whats a healthy lunch? low cal and sodium

ChrisinGA

Normally I eat left over pizza and potato chips or I eat a sandwich and potato chips, I know the pizza is way high in sodium. so I'm going to try to cut that out. Just wondered what people had in mind that's good for you low calories and low sodium .

whytewytch

If you're trying to watch your sodium, I would kill the pizza and the chips as much as possible. I love them both myself and struggle with this, as I'm also watching my sodium intake, due to high numbers on those store BP machines and a fear of doctors (well, their bills ).

These are a couple of my favs lately. The chicken meal takes some time to prepare, but I'm finding out that eating healthy takes time.

Chicken breast, baked, then with chopped tomatoes, peppers, and mozzarella cheese. Side of spinach & hearts of romaine salad with honey mustard dressing. Total calories=352, total sodium=659.

Tuna sandwich on white bread is only 255 calories/395 sodium. Add a side of applesauce (1/2 cup) for only 90 calories/15 sodium.

Omelette with veggies (kill the cheese) and a slice or two of wheat toast would be good.

Homemade soup, made from stock with veggies and chicken.

Salad with dark greens. Add shrimp or chicken, maybe some chick peas or something as filler. Just watch the portion of dressing that you take in.

Avoid canned or boxed prepared foods as much as possible; be careful on the frozen dinners. That's all the help I've got right now; it's getting WAY past my bedtime and my brain is starting to futz out. :laugh:

Good luck!

ChrisinGA

Thanks for the input.

redraidergirl2009

A big salad with a light low sodium dressing or make your own so you know what's in it.

ParkerH47

I like to have lots of raw veggies and dip, and then have tuna salad and good quality crackers on the side.

I also love homemade soup! you can make a big pot on the weekend and have it through out the week, and you can control if you want it to be mostly veggies (super low cal) or if you want it to be more hearty with beans and meat

sturrsturr

left over pizza and potato chips or I eat a sandwich and potato chips

Yeah, if you've ever looked at a diet plan, they never suggest eating those foods. They are high in carbs, too. Cheese, mushrooms, veggies, olives, tuna, and chicken are some good starters.

shellbellnz

I would completely stay away from what you are eating. I tend to eat the same things over and over so I don't need to think too much. Here are a few ideas. I tend to only eat vogels very thin bread as its only 126 calories. Its a kiwi thing so you probably don't have it. There is probably something similar so check out your wholegrain brown breads.
- Soup and vogel bread cut up into tiny squares and thrown in the soup
- Vogels bread and poached eggs (yummy with laughing cow cheese which is a low fat cheese spread, kinda like cream cheese)This is really yummy and I sometimes have for dinner.
- Vogels bread with laughing cow cheese and smoked tuna or tomato
- Baked beans on vogels bread

Well those are some ideas anyway.

KatjaNZ

If you want to lose weight pizza and chips are of course not the right way.
I like a chicken kebab with lots of salad in it, fills and is not too bad.
Also as mentioned before salad, soup, fish, omelette and loads of veggies. Protein instead of carbs.

ChrisinGA

Thanks for the ideas everyone, I do not like tuna, but I do like "like ritz crackers" sometimes eat that with something on them , stuff that's not healthy lol. We just trying to cut our sodium down now, since I have HI blood pressure.

We decided to not buy any more pizza's when we go shopping, and I guess I nee to find a substitute for chips, cause I enjoy chips with all sorts of meals

Tonight were having my gals famous rotell dip with cheese and sausage, it is YUMMY but I know I will eat way to much , the chips alone are 115 sodium for only 9 chips, I know I will end up over my sodium intake for the day we have it set at 1500 a day. my calories are 1800 a day.

keem88

you can make your own pizza if you have access to cook it where you are or re-heat it. good things to use for a "pizza" crust are bagel thins or high fiber low carb tortillas (just check the sodium count in the breads, some can be crazy high!). then add a reduced sugar pasta sauce, some cheese and veg and other toppings you like. you can even microwave it for a quick lunch.
i don't eat a lot of "lunchy" foods, but here are some things i eat at home (access to an oven, stove, microwave, crockpot) or at work (access to a microwave).

i made a vegetable soup in my slow cooker, it made like 8 to 10 servings so i have been bringing it to work and having it for dinner. very easy to make since all you do is maybe cut some veggies, throw in veg or chicken broth and some diced tomatos with the juice.
a serving of the veg soup a made (a bowl full) 102 calories, 214 sodium per serving (way less than canned soup sodium!) even if i had 2 servings it's still lower in sodium.

i know it isn't very lunchy, but i bring oatmeal a lot to work bc it is easy and filling. a lot of things you can add to plain oats as well to spice things up. a half cup serving of quick oats plain is 0 sodium. from there, i add chocolate protein powder (half scoop 30 cals, 35 sodium), or unsweetened apple sauce with cinnamon added (1/4 cup is 25 cals and 0 sodium). you can always have something with this too, like a salad or veggie slices or something.

i don't eat meat, but another thing i have is a veg burger on a sandwich thin and add some lettuce (273 cals, 451 sodium). this will vary based on the bread you use

a salad with lettuce, onion, avocado, cucumber, mushrooms and if you want other veggies or a protein source. i used a light ranch dressing. and some watermelon on the side. mine was 141 cals, 153 sodium. add some no salted sunflower seeds for extra cals and healthy fats, with no extra sodium.

a pb banana sandwich on sandwich thins and using pb2 (216 cals, 249 sodium)

snacks i have with my lunch are apples with cinnamon (slice the apple, sprinkle cinnamon and stevia or another sweetner and nike it for 30 secs, so good!), other different fruits (bananas, grapes, watermelon, avocado slices with cumin sprinkled on), cottage cheese or greek yogurt.

