The Best On-The-Go Meals For Women Over 40

When helping women over 40 to lose weight, we always get asked about the best on-the-go meals to see results.

It can be so difficult to know what’s the best thing to do when it comes to grabbing food on the go, because there are so many different options to choose from.

For a lot of women we work with, they’re good at sticking to healthy choices in their main meals. But they struggle when they’re forced to grab food on the go, for example if travelling for work.

Whether that’s at a service station, airport, train station, supermarket or cafe, it’s easy to start out with good intentions – and then end up with something that’s convenient but unhealthy.

If you end up eating the wrong foods on the go, it can quickly add up to thousands of extra calories per week.

And if you’re already in your 40s or 50s, dealing with changing hormones can make it easier to gain weight around the middle and more difficult to lose it.

This can quickly lead to your weight spiralling out of control.

But the good news? There is a way to grab food on the go on a regular basis, without it making any difference to your waistline. It just comes down to knowing which choices to make and which ones to avoid!

So in this blog, we’re going to reveal the best and worst on-the-go meals for women over 40 who are looking to lose weight and tone up.

You can also hear more about this topic on our podcast.

Understanding the fundamentals

Today, we’re assuming you haven’t brought anything from home. In this scenario, what can you do?

First, understand the fundamentals for women over 40.

Avoid WADS foods

These are hormone-disrupting foods that make menopause symptoms worse. For example, the cause brain fog, anxiety, and overwhelm, Plus, they aren’t filling and are packed with calories. 

WADS stands for:

• Wheat
• Alcohol
• Dairy
• Sugar

Avoid these where possible.

Get the right amount of the key 3

Focus on the following three food groups:

• Calories – 300-500kcals per meal (including drinks!)
• Protein – above 20g minimum, ideally above 30g
• Fibre – a fist-sized portion of veg, or fruit, with every meal

Now, let’s look at the options.

Food options when you’re on-the-go

Here’s our ultimate list of what to grab when you’re on the move.

Super quick service station options

It’s better to try and eat real food if you’ve got a little more time, but here are some snack options to curb your appetite:

• Banana/apple and protein bar
• Huel protein drink
• Snack pack of nuts (ideally a small bag only)

At a supermarket

Try to opt for any non-pasta based salad, plus pre-cooked chicken.

• Marks & Spencers
  • Crayfish & Mango Rice Salad – 446 Kcal, 16g protein
  • Hot Smoked almon & New Potato – 275kcal, 16g Protein
• Waitrose:
  • Taiko Salmon or Chicken Poke Bowl – 393kcal, 15g protein
  • Taiko Salmon Sushi – 277kcal, 11g protein

At a cafe chain

• Pret-A-Manger (in London and lots of airports):
  • Tip: They have the calories and protein on every label
  • Avoid baguettes (surprisingly high in calories)
  • Most drinks are surprisingly high in calories despite being made to look healthy
  • The best food:
    • Chicken & Avocado Protein Bowl – 363kcal, 33.8g protein
  • The best drinks:
    • Cucumber & Mint Seltzer – 0kcal (pretty much the same as the lemonade, but so much healthier!)
    • Water (obviously!)
    • Black coffee or herbal tea
  • Alright drink options include:
    • Ginger Kombucha – 43kcal, 10g sugar
    • Pret Coolers – Berry Bliss, Feelin’ Peachy, Rhuberry Breeze, Prets Coolers – approx 65-80kcal, 11-14g sugar
• Leon (in service stations, and even some petrol stations now):
  • Avoid wraps, unless you just have that (i.e. avoid wrap and waffle fries, as this will be nearly 1000kcals)
  • Lots of their rice boxes are covered in mayo/satay sauce so they are over 600 calories, but they are still likely more filling than the wraps
  • Opt for the Greens & Grains Chilli Chicken Salad – 465kcal, 28g protein
  • Drinks:
    • Iced Americano = 10kcal
    • Dash sparkling water- flavoured and 0kcal
    • Be warned, the Clean Green Smoothie sounds healthy, but it’s actually 151kcal and 27g of sugar
• KFC:
  • Rice box (fillet or zinger) – 490kcal and 26-28g protein
  • Wraps are similar stats, but contain wheat and they’re very small so you usually end up getting chips too, taking it closer to 1000kcal
  • Drinks:
    • Water
    • 7up zero/diet coke
• Itsu (in London and some airports):
  • Almost all of the sushi boxes are under 600kcal
  • Some of the rice bowls are surprisingly high in calories due to sauces
  • Opt for the Chicken Teriyaki Rice Bowl – 518kcal, 31.8g protein

All this is well and good, and hopefully reveals how to think about your food. But the most important lesson is to learn what you need as a woman over 40 to see results.

That’s exactly what we do inside our Fit Over 40 program. We make sure to give our members the knowledge and skills needed to drop 1-2 stone in 12 weeks or less.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can help you – like we have thousands of women over 40 – you can find out more here.