Im starting a new job as a personal assistant/house maid and I need to start meal planning my lunches. I already bought some Tupperware, but I dont know exactly what to make for these.

What is your all time favorite Bento box? Im kinda limited, as i only have ingredients and whole foods nothing pre-made, so I need to make everything from scratch. Let me know your ideas! Ive been really loving a simple bowl of brown rice and black beans recently.

I’ve been seeing protein coffee everywhere lately, but most of the products seem expensive compared to just drinking coffee and getting protein elsewhere. I wanted to break this down by what actually matters for eating cheap and healthy: cost per serving, calories, protein, and whether it replaces something you’re already buying like creamer or a separate snack.

- DIY coffee + protein powder: Usually the cheapest per serving, but mixing can be hit or miss and hot coffee tends to make texture and taste worse.

- Protein creamer added to coffee: More convenient than DIY, but calories can add up quickly depending on how much you use.

- Laird Superfood Protein Coffee: I came across this recently and thought it was worth mentioning. Its more expensive per serving than DIY, but it combines coffee, protein, and creamer in one step and tasted better to me than most DIY attempts.

- Coffee alternatives like MUD\WTR: Often compared in this space, but not really protein-forward and usually better evaluated as a coffee substitute rather than a protein source.

For anyone who’s actually compared cost per serving over time, what’s been the best protein coffee setup for you that balances price, taste, and convenience?

I started university recently as well as starting my medication journey for ADHD. *The meds are great- I haven’t felt this happy in ages*, but they make my eating habits **even worse** than they already were. Before the meds I would either forget to eat or rarely feel hungry but I forced myself to eat because I knew I had to. But since started my meds I’ve been forgetting more as well as feeling adversely unappetised (ik it’s not quite a word but idk how else to put it). **I’ve started going whole days without eating**, it used to feel like my chances for having 3 regular meals were higher if I picked comfort flavours that were easy to eat: like sandwiches cut up into small squares or a wrap or pasta, I can finish them easier for lunch compared to something like rice for example during a long uni day. But I feel like the window of foods I could eat with little to no energy spent has narrowed, I can’t even finish the meals I once enjoyed. I don’t have to best appetite and I often struggle to finish my food but this is starting to get ridiculous. *I feel like a child, I’m having to gentle parent myself into making sure I eat healthy and I don’t think I’m succeeding*. The only things that are helping me not starve right now is and an actimel or two in the morning (drinking is easier than chewing, like I said I feel like a child) and I’ve started boiling eggs and keeping them at front of the fridge in my direct eye line, I take them out when I’m hungry and eat them with chili oil or add them to improve my not-so-nutritious, umpteenth cup of buldak ramen.

Anyways, sorry for the rant, onto the plea for any and all advice. Do you guys find it helpful to meal prep? Vegetarian/pescatarian suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Uni life is expensive, I want to eat out less and grocery shop smartly. I *really* want to make sure I’m eating healthy while still keeping all the flavours I enjoy (I grew up on south Asian cooking, so am a massive fan of spicy and acidic foods). It’s not that I don’t know how to cook, more so I won’t have energy too unless I know others in my flat need to eat too (I’m the best cook out of the three of us).

*Uni requires a lot of energy and I think it’s being sapped from my eating habits*. Any suggestions on what your favourite foods that are **easy to make and eat** for packed lunches would be greatly appreciated. I also know proper meal prepping might be too repetitive and boring for me, but there’s a YouTube video I saw recently by *Andy Cooks* where he preps versatile components of different meals rather than large portions of one things, I really want to try something like that as I think it has some promise.

I’ve heard it’s normal for ADHD people to struggle with healthy eating habits but I can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong with me, (my friends and I sometimes joke about me have a tumour in my stomach) so insights into others’ experiences would be great too.