Eating well when I go to work is habit for me. I throw down a quick breakfast, grab some lame healthy food to graze on all day, and then come home and eat whatever I want for dinner. With the obligations of the work day and my unwillingness to spend 60-90 minutes on lunch, my food just falls in place.

That all changes when I am home all day. Typically, my strategy has been to eat whatever I want while at home. During the weekends my busy schedule means I am lucky to get three meals in.  Extending this pattern to vacations, I usually just eat whatever I want and accept the bump in weight.

Now that I can potentially be home all day for weeks on end, I need a new strategy. I will not eat lame healthy food for weeks on end when my kitchen is right there. The months of cottage cheese and pita chips for lunch have come to an end. I think my best option is to go for a six meal per day strategy. Something like:

Snack 1 - Protein Shake
Meal 1 - 400 to 600 calories
Snack 2 - Lettuce, Carrots, Fruit, Nuts
Meal 2 - 400 to 600 calories
Snack 3 - Protein Shake
Meal 3 - 400 to 600 calories

Spaced every three hours or so this approach should avoid my two primary nutritional pitfalls:

1. Eating nothing for most of the day, because I am involved in something
2. Eating convenience foods all day, because I am bored and they are tasty entertainment

So far I am doing well, but I've only had Snack 1. I think I will be eating a lot of:

Flax Cereal
Fake Meat Sandwiches
Canned Chili or Lentil Soup
Whole Wheat Pasta with Broccoli
Peanut Butter and Jelly
Small Frozen Pizzas
Frozen Pot Pies
Ramen Noodles
Crackers with Peanut Butter

I do my Peapod this morning and will shop accordingly.