u/chunkycasper

Sitting at the station, teenager starts playing his phone loud. I asked him where his headphones were, he replied “you have headphones so why is it my problem”

Me: because I can hear your phone through my headphones …

He didn’t turn it his sound off, so I took my headphones off and played my audiobook (on content marketing; which I imagine is very boring if you aren’t working in business or marketing), and my phone was louder.

Explained to passing people that I was showing the teenager how it’s done.

He lasted three minutes before turning his sound off and leaving the station. 💪💪

I have found myself in a situation in which I need five fillings, so want to cut down on sugar (other than alcohol). Trouble is that my “I have 200 calories left what should I have?” Go-to is usually a protein bar.

My daily intake tends to be:

- a pack of ham (I know it’s processed but it’s easy and filling) or two.

- a portion of low carb bread

- two portions of salted crisps

That tends to be 300-400 calories of food before dinner.

- dinner will be 600-800 calories and usually some combination of:

steak, salmon (fillet or smoked, occasionally will have Seabass or something instead), eggs, sausages, a burger in a bun with vegan cheese, beans, lentils, hummus, rice, rye bread, rice noodles, pizza (vegan cheese), pasta, sourdough bread, jacket potato with butter, and vegetables (cabbage, kale, peas, spinach, onions, pickles, kimchi etc.)

- meat/fish is air-fried or fried, carbs microwaved, beans/lentils from a packet or can, heated in a pan or microwaved, vegetables raw or microwaved, occasionally fried.

- I will add mayo to most dinners, which easily is 100 calories of my daily allowance gone to all of the above.

- protein bar

Snacks I often eat already include:
- cucumber
- pepper
- carrots
- a can of sweetcorn
- tomatoes
- mango
- Greek yogurt with sweetener
- Bananas
- something (bread, crisps, crudités) served with tzatziki/more hummus.

Trouble is, I’m at a bit of a loss with easy replacements for crisps as savoury, easy to go to snacks.

Limitations:

- I have an uncomfortable but non-allergy reaction to cheese so avoid this (shame as would’ve been a good option).

- I am disabled (CFS/ME, ADHD, and a mild Muscular Dystrophy with symptoms similar to MS) so struggle with prepping meals / snacks, which is why so much of my daily intake is processed and from single-serve packages. So trying to not just resort to extra crisps, processed meat, etc.

- it isn’t easy to just increase protein / fat / carb portions at dinner because everything is “one serving” or two servings that I have over two days - e.g pasta is a microwave dinner packet, I’ll have one steak fillet, one salmon fillet, one pack of smoked salmon, half a packet of microwave rice, a full pack of noodles, a large jacket potato (I haven’t found a way to keep cooked jacket potato’s nice for left overs), a can of bean, etc. - so can’t just “chuck an extra portion” into the meal easily.

- due to either relying on them through periods of sickness, or due to getting food poisoning from them, which has since put me off the food items entirely, chicken, avocado and milk/cream are not appealing to me.

- I aim for around 1,4050 calories a day with food. I have an additional 200 calories a day with wine (I know this is likely a source of my need for fillings now).

- I don’t want more vegetables because I already eat these in large proportions (I rarely count vegetable calories now I’m in maintenance, unless they are in a pack with butter/sauce), and it makes me very bloated.

- fruit is either expensive or difficult to prep/keep fresh if bought non-prepped.

- I like olives occasionally, not enough to actively buy and try to eat daily.

- I’m a bit of a gremlin when it comes to nuts and seeds. One cashew nut and I’m then triggered into eating the whole packet …so I keep a wide berth, unless I’m at the pub.

- because I often have 1-3 portions of bread a day, crackers feel like that would just be even more bread, crossing the line into “too much bread”.

- same with crisps.

- same with popcorn/love corn, as I often eat a whole can of sweetcorn as a side to my dinner.

- I have TMJ (hypermobile jaw) and certain foods cause me pain to eat - Doritos, rice cakes, jerky, for example.

- crisp replacements are expensive, or can be hard to source (Lidls used to do amazing pea snacks but discounted them).

- I have gut motility issues so eggs are limited to one serving a week, which sucks because I love them.

- I have acid reflux and can’t stomach BBQ flavourings, huge amounts of oil, or cooked tomatoes. (Paprika seems fine though).

- finally, I’m not a huge fan of liquids that aren’t water, fruit-water, coffee, mocktails, or non-alcoholic, and I don’t really like hot food too much, so soup is out of the question. Liquid calories just don’t fill me up.

So does anyone have any suggestions for cheese-free, bread-free, potato-free savoury snacks that aren’t sliced vegetables or nuts, that are easy access and 100-ish calories a serving, can be prepped quickly with a drainer, a mandolin slicer and an air fryer or is ready to go?

Am I missing something really obvious? Are savoury protein bars a thing?