Was your lunch healthy?

jplis

Analyze and reflect on your lunch choice for today. Is it healthy? Let's discuss in a paragraph.

cwolfman13

It's only just past breakfast time here...but yeah...much lunch is always healthy. 1/2 Lb garden salad with Italian dressing, 1/2 avocado, 6 ounces (cooked weight) of grilled chicken breast, Boiled egg, and an apple.

rawk_fairy_666

Not too bad. Pitta with cheese and ham. Probably should have had some veg in there but I was in a hurry. Not too bad calorie wise, it will do. What was yours?

coreyreichle

PB&J: Lunch of champions.

avskk

Seems pretty good to me. Turkey and provolone in a barbecue Gemwrap with a little yogurt ranch, spinach, and tomato; baby carrots on the side. I'm sure we could argue about processed deli meats or how "natural" GemWraps are or whatever, but it suits my needs just fine -- I'll be ravenous after the gym and this will be quick to assemble, have protein and fat, and be full of various micronutrients.

Leighkai76

Yup, grilled chicken and steamed veggies.

itsthehumidity

Today it'll be Chipotle. Burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, peppers and onions, double chicken, medium salsa, corn salsa, and lettuce. Just ~800 calories. Lots of sodium, but I'm active and drink a lot of water so that doesn't matter.

exstromn

Left over Beer Brat and baked beans and mac n cheese. No, not healthy (except the beans maybe) but leftovers are affordable:)

janejellyroll

It isn't lunch time here yet, but I'm going to have a sofritas salad from Chipotle. It fits in my calorie/macro goals for the day.

mccindy72

jplis wrote: »

Analyze and reflect on your lunch choice for today. Is it healthy? Let's discuss in a paragraph.

Be careful with that word. Healthy? Hm. You can eat 1,000 calories worth of food that is considered 'healthy' and go over your deficit and have a bad macro balance. Or you can eat a meal that some would consider 'unhealthy' that stays within your calorie goals, and maintains your calorie goals.
say you eat a whole avocado, and have several stalks of celery filled with natural peanut butter. Dip some baby carrots in hummus, drink some homemade lemonade with it. have a plate of fresh cut fruit. toss in a couple of handsful of almonds. you've got a lot of calories in this one meal, a lot of fat and sugar. but a lot of people would call this a 'healthy' meal.
Now have a small burger made with a slice of deli cheese on a bun with a small order of fries on the side. Put lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and onions on the burger, and you've got a very well-rounded meal, macro-wise. Protein, carbs, fat, and it's about 600 calories, if you kept it to a decent size.
see how it can be a misconception to call things healthy or unhealthy?

avskk

Actually, I'd still consider the first meal healthier than the second, absent any other context. "High-calorie" and "unhealthy" are not the same thing.

Now, there are a million factors that might make either of those meals a better choice at any given time or for any given person, but calorie content alone isn't an indicator of healthfulness.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Everything I eat in a day is healthy. It's not very wise to take one meal and assess whether it is healthy or not. Sometimes I don't even eat lunch, but I still manage to get the right amount of calories and balanced macros for that day. It's just like you can't analyze how a person eats on Thanksgiving Day and say they always eat a lot. Context is important.

giantrobot_powerlifting

I do not eat healthy. My feeds are leveraged in pursuit of my goals -- whether I am cutting or bulking.

MelRC117

Why don't you join in? At 14 posts, asking other members to "analyze" and "reflect" on their choices while you don't do the same is off putting.

mccindy72

avskk wrote: »

Actually, I'd still consider the first meal healthier than the second, absent any other context. "High-calorie" and "unhealthy" are not the same thing.

Now, there are a million factors that might make either of those meals a better choice at any given time or for any given person, but calorie content alone isn't an indicator of healthfulness.

therein lies the problem. So many people are afraid of food groups they don't understand. Well-balanced eating is important. the second meal is much more well-balanced. the first meal is good sometimes ( and I eat meals like it sometimes, but not nearly that large, because it's far too many calories), but people need good protein and fat sources in their diets and don't understand that. many people aren't losing weight because they eat large portions of what they think of as 'healthy' foods and never learn to eat in moderation.

MarziPanda95

I didn't wake up until 2 in the afternoon today so I didn't have lunch until about 3.45. It was a grapefruit. Not feeling very hungry yet and I'm having a big dinner

rybo

Always. Fruits, vegetables, nuts & seeds, eggs & sometimes tuna.

avskk

mccindy72 wrote:

therein lies the problem. So many people are afraid of food groups they don't understand. Well-balanced eating is important. the second meal is much more well-balanced. the first meal is good sometimes ( and I eat meals like it sometimes, but not nearly that large, because it's far too many calories), but people need good protein and fat sources in their diets and don't understand that. many people aren't losing weight because they eat large portions of what they think of as 'healthy' foods and never learn to eat in moderation.

