Work Lunches

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Replies

  • MaybeLed
    MaybeLed Posts: 250 Member
    mommamia30189 wrote: »
    So many people have leftovers! I barely have enough time in the day to cook dinner. I mean how does everyone that works, work all day, I get home at 6pm- then workout by 6:30-8 - by then its too late to cook a meal so i usually just eat something like a baked potato or a fruit cup. My main eating is at lunch. Its hard to come home-workout-then cook dinner-and get ready for work the next day. I usually pack my lunch in the morning before work, apples, yogurt, and some baked chicken that i make batches of on Sunday.

    Honestly we just eat really late, I quite often won't get in till 19:30, sometimes we won't eat till 9 or 10, We have one period of time where we cook dinner, portion for lunch the next day and package for breakfast. I'm not saying it's the right way but it's the way that works for me and my husband. I find if I beat myself up about having dinner by a certain time I make less sensible choices. Also I'm more likely to snack late at night. We tried week batching and it wasn't for us. Just trying to plod on with what's sustainable (thus far at least!)
  • sharkey5899
    sharkey5899 Posts: 7 Member
    We usually do leftovers as well or I will make a big pot of turkey chili or beef barley soup freeze them and it's just easy to grab it and go. A pc of cheese and 25 grams of almonds, yogurt and some veggies keep me going throughout the day. Planning is definitely what keeps me on track. I have lost 31 lbs in 11 weeks so I feel what I am doing is working for me.
  • blueeyetea
    blueeyetea Posts: 44 Member
    Jeyradan wrote: »
    - you can also make mason jar salads with the dressing at the bottom and the ingredients layered through

    I came across a few videos on YouTube that show you recipes for these that look fabulous and could be prepared ahead and left in the fridge for a few days.
  • nitromaniac
    nitromaniac Posts: 2,479 Member
    I hate prepping meals for work also, but what I have started doing is to pick one day and prep for the entire week. I'll figure out what I want to eat throughout the week and get the ingredients together and just do it. I usually marinate some chicken in different varieties of marinade and then grill them. I'll also steam a lot of veggies, marinate and grill shrimp, corn on the cob, just whatever I am hungering for. Then after I do all that I pack them in bento boxes and take them all to work and put them in the fridge. I also will take snacks like carrots, yogurt, etc. to eat during the day.
  • kandell
    kandell Posts: 473 Member
    Ham and swiss lunchables, actually, with a protein bar as a snack.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    cass0314 wrote: »
    Gena575 wrote: »
    I do sandwiches with fruit and baked chips. Sometimes I swap the chips for a yogurt and pickles. Just depends. Or leftovers...often just the meat as a salad topping. I also keep a couple lean cuisine on hand for "emergency" situations. I try to keep lunch around 400 calories because I'm more hungry of an evening than through the day.

    I do the same, I often just have a coffee in the morning, a light lunch, and then a more robust dinner. But I try to eat my carbs earlier in the day and not as much at night. I'm just toying with different things to see what's most doable and most beneficial for me. :)

    Whatever works for you :)

    But since some carbs make me sleepy, I have a high carb snack before bed.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    cass0314 wrote: »
    I suck at packing a lunch for work each day. What do you take to work for lunch? I need as many ideas as possible! Eating fast food daily for lunch helped me gain 60lbs over the last 18 months and I'm over it. I've lost 11.5lbs in September and I have a long way to go, so nutritious and somewhat easy to prepare lunches for work are going to be key. Suggestions? Thanks for your input!

    I used to do big batches of cooking on Sundays and make lunches and dinners for Mon-Thurs. For snacks, I'd also make hard boiled eggs, and leave carrots and cheese in the frig at work, and nuts at my desk.

    Now that I work from home I just make myself a sandwich, which would be easy enough to do before work or the night before.

    You can also gets lots of lunch ideas from the MFP blog: http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/?s=lunch
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I do the meal prep on Sunday for lunch, this week I was lazy and bought a rotisserie chicken breast at the grocery store and have made wraps with that, spinach and tomato along with either Greek yogurt or an apple.

