Full time work and horses

J

JosieSmith

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This is a strange question, but if you;'e working full time, when do you find time to eat! I finish work at 5 when I'm riding that night, go straight home, get changed and feed the dog, then head straight back out to the yard. By the time I get back and get tea ready and sit down to eat, it's usually after 9pm, surely that's not healthy over a long period of time? Especially not for my OH, who is trying to lose weight so he just has a quick sandwich while I'm getting changed. I can't seem to get into a suitable routine!
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i eat really late too!! i try not to have carbs with my tea- so maybe would have fish with veggies or salad or something and i don't go to bed til about midnight so its not too bad. could you maybe have your main meal at lunchtime at work and then something light for tea? somedays i do this- maybe have pasta or something for lunch and then a soup or toast for tea....
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I work full time in London and have an hours commute each way, I finish at 5.30 and am never at the yard before 7, so it's well after 9 before I get home. I either eat late and end up going to bed late - not a good idea, or I eat at lunchtime at work. We are lucky that we have a subsidised canteen, and a little kitchen with a microwave so I can take something in if I want. That way I just have toast or a sandwich in the evening.
 
I tend to eat a larger meal at lunchtime so that after I have finished at the yard about 9.30 - 10 ish I can either have something light or not bother
 
Thanks, they sound like good ideas. I don't mind eating something small later at night but I really should have something better at lunch as I'm small to start with and if I don't eat properly I'll fade away!
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Thanks for the ideas, I know it was a strange question.
 
I often prepared a meal before I go to work (before I was on maternity leave), something in the slow cooker or put some baked potatoes in the oven on the timer then I would eat as soon as I get home from work and do stables afterwards. This worked fine in the summer and the middle of winter when it was dark when I got home from work anyway. Failing this could your partner not cook dinner so you could eat as soon as you get in from the stables rather than you having to cook?

Another thing I found realy useful was if I cook something like chilli, curry or spag bol I make a huge amount and freeze portions so I can just whip them out of the freezer that morning.

Also try tidying as you go so you dont waste valuable weekends doing housework 'ughh'.

I am back at work in October so will have to fit in looking after baby too, plus my big daughter who is an absolute saint when it comes to looking after the nags, has finished 6th form now and doing a proper fulltime job so it will head torches and late meals all round for us again soon.
 
Can you allocate a couple of hours on a wet weekend to make a batch of healthy meals for you and more importantly perhaps OH?
Suggestions would be chilli, casseroles etc. You could then freeze them in one and two person sized portions and get them out on the day you need them - OH could have his with a jacket potato or some brown rice to fill him up (my OH could do with losing a bit of weight but if I don't feed him properly he just eats crisps or chocolate!)
The other thing to do is to persuade him to make something easy like a stir fry once a week - these are also pretty healthy if you include loads of veggies. Men seem to like chopping things and perhaps you could give him a call just before you leave the yard to start cooking so that it's ready for when you get back.
I'm really lucky to work from home so I can mostly ride when it suits me, but I also travel quite a lot so am very experienced at meal planning!
 
Ha ha, I'm quite good at doing housework in the mornings so weekends are free-ish! Good luck fitting everything in, you've definitely got more on your plate than me! Though I'm getting married next year and considering starting a family not long after so that'll take a lot of consideration and planning! It wounds like some good planning ahead is the way to go. Usually my OH comes to the yard with me but on the rare occassion he finishes work early he is quite good at doing tea for me getting in, which is a great help. Also, he's going to learn to drive after the wedding so some nights I can stay home while he goes up the yard. That's really good of him seeing as he's not horsey at all!
 
My OH has a dinner ready every night at 9 - 9.30 for when i get back in from the stables - oh and normally he runs me a bath aswell - how lucky am i !!!!
 
Agree with everything they have already said!! /\/\/\/\/\

A freezer and lots of batch cooking at weekends so there is always something to put in the oven - get tin foil trays to freeze stuff in. That way the 30 mins they take to cook from frozen in a hot oven is long enough to do pasta/rice/potatoes while you are getting changed opening the wine etc!!

Also big lunches in winter - I always have a big pot of soup on the go in winter - something hot easy and filling at night but not a lot of effort!! Lots of yummy soup recipes around - just add bread!!
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Ooo, you are lucky. If I go to the yard on my own my OH is usually to be found plonked in front of the TV all night! If I prepare him a few days earlier (and keep reminding him) he can be quite good at doing tea for coming in.
 
I do the same as I also live in London. I make sure I have a big lunch!!
Bananas are great, I grab one on the way out the door and scoff it in the car at the yard, perfect energy boost and healthier than chocolate.

I tend to cook a massive chillie, veggie pie or pasta bake on a Monday and stick it in the fridge/freezer so I have something vaguely healthy to eat when I roll in at 9pm or later. Im lucky that my OH is quite good in the kitchen, I just look sad and hungry and he makes me something - probably explains why I'm chubby!!.
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I get up and ride in the morning, so once I have finished work, I can have a vague life and eat dinner at a normal time! But I do have to go to bed early as I get up early!!
 
I was considering this Bug_a_boo, getting up early and riding but not sure I could do it! At the moment, being as it's light until quite late, I eat the second I get in! I get in at 5.30 have dinner done by 6.10 and ride at about 6.40, all done by 7.30 in time for corrie!! x
 
I chose to start work earlier at 8 and finish at 4 so i get time at the yard on my way home from work and its not too early to go to the yard on my way to work, work is half an hour from home, although obviously not everyone can do this i think im a bit lucky... back to uni in october :S so working nights and saturdays...my sharer does saturday mornings so i only pop up to bring him in and have a cuddle at 5:30 in the evening. I did work in london for a year and my previous horse was on grass livery, so they checked him twice a day and i checked him on my way to the train station...wouldn't chose to do it again though!
 
What we try to do is to have something in the slow cooker or we cook up a few things and put them in the freezer. We then leave it out and then heat up quickly and try to eat before we go out or we end up eating at gone 10 - we have an hours drive to and from the yard and rarely get home from work until gone 6.30 - 7.

In winter we prefer to eat first as then we have no hurry to get home from the horses, we can exercise in the indoor school. In summer, we sometimes have lunch and then a sandwich before going out. Ocassionally we go straight from work to the yard and then grab some Thai from the pub at the end of the road.

It is difficult to balance healthy eating at a reasonable time and the horses during the week but we just about manage.
 
As busy as i am i always find time to eat! I tend to graze all day at work! Not good really, but i do tend to make quick dinners during the week and maybe get a bit more fancy at the weekend when i have a little more time
 
I cook batches of stuff up each weekend in a huge pot, split it into portions and freeze. Then I only have to re-heat that and do some pasta or something with it and is so quick. I have my tea with my OH before going to my horse though and ride in the morning...so there is not much to do in the evenings anyway. But I recommend big pots of chilli, bolonnaise, lasagne, sausage casserole, veg curry, casseroles etc.
 
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