Alternatives to Sandwiches?

monkeystyxx

Most of my diet has become pretty good certainly, a lot better than before, but I know bread - even delicious multigrain lovely bread - is pretty bad when trying to lose weight.

What do you guys do for a quick take-to-work lunch that doesn't involve bread?

Treece68

Since I can no longer have bread (celiac) I grab lunch meat and cheese. This is, if I forgot to make my lunch for the next day. Most of the time I make extra dinner and after eating put it away for my lunch and another goes in freezer for later lunch.

janejellyroll

Bread is only bad when you're trying to lose weight if eating it keeps you out of a calorie deficit or if it is crowding out other foods that would help you better meet your goals.

But if you don't want to spend the calories on bread, try a lettuce wrap (or collard green). If you want something bready, but lower calorie I like those sandwich thins -- they're just 100 calories.

jemhh

There is absolutely nothing wrong with bread. Nothing.

If you don't want to eat it though, you could eat a pile of meat and cheese and veggies with a fork. Or soup or leftovers or anything else.

But, to reiterate, there is nothing wrong with bread. I eat a moderately low carb diet for medical reasons (150 grams or less) and today had 2 slices of whole wheat with breakfast and a slice of Italian with my lunch sandwich.

KANGOOJUMPS

fruit

camiev

They make lower calorie breads. PF makes a 40cal "very thin whole wheat", Healthy Life makes a 35cal whole wheat high fiber. Or you could use Xtreme Wellness tortilla wraps. My absolute last minute cheat used to be those single serve premade chicken caesar salads without the dressing and half the croutons.

cerise_noir

monkeystyxx wrote: »

Most of my diet has become pretty good certainly, a lot better than before, but I know bread - even delicious multigrain lovely bread - is pretty bad when trying to lose weight.

What do you guys do for a quick take-to-work lunch that doesn't involve bread?

Nah, bread is not bad for weight loss. Carbs are not bad for weight loss. Eating too many calories is bad for weight loss. Excess calories is how anyone gains weight, even animals.

I've eating a LOT of bread throughout my weight loss and it hasn't slowed me down or stopped me unless I eat over my maintenance calories.

You could always find a lower calorie per slice bread.

bexilashious

I have lettuce wrapped around the fillings

Tonight I had warm tuna and melted cheese wrapped in lettuce with a little low fat Mayo
Very yummy!

malibu927

Unless you have a medical reason to restrict carbs/gluten, bread isn't bad. I eat bread a few times a week, but I've also found substitutes for when I want to save calories, such as an 80-calorie whole wheat tortilla.

cwolfman13

IDK...bread is fine when you're losing weight so long as it doesn't cause you to go over your calories. I have sandwiches pretty regularly.

You could do the whole lettuce wrap thing if you like, but I think it's pretty lame as far as actually being a viable sandwich substitute.

I suppose some people don't like spending their calories on bread, but that's a different matter all together. You can pry my sourdough from my cold dead hands...

ninerbuff

monkeystyxx wrote: »

Most of my diet has become pretty good certainly, a lot better than before, but I know bread - even delicious multigrain lovely bread - is pretty bad when trying to lose weight.

What do you guys do for a quick take-to-work lunch that doesn't involve bread?

The bread isn't the problem. It's the AMOUNT of bread that people eat that's the problem.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

DeanneScott2

I have Ryvita crisp bread with cheese and tomato. I found it a good substitute for bread. I know if you count the calories in for bread then it is fine, but I found it easier to cut it out. Took my lunch calorie count down so I could have the dinners that I wanted. So I have 4 Ryvita's, 2 slices of cheese (half a slice on each Ryvita) and tomato on top and it comes to about 250 calories.

girlinahat

I make a batch of a rice or other salad, then add a 'filling' such as boiled egg, feta cheese, tuna, ham etc for variety. I haven't eaten sandwiches for years, not because of any avoidance of bread on a weightloss thing (I love a decent sourdough or a freshly made white loaf), but due to horrible memories of brown bread with a thin, dry, desperate for saliva coating of cream cheese as a child.

victoria_1024

Like others said, bread won't stop you from losing weight. There's no reason you can't eat a sandwich. That being said, I focus on meeting my protein goals and sometimes I find that if I eat a sandwich then my protein ends up being low for the day. An option I love are these flat bread things, I think they're called protein up or something like that? They're only 90 calories but have increased protein and they're actually huge. I will put chicken, cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes and have this enormous wrap that is hardly any calories.

I also prep salads at home and bring them to work.

Francl27

Low carb wraps are a great alternative for days when you can't fit bread in your calories.

peaceout_aly

monkeystyxx wrote: »

Most of my diet has become pretty good certainly, a lot better than before, but I know bread - even delicious multigrain lovely bread - is pretty bad when trying to lose weight.

What do you guys do for a quick take-to-work lunch that doesn't involve bread?

Lettuce wrap is the closest alternative.

Try a tuna bowl, burrito bowl, chicken salad on a bed of lettuce...

avskk

I like Gemwraps and they're available on Amazon. I also actually like sandwich thins. There's nothing wrong with bread, but having a couple lower-calorie options on hand is helpful!

kenyonhaff

I tend to do Weight Watchers, Lean Cuisine, and so on frozen lunches. I know they aren't ideal but they have a predictable set of calories, attempt to put in some veggies, and are convenient.