Right, but this question wasn't about diet in general -- it was specifically asking what each of us, individually, thinks of one particular meal in our day. Personally, I'd consider the first meal just fine on fat and protein what with the nut butter, hummus, and almonds. I'd also consider the second meal just fine, but for me it's less healthy because I aim for a lot more vegetables and fewer starchy carbs at each meal. (I also watch sodium and saturated vs monounsaturated fats, but again, that's personal preference.)

My point was that the first poster who compared those two meals called one "healthy" because it was lower in calories, with really no other analysis other than "it has all three macros." I'm suggesting that everyone evaluates the healthfulness of any given meal differently, so implying that calorie count is an indicator of health value isn't particularly helpful.

Chieflrg

Yes.
A gob of peanut butter on a maple french toast bagel.
Ice cream fudgesicle.

flabassmcgee

Chicken in herb cream sauce with roast vegetable tian (sliced tomato, potato, squash and zucchini topped with Italian cheese). I feel like I did pretty well there.

beautychicks

2 egg omelette with mushrooms yummy

Marilyn0924

I'm pleased with my lunch for today. Zucchini noodles with a little tomato sauce/mushrooms/red onion, greek yogurt and a super crunchy royal gala apple. A little higher on the sodium side than normal for me because I was too lazy to make my own sauce and used it from a jar, but yummy!!!

BostonBill99

Very healthy. 3 oz Thin N Trim Low Salt Turkey Breast, 100 cal wrap, 1 Tbsp miracle whip, Romaine Lettuce, Sweet Onion, 16 red seedless grapes and two clementines. 32 oz water. 516 calories I don't overthink the food groups; I just try to make a balanced meal.

staticsplit

I had a cup of curried lentil soup and an Asian pear, so I'd say yes. Then I had a green smoothie with papaya, banana, soy yoghurt, spinach, lime, and flaxseed. Yum.

htrabucco

Today, I'm having the Panera Bread miso broth bowl with chicken and soba noodles- it comes in at only 390 calories and is loaded with protein. I've eaten this before in a pinch and was full well into dinner time.
My go to for the rest of the week will be this recipe - just at about 300 calories and 16 grams of protein. Another one that keeps me full until dinner!
I've found that upping my protein levels and decreasing carbs controls my hunger much better.

https://seasonedwithsarcasm.wordpress.com/2015/04/28/weekly-meal-prep-mason-jar-salad-shrimp-quinoa-with-ranch-and-romaine/

jeccawest91

Veggies and a pork chop work water

jemhh

My office is having a cinco de mayo lunch. We're having chicken tacos. I'll likely have chicken and then vegetables as I don't want to spend calories on the tortilla. I also brought a Noosa yogurt. I am sitting here realizing that I didn't bring enough food with me. I had a hectic morning (plumbing problems at home) that threw me off when I was getting ready for work. I have a feeling that the amount of chicken I'd normally eat will be much larger than the portion allotted for me at this shindig.

jeccawest91

Marilyn0924 wrote: »

I'm pleased with my lunch for today. Zucchini noodles with a little tomato sauce/mushrooms/red onion, greek yogurt and a super crunchy royal gala apple. A little higher on the sodium side than normal for me because I was too lazy to make my own sauce and used it from a jar, but yummy!!!

How do you get your zucchini noodles to not turn to mush??

kimw91

Grilled cheese and ham sandwich on multigrain with some tomato and red onion. Oh and then some chocolate 'custard' (vla in Dutch, it's kind of hard to translate). Suppose most wouldn't consider it healthy, but it fit my macros, calories and what I felt like eating, so yeah. Works for me.

kr1stadee

Frozen broccoli, chicken thigh, sauteed with 1/2 tsp of soy sauce. Kind of small and lacking carbs but I'll make those up haha

Marilyn0924

jeccawest91 wrote: »

Marilyn0924 wrote: »

I'm pleased with my lunch for today. Zucchini noodles with a little tomato sauce/mushrooms/red onion, greek yogurt and a super crunchy royal gala apple. A little higher on the sodium side than normal for me because I was too lazy to make my own sauce and used it from a jar, but yummy!!!

How do you get your zucchini noodles to not turn to mush??

I make them thicker (like udon noodles) and only steam them in the sauce for a minute or two max so they stay crisp!