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What To Eat For A 13 Hour Shift?

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Brie912

Active Member
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Hi, I've just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I'm trying to get over the initial shock and have decided to try and up the exercise and go low carb. I'm also vegetarian and I'm finding it a bit hard to get enough to not feel hungry all the time. One of my worries is that I work 13 hour shifts where I'm on my feet running around all day. I get 3 x 30 minute breaks and need idea of what to eat.

Normally I'd eat something like:
09:30 - crisps and snack bar
13:00 - pasta or rice dish from home
17:00 - 2 slices of buttered toast

Lately, I've still been starving during the shift, even though I have a separate lunch and dinner at home. I don't know how I'm going to survive those shifts going low carb. Any suggestions? So far I'm thinking:

09:30 - banana or apple and cheese
13:00 - chilli (no rice) or quorn chicken fajihtas (no wrap or rice)
17:00 - 2 egg omelette or egg salad

I've also got some 12 hour night shifts coming up where I get one 1.5 hour break, normally 8 hours into the shift (not sure that's legal, but whatever) and have no idea what I'll be doing for that. I've got a few days to figure this out, so if anyone's got any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.
 
Brie912 said:
09:30 - banana or apple and cheese
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Cheese is fine. However, fruit is very difficult for T2s because it contains a lot of sugar (fructose). Bananas are probably the worst possible choice as they release their sugars almost immediately, which is why some tennis players munch on them between games.
 
Avocado? Transportable, vegetarian and pretty high fat for satiety.. make some guacamole with some cheese crisps to scoop it maybe? You can add various seasonings to vary the flavour too.
 
Eggs are very filling. Make a 3 egg omlette starting with chopped fried mushrooms or half a bag of baby leaf spinach wilted down in pan then add whisked eggs plenty of seasoning. I am enjoying green salad with various toppings like cheese and ham or cold bacon rashers, prawn and avocado, salami, chickem, etc. You can have full fat mayo to dress it. A pan of bacon, egg and 97% sausage is filling. For snacks hard boiled egg, pack of cold meat from supermarket, handful of plain walnuts. I make Keto Cheese Scones which are only 3g carbs each. They freeze well and are delicious spread with butter. Maybe you could make some on your day off and stash in freezer. Good luck.
 

The poster is a vegetarian don't forget
 
Don't worry, PenguinMum! Quorn do a lot of fake meat substitutes. Though I'll admit their bacon is an insult to real bacon. If you want to eat bacon around me so I can smell it, feel free!
 
I don't really like bananas, I just thought they were really healthy and filling, so thanks for getting me out of eating them!
 
I also work very long shifts including nights. I tend to take homemade veg soup in a flask which stays hot for a good 8 hours or so (if no microwave). I also take packets of nuts and individual cheeses. I take a variety of salads (and I don't mean boring lettuce either) plus very low carb brownies (for a cheeky little snack with a cuppa) plus low carb bars. I wonder if you could cook up a quiche type concoction that will slice? I take pots of greek yogurts and a little bowl of berries to go with it but I do have access to a fridge and kitchen at work. Maybe some low carb dips with some low carb crackers as well, all of this is easily portable, get yourself one of those kids lunchboxes with the separate compartments. The possibilities are endless and if you enjoy cooking (I don't) then there are plenty of low carb alternatives that for all the world look and taste like high carb! I nearly forgot, the good old fashioned boiled egg (ignore your colleagues when they wrinkle their noses and tell them it's medicinal).
 
Hi @Brie912 there is no reason why you cant do low carb and vegetarian. Dietdoctor website have a section on low carb and keto for vegetarians

One thing you will need to get your head around is to eat more fat, getting rid of a lifetime of fat-fear is hard
If you eat dairy, full fat yogurt (check the label for total carbs as some have added sugars or thickeners) with flax seeds or nuts make a good portable and filling breakfast, or if vegan mashed avocado with coconut oil and sugar free cocoa makes a great alternative to chocolate mousse and a yummy breakfast.

egg omelettes made in a muffin tin make portable food great for work and its easy to add different veggis, cheese and herbs to change things up.

cauliflower makes a good alternative to mash potatoes to take with your veg chilli (make the chilli lower carb by not adding the beans)

Home made soups with cloud (oopsie) bread

keto muffins with cheese or salad and avocado

keto pizza - not always the easiest to transport but it tastes nice


Have a look on this for some ideas but they might not all be low carb https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/vegetarian-vegan-low-carb-recipe-index.61859/

do you have a meter to see which foods spike you and what your carb tolerance is?
 
The cauliflower mash and cloud bread sound great. And chocolate mousse with avocado sounds like it'll satisfy my chocolate cravings. I've also picked up some coconut flour. I was going to make pancakes with them. And I had no idea beans had so many carbs in them.

Is hot chocolate made with just milk and cocoa powder ok and high in fat?
 
Cream would be better.. fewer carbs and more fat than milk.. double is best.. clotted is even bestest..
 
Olives, cheese stuffed peppers, frittata
 
bulkbiker said:
Cream would be better.. fewer carbs and more fat than milk.. double is best.. clotted is even bestest..
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Clotted may be the nicest, but it is higher in carbs than double cream. Morrisons Double and Extra Thick cream have 1.6 g carbs per 100g. Morrisons and Longley Farm Clotted cream all have 2.4. Rodda Clotted has 2.5.
 
Alexandra100 said:
Clotted may be the nicest, but it is higher in carbs than double cream. Morrisons Double and Extra Thick cream have 1.6 g carbs per 100g. Morrisons and Longley Farm Clotted cream all have 2.4. Rodda Clotted has 2.5.
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Interesting...the Waitrose double cream I get is 2.6 g per 100...maybe try Morrison’s next time..
 
bulkbiker said:
Interesting...the Waitrose double cream I get is 2.6 g per 100...maybe try Morrison’s next time..
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I have an upsetting suspicion that the carbs quoted on labels are not to be relied on. I once bought a packet of bean sprouts from Sainsbury's largely because of the very low number of grams of carb on the label, making them almost carb-free, only to see what appeared to be identical packets of bean sprouts in Morrisons with a much higher carb count. The sprouts ended up languishing in my fridge until most of them had to be thrown on the compost heap.
 
bulkbiker said:
Interesting...the Waitrose double cream I get is 2.6 g per 100...maybe try Morrison’s next time..
Click to expand...

Sainsburys British Double has 1.5g per 100 according to the tub in my fridge.

However, according to Sainsburys website, the same cream has 2.6g per 100

How does that work?????????????????
 
Bluetit1802 said:
Sainsburys British Double has 1.5g per 100 according to the tub in my fridge.

However, according to Sainsburys website, the same cream has 2.6g per 100

How does that work?????????????????
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I have ticked LIKE, but of course I don't like this AT ALL!!! The take home message for me is that it is important to read labels, but more important to keep well within one's chosen carb limit and/or keep looking at that Libre / meter. But then it behoves us to take meter and Libre readings with a pinch of salt too. Really, diabetes offers Advanced Training in Scepticism, including towards health professionals and all diabetes journalism, not to mention the advice of well-meaning but ignorant friends. I suppose working it all out is good for the Alzheimers, but it does get tiring!
 
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