Feed yourself

I work from home full-time as a “reasonable accommodation” for my MS (see the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA for description). Unfortunately, my office space is upstairs (plans are to move it) and my kitchen is downstairs.  And while I can still get down and back up, right now it takes a lot of energy so I prefer to only do it once, at the end of the workday, when we can eat together.

So my problem is access to food during the day. 

In the Beginning 

I started with getting an electric kettle that heats water which gave me coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. For foodstuffs, I got pouches of instant oatmeal, bouillon cubes, and ramen noodle cups (way too salty for daily consumption but tastier than the Dr. McDougall’s Right Foods vegan soup cups!). 

And if I waited until I was hungry to eat, I would just grab whatever was nearby me or (more and more often) I would just wait until I went downstairs for dinner.  Where I discovered the experience of the slang word “hangry” (adj. feeling irritable or irrationally angry as a result of being hungry).

And when I went to the neurologist for my annual he was dismayed that I’d lost so much weight, said it could be showing a “failure to thrive”, a term originally used to describe lack of child development due to malnutrition.

And while I was secretly pleased that I’d lost so much weight without really trying, I took his point.  I needed to step up my game.

Current Day

I tried several different kinds of MREs (Meals Ready-to-Eat) but found nothing that would work for me. Also, I have resisted moving a microwave upstairs because I don’t want to give the impression that I am not anxious to move downstairs to work. So no oven.

So now, I order foodstuffs online to be delivered, which ensures that items in bulk can be delivered on a regular basis. Here in California, I use Google Express for a lot of stores like Costco, Target, and Smart & Final, and order directly from others like Puritan’s Pride, TrueCitrus, and Amazon. 

Also I now have a mini fridge upstairs to keep things cold. The next time someone goes grocery shopping, I might ask for some cottage cheese or yogurt.

I’m trying to drink more water, eat smaller meals more regularly throughout the day, and keep my office desk stocked with healthy snacks.

My current addictions:

Ready-to-Eat Meals at Target ^{link broken as of 10/2/2022}

PROTEIN

• Pouches of seafood like water-packed tuna and salmon
• Reese Port Golden Smoked Sardines  
• Beef sticks and/or turkey sticks (or even Slim-jims in a pinch!)
• Mini thin mint Balance Bars at Puritans Pride ^{link broken as of 10/2/2022}

GRAIN

• Gluten-free honey-nut Cheerios
• Rice or popcorn cakes
• 100% corn tortilla chips

VEGGIES

• V-8 low salt vegetable juice 
• Sabra Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Happy Baby Clearly Crafted Organic Baby Food like Spinach, Mangos & Pears at Amazon or Apples Kale Avocado at Target 

MISC

• Apple ginger chews
• Jar of coconut oil
• Packets of lemon, lime, grapefruit, or orange essence to add the taste of citrus to my tap water 

Mmmm, just writing this list is making me hungry…

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RELATED STUFF

• PDF Food for Thought—MS and Nutrition | NMSS
• PDF To Stay Well, Eat Like You’re Sick | AARP
• How To Make DIY Instant Noodle Cups | thekitchn.com
• PDF Reasonable Accommodation (2004) | Joint Statement by HUD/DOJ

Links checked 10/02/2022