    For dinner, I cooked on Monday night and made enough for the rest of the week. So basically I eat the same thing daily for a week and then switch it up. Well, the weekends vary more, but this seems to work best for me.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    Soup! A big pot lasts all week. I usually add some crackers, an apple and a Babybel.
    Sandwiches - usually wheat toast, roast beef, spinach, and grainy mustard.
    Lean Cuisine + fruit or raw vegetables and a Babybel
    Chopped salad, add egg or chicken and some dressing when I'm ready to eat. (The Dole prepackaged kits are good if you're short on time)
    Freezer breakfast sandwiches, you can make them in advance. I love breakfast sandwiches, and they're delicious any time of the day (especially when my first meal is usually at 1:00)
  • lisalewis7588
    lisalewis7588 Posts: 76 Member
    I cannot eat sandwiches (it's a texture thing... super weird, I know) so I struggled with lunches for a long time. Now, I specifically make dinners to ensure there are leftovers for me to eat for lunches. In the event there is a dinner "fail" or other crisis, I keep tuna pouches around which I usually eat with a few crackers. And I always pack finger food such as veggies with hummus or light dip, or fruit, or roasted chickpeas, or Kind bars, or mini cheeses. Luckily (unluckily?) I am ridiculously busy at work and never have time to think about getting anything other than what is right in front of me, and sometimes I don't even have time to eat my whole lunch in one sitting (I get about 5, maybe 10, minutes to shovel food in my face) most days. So I keep the little snacks that are finger food so I can munch on them when I get 30 seconds.
  • OneHundredToLose
    OneHundredToLose Posts: 8,523 Member
    I cook all of my lunches for the following work week every Sunday and then either freeze and refrigerate them. This has proven to be both economical and time-friendly. This week my lunches consist of a mixture of rice, chili, ground beef, and a few vegetables. Each is about 600 calories per serving and cost about $2.
  • red99ryder
    red99ryder Posts: 399 Member
    I eat out at lunch .. subway a lot .. like the tuna salad .. mcalisters deli .. and can even go to Wendy's .. double stack .. value fries and water to drink .. just got to count what ya eat ..
  • JKolb72
    JKolb72 Posts: 15 Member
    I have leftovers if there are any. Most of the time I take a salad with grilled chicken or tuna, marinated lima beans/chick peas, carrot sticks, boiled egg. I have a to go salad tote that works wonders (see image). I'm bad at portioning so putting my green mix on the bottom, adding the other stuff in the top section and the dressing in the container works great. If I do have to go out for lunch I usually pick a grilled chicken salad or instead of going through a drive through I will go to the Real Food Market and make a salad from the fresh salad bar.

  • Ploofs
    Ploofs Posts: 59 Member
    I like making guacamole in the morning! Bring some mini pitas that I toast up at work and it's amazing. I also like sausages and burgers. Soup on the side or fruit. Lunch is the heaviest meal for me :).
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    mommamia30189 wrote: »
    So many people have leftovers! I barely have enough time in the day to cook dinner. I mean how does everyone that works, work all day, I get home at 6pm- then workout by 6:30-8 - by then its too late to cook a meal so i usually just eat something like a baked potato or a fruit cup. My main eating is at lunch. Its hard to come home-workout-then cook dinner-and get ready for work the next day. I usually pack my lunch in the morning before work, apples, yogurt, and some baked chicken that i make batches of on Sunday.

    It takes about 20 minutes to grill some kind of meat, poultry, or fish and saute some veggies and make some quinoa or brown rice or something...you're already cooking it so making double doesn't take any longer. I don't do big exotic recipes for weeknight meals...KISS.

