Congrats on taking the first (and hardest) step! Everything you learn from this is a step towards better health for life. You are going to get lots of advice. Take what works, leave what doesn’t. Don’t eat anything you hate because it’s healthier.
Do this for a couple of weeks and get your habits oriented towards eating from home. Then start thinking about how to take that diet from “not actively unhealthy” to “a positive thing for your health.”
It looks like it would be easy to make some whole-grain substitutions in your diet. You can get whole grain everything these days- from hot dog buns to macaroni. I’m a fan of frozen brown rice as a staple, and it’s also easy to microwave a big tub of it that you can eat for several days… Whole grains are like magic- they leave you fuller longer and are night-and-day nutritionally. That said, if something doesn’t work for you, don’t do it. i can’t bring myself to see anything good about whole wheat tortillas, no matter how hard I try, so I buy packs of small regular tortillas and am careful about portion sizes.
I’d also recommend turkey sausage. They make them in all kinds of flavors- I’ve been buying feta-basil these days. It’s pre-cooked, so it’s easy to use and it’s a good source of protein. I use them as sausage in pasta sauces, etc. and also eat them as hotdogs on bus. It’s a cheap, easy and healthy source of protein, and they are just as tasty as the real thing. i’m bad at cooking meat, so turkey sausage and tuna makes up most of my animal protein.
It seems like you are not a big cook, and focus on convenient- which doesn’t have to be incompatible with a healthy diet. I’d look in to how you can integrate more cooked vegetables into your diet, because salads are going to get boring. I happen to have an infinite capacity for frozen broccoli, and most of my meals include a whole plate of it on the side (it has practically no calories.) It’s not super-yummy, but it rounds out my meals. Can you put some chopped or frozen veggies (you can buy them pre-chopped) in your pasta sauce? Or get some veggie-heavy vegetarian chili to make chili dogs with?
Do you like any fruit? I try to make sure I eat two (small) pieces of fruit a day. It really does keep your appetite in line.
Peanuts are a good high-protein snack, but you do need to be careful with portions. You might find string cheese more satisfying calorie-for-calorie.
Finally, since convenience is such a factor for you, think about how you are going to make it easy to eat homemade food away from home. I motivated myself by buying a nifty fancy lunch box and reading a few bento lunch websites. The sight of all that beautifully packed food inspires me to stick to bringing colorful, healthy meals to work and school.
Eating healthier has sooooo many beneifts.
I’ll have to remember this for my daughter.