Bread is NOT the enemy! Yeah, 2 slices of sandwich bread can be almost 200 calories if you're not careful. But High fiber, high protein wraps or 100 calorie wraps are easy to work around.

Don't forget soup for the winter months! A good (generally clear) soup is often reasonable in calories, can come with veggies, easy to make and great to stick in your desk or pantry at work.

kshama2001

Bread made from flour can make me sleepy or binge-y. However, I do not have this problem with bread make from sprouted grains, from brands like Ezekial/Food for Life or Alvarado St Bakery. The latter's Flax bread is only 50 calories per slice. https://www.alvaradostreetbakery.com/storelocator

But if I was avoiding bread altogether and working in a facility with a microwave I would take dinner leftovers.

dragon_girl26

I've been buying 110 calorie hamburger buns from Aunt Millie''s when I want a sandwich with bread. Otherwise, wraps are a pretty good alternative, or just having the fixins in a salad form.

JaydedMiss

I love bread. If it fits into your calories why lose it? Delicious. If your worried maybe make half a sandwich and add some veggies on the side? No point though

amal2343

Bread is great unless you don't cross your cal requirements. If bread is boring you go for more meat and veggies.

SusanMFindlay

Bread is calorie dense and some breads come in huge portions. The key to eating bread on a calorie budget is to find a bread that you like that comes in small slices. I tried one brand that only had 50ish calories per slice, but it was so thin that it turned to melba toast in the toaster, and it would fall apart if you tried to make a sandwich from it. So, that was a no. But then I found an in-store baked bread which is only 70 calories per slice (at 1 oz per slice; 25 g after toasting). It's just thick enough to hold up (and still be toast-like instead of cracker-like after toasting). Find a bread that looks not-huge and relatively thin sliced, and weigh a few slices to check that it lives up to its nutritional information label.

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Dano74

None. The correct answer is none alrernatives.

chunkytfg

I use either large tortilla wraps which are comparatively lower in calories than a couple of slices of bread and because they are smooth you can use barely 2 or 3 grams of butter instead of 5+.

Ive also recently discovered New york Bagel company do a new range of thin precautions ones which are a similar idea to the sandwich thins. About 130 cals per bagel

aussieketogal

Ideas for lunches without bread:

Fill a plastic container full of salad, rocket, lettuces, fresh herbs, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, alfalfa, capsicum, corn, beetroot, nuts... Keep your dressings and protein separate until lunch and mix together. Protein ideas: small can of tuna, grilled chicken, strips of lamb or beef.

Leftovers from dinner are great but if you don't have access to a microwave try making a batch of ground beef with delicious spicy flavours you like. Then you can make lettuce wraps with a bit of rice, cheese, ground beef mixture, avocado and capsicum. Still yummy when cold!

Those little plastic containers with the separate divisions are really handy for keeping elements separate and reduce the soggy!

If you can cook your lunch I love to make a little rocket salad, half an avocado with a sprinkle of olive oil and lemon juice and then add two eggs on top either poached or fried. Dust the eggs with paprika, cumin and salt and mmmm mmmm.

Oh my list could go on but I'll stop there. I'm getting hungry thinking about it

CattOfTheGarage

chunkytfg wrote: »

I use either large tortilla wraps which are comparatively lower in calories than a couple of slices of bread

Really? I find tortillas can come in at a solid 200 cal each, depending on the size. If you ever try making them you'll see that your don't get any more tortillas out of a given weight of dough than you would slices if you made a loaf. Bread just looks bigger. Even home made bread is minimum 50% air by volume, often more, and factory bread is a lot more.

Don't get me wrong, I love tortillas and eat them a lot. But they are an equivalent to bread, not a low cal substitute.

LivingtheLeanDream

My favourite lunch is tossed mixed salad leaves with tomatoes, chopped eggs, ham /chicken/ prawns with some thousand island dressing or balsamic vinegar - its filling and really tasty.

I also make up a tuna pasta salad - one can of tuna drained and added to cooked pasta, with spring onion, sweet corn, peppers and all tossed in a hot chilli dressing...yum. (delicious hot or cold)

chunkytfg

CattOfTheGarage wrote: »

chunkytfg wrote: »

I use either large tortilla wraps which are comparatively lower in calories than a couple of slices of bread

Really? I find tortillas can come in at a solid 200 cal each, depending on the size. If you ever try making them you'll see that your don't get any more tortillas out of a given weight of dough than you would slices if you made a loaf. Bread just looks bigger. Even home made bread is minimum 50% air by volume, often more, and factory bread is a lot more.

Don't get me wrong, I love tortillas and eat them a lot. But they are an equivalent to bread, not a low cal substitute.

Well yeah You aren't that far wrong as bread would be 200-220 and in comparison my tortillas i use are about 185 but like I said as well the slightly lower calories the fact you can use half the butter is pretty important also increasing the difference between them.

jennifer_417

Agree with others, there's nothing bad about bread. The only problem it poses to weight loss is if it causes you to exceed your calorie goal.