    I also don't spend 90 minutes every night working out...at most it's 45 - 60 a couple days per week in the gym and usually a 30 - 60 minute ride most weekdays. I also usually eat dinner around 8:30/9 so even if I did finish working out by 8, there's plenty of time to make a simple meal.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
    I pack to be healthy and also to save money. I'd rather spend $4 x day on coffee versus $8 x day on food. Feel free to add me and check out my diary. I pack lunch M-Th and work from home Friday, but I always prep the night before regardless. Lunches include chicken or tuna salad (keep the mayo to 1 T. or less) along with carrots, broccoli and hummus or ranch. I also like to pair rice cakes with an apple, PB and seeds, plus some yogurt and berries. The key to sticking with packing is to prep the night before (or earlier if that works for you). Oh, and Simply Smart Lightly Breaded Chicken by Perdue is a lifesaver. Found in the freezer section. Great for last-minute lunches.
  • emilysusana
    emilysusana Posts: 416 Member
    Do you have access to a microwave? I spend part of my Sunday making a variety of freezer meals, sometimes things like chicken Parmesan with veggies added veggies to the sauce, chicken curries (w/tons of veggies), chili and soup (tons of veggies). I calculate the calories for every serving and put the inventory on the fridge for logging purposes. If I do this every weekend, making 1-2 recipes, then I can easily have something different every day of a given week. Those meals are usually around 200-300 calories, and so I grab that, along with some raw veggies (carrots, baby peppers, or snap peas) and a fruit or sometimes yogurt (depending on calories in the main course). You can even make batches of brown rice and freeze a 1/3 cup serving to go along with the saucy meals. The average cost of my lunches, on non-yogurt days, is about $2 (the yogurt I like is almost $1 a container). I love the warm meals and having something raw to much on after I inhaling them makes them very satisfying meals.
  • RachelElser
    RachelElser Posts: 1,049 Member
    Generally a sandwich, two pieces of fruit, a Coke Zero, and a protein (egg or cheese).
  • Ricksh1000
    Ricksh1000 Posts: 88 Member
    Soup here.
    Made at the weekend and into 400g freezer bags. Take one out of the freezer and keep in the fridge for next morning. Six mins in the microwave in the morning and straight into a Thermos flask.
    Still hot at lunch time.
  • leologan42
    leologan42 Posts: 31 Member
    I make enough at dinner the night before to bring as my lunch. Bonus it i don't have to measure and calculate it again.
  • savithny
    savithny Posts: 1,200 Member
    I have to prioritize the cooking over any kind of workout, because I've got kids relying on me to feed them and our budget absolutely does not sustain eating out or convenience food. If we're going to eat healthy meals on our budget, they need to be cooked. I get in my activity walking to work or at lunch.

    When you find you have to do it, you figure out how you can. Yeah, others will probably point and judge for prioritizing the food thing over the gym, but life is full of choices and right now that's the better one for my situation.
  • MsRuffBuffNStuff
    MsRuffBuffNStuff Posts: 363 Member
    I make 6 cups of rice on Monday morning. We buy bags of frozen pre-cooked grilled chicken and frozen veggies. My husband makes his own "chicken bowls" (1 cup rice, 6 oz chicken, 1 cup veggies) and adds whatever sauce he wants. Fortunately he likes chicken bowls and never gets tired of this. Microwaves easy at work and isn't stinky
  • lnd0718
    lnd0718 Posts: 22 Member
    I grill chicken on Sundays, make a bit pot of chili (160 calories per 8 oz serving), and get some lean cuisines to pull from if I am a little pressed for time in the morning. Black beans to fill in gaps where I need calories to help hold me over. I HATE to have to come home and spend an hour cooking dinner. So, I aim to have stuff in the fridge that we can pull together a quick 30 min meal from the stuff that I have prepped.
  • jlynnm70
    jlynnm70 Posts: 460 Member
    Leftovers...it's easy and I already know how to track it! I also keep sliced chicken/turkey in the fridge with cottage cheese or avocados/tomatoes - this way I have something at the office and don't have to worry if I forget to grab something from home. Lastly - salads - lots of salads!
  • endlessfall16
    endlessfall16 Posts: 932 Member
    In my family we value dinner and the time to be together. So, a big lunch is out of question for me. That's all the better. I get to eat light, plain foods such as boiled eggs, breakfast cereal, nuts, Carl Jr sides, 6" Subway, which are all easy to pack or purchase within walking distance, and save a ton of time and calories.

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