise

1 cup of chopped celery

1/2 - 1 tablespoon of Old Bay

After the shrimp cool peel and discard shells. Mix dressing and pour over shrimp. Mix well and enjoy! Some times I use less mayo but it really depends on how humid it is... I take about a 1/2 cup of this and eat with some lettuce

The non variety in the earlier stages is SO hard. Have you talked to your doctor about the possibility of strictures? I have gone back in for 3 now (and should be done) but when they begin to occur it's not like all of a sudden you have something stuck, at one meal you'll get it down fine and the very next meal you'll have to suffer through it or hack it up. I let it go for ever a month when I knew darn well I was chewing my food into oblivian, that stupid mistake brought on an ulcer. Long story short, prevacid fixed the ulcer and 3 different scopes opened me up really nice, the food flows and I finally feel great. I know you said you can not stand the shakes BUT EAS makes a whey chocolate protein powder that I mix in my blender with skim milk and a banana. It's about $20 for a HUGE container and in a 6 oz serving it gives you 23 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar (no sugar alcohols) and that doesn't include the protein from the skim milk. Baked sweet potatoes or regular potatoes in the microwave (fast) worked great, smashed up baked beans, sunflower seeds,garbanzo beans, turkey breat, even ham. You work some pretty darn long shifts and need the protein to get you through it. I have a 3 year old and lord they keep you going. You are one heck of a person pulling it off so you give yourself the credit you deserve!!!!! Best of luck Cindy

Strictures? ohh no lol.  Yeah well thats what has been happening to me recently.  I'm fine with one meal then the next no matter how slow of much I chew it gets stuck.  Now I'm worried.  I will mention something to my doc about it then.  I just thought that was normal.   As a matter of fact just now I took a little bite of a piece of chicken and chewed really really well and I got pain from just one bite.  After about 2 min I was fine.  Didn't eat anymore cus I was afraid It was threatening on getting stuck. I've been on nexium since surgery in hopes that it will prevent any ulcers since I have a long history of them. I will try that choc protien , I just need to buy as blender.  I picked up today this protien stuff that you can mix in with water and it doesn't taste that bad.   Thank you for all your suggestions I will try them. And thanks everyone for your suggestions,  big help to me :)

Please don't panic if it is strictures. The procedure REALLY is a quick fix and painless. You'll have iv sedation for it so you won't know what's going on and REALLY you will feel SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOO good afterwards that you'll kick yourself for waiting so long to even mention it to the doctor. Sometimes once works, sometimes it takes up to four tries but you'll be better each and everytime. My doctor and my nut told me that it can be a common problem, particularly in those that were pretty healthy to start with and less weight to lose, your actually healing to fast. SO, please don;t second guess yourself anymore and give the doc a call, you might be able to put your mind at ease. Cindy