fast food

I am currently in grad school and very busy. I am finding that I never want to cook, nor do I have time to cook. So I eat fast food WAY too much. this has become a nasty habit and I feel like I have forgotten how to cook. And when I want to cook I really don't have the time. Any suggestions?

Subway
Find some smoothie recipes - there are so many out there. My newest favorite is 1/4 cup oats w/ almond milk, applesauce and PB2 (powdered peanut butter low calorie). But you can do so many different ones and freeze them.
Baby spinach salads w/ whatever veggies or even canned pears, oranges, or pineapples (no sugar added to save calories) dates, craisins, nuts. You can make these ahead of time in individual containers and then add the fruits or veggies. I use vinegar for dressing.
Frozen individual veggies - green giant steamers. Each has 2-3 servings, but I eat the entire package with a salad for a quick meal when I don't have fresh veggies available.
Other options include batch cooking on the weekends and freezing stuff for the week. Sandwiches are another option.
When I was in school I lived off of subway and smoothies. You might just need to pack side items as the chips or fries or whatever on the side can add up.

I know grad school is busy...been there, done that. I finally had to find the time and batch cook things like casseroles so all the food groups were accounted for. Then I'd freeze portions. When you are that busy I was okay with a lack of variety. I just didn't want to eat fast food anymore....or vending machine food. I wish I had known about greek yogurt back then...that stuff fills me right up but is pricey if you are on a budget (which I'm sure you are).

Omelets and frittatas are very very quick to make, as long as you have ingredients around.

As Preggo38 said, you can cook big batches and refrigerate or freeze portions. If you do this with things like stews then you'll find that the actual hands-on involvement time is minimal, and you can do laundry, study, etc. while you're cooking.

Similarly, crock pots.

thank you for all the great ideas!!!

oh ya ...I forgot about crock pots. I still have the one I used and found that in less than 15 minutes I could toss everything in the night before and then put it on before I left in the morning. My crockpot was my best friend at the end... you think better too when you have good nutrition in your body..not so fuzzy as with all the fast food.

also making good choices when you have to go to fast food helps. For example Arby's regular roast beef without the bun and a side salad. I work full time and am doing my prereqs to get my RN so I can understand the busy schedule. I pack my lunch the night before. I also love the george foreman grill. Throw some meat on it steam some veggies or microwave frozen ones add a salad and you have an awesome dinner. Frozen pre cooked shrimp are great to. Thaw them and throw in a salad.

There is a book called "Eat this, Not That" that shows you which fast food meals you can eat and still loose weight! Probably not as healthy as eating home cooked meals but none the less you CAN loose weight and still eat fast food... just have to know which foods are lower in calories than others...