ChrisinGA

Don't know if going to be able to cut sodium out of my meals or not, Im having some ramon noodles for a snack WOW 1660 Sodium in them. That is crazy, guess when we go food shopping i have to look at the labels for sod. i been only looking at calories

Chieflrg

Sodium can be cut, its just takes some reading of labels. The only days when I give myself a pass is on the weekends because I burn anywhere from 1400-2400 calories each day to even try to cut sodium and fuel my body properly. I just drink a lot of water on those days and it works itself out.

ChrisinGA

Sodium can be cut, its just takes some reading of labels. The only days when I give myself a pass is on the weekends because I burn anywhere from 1400-2400 calories each day to even try to cut sodium and fuel my body properly. I just drink a lot of water on those days and it works itself out.

Oh wow, I still do not get how people can burn so many calories, But I do not have a proper meter for counting everything I burn, I am a active person, even tho not working right now I am always moving around, working on projects around the house, I am sure I burn 500 calories a day from things I do but i have not been logging such, unless I know for sure like other day went to ballpark and walked around and stood so I log as I did.

holly273

We decided to not buy any more pizza's when we go shopping, and I guess I nee to find a substitute for chips, cause I enjoy chips with all sorts of meals

I have an AWESOME (well at least, myyy tastebuds think it's awesome :P) substitute for chips or french fries.

Spray a tray with some spray oil
Get any of the below (or be creative with other veggies) and lay them out on the tray
- Carrot sticks
- Baby broccoli
- Asparagus
- Green beans
- Snow peas
- Sugar snap peas
Sprinkle with herbs to your taste (I like basil and oregano personally)
Spritz with more spray oil on top. If you have any sodium left in your daily allowance, sprinkle A LITTLE salt (it'll still end up wayyy less than french fries or chips or anything pre-packaged).
Put in the oven and bake for 10ish mins (depending on the size/type of veggies)
Enjoy! You can dip in ketchup (watch the sugar/sodium though) or vinegar or whatever else to your taste. And I preferrrr this to french fries or chips!

whytewytch

You can do it, ChrisinGA, it just takes a bit more work, something I had to get used to, also. I'm from New England--grew up on casseroles, pizza, cheese fries & all sorts of yummy, but not good for you, foods. It is hard, but you have to bear in mind, this is your LIFE you're talking about. Every hug I get from my kids is a gentle reminder of why I need to do this.

You say you don't like tuna, so soup with bread or toast, omelettes (I do mine half full egg, half egg white). Fruits, veggies, lean meats & proteins. Applesauce has been a great substitute for chips for me--low calorie, lower sodium, and filling. I also have the luxury of working from my home, so I can prepare my food on the run, and hop to the store if I need to.

If all else fails, you can always Google low sodium, low calorie meal ideas. Nothing says you have to eat "lunch foods" at lunch--you could have breakfast or dinner foods instead. Just keep making those conscious choices and yes, read the labels. Nothing surprised me more than how much sodium was in a can of Snow's New England Clam Chowder. O_O Good luck to you!

Chieflrg

I'm just one of those crazy nuts that exercises extremely intense every day. Running up snow hills like Rambo for an hour and stupid stuff like that. I usually run 3-5 miles before work and again after work when time allows. Weekends I start out with a minimum 7 mile run before I even eat and get more in later in the day Hit the weights on my lunch hour if the job site is close.

I only log exercise I plan for the purpose of losing weight. My job requires me to be constantly moving and is very physically demanding. If your not in shape, your toast.

ChrisinGA

Thanks again everyone, Soup not a fav but gf made some a while back it wasn't so bad.
I am very active also as said, I am happy to cut down on my cals so much cause I am sure before I started this it had to be 3,000 a day. and now its 1800 a day so. lot better.

countrybarbie24

Wow I will have to keep some these things in mind to try. Unlike Chris I like tuna so tuna does come in this but he dont eat it... That one thing I can buy and know that I will have it a month later if I want lol..... Yea sodium is going to be hard to not go over but with determination I know I can do this!!!

I will google and see what low cal/sodium foods I can fix... I like boxed/canned foods better cause they last a lot longer but I heard that if you prepare your meals and freeze them that they last longer. So I am going to give it a try.

smichelle65

We decided to not buy any more pizza's when we go shopping, and I guess I nee to find a substitute for chips, cause I enjoy chips with all sorts of meals

Whenever I have a chip craving, I make my own corn chips. I take one corn tortilla (the 6-inch, fajita size) and cut it into 8 triangles on a baking sheet. I then spray it with cooking spray and sprinkle with Mrs Dash salt-free Fiesta Lime seasoning. Bake at about 350 for 10 minutes. They come to 59 calories, 8g carbs and 5mg of sodium.

ChrisinGA

We decided to not buy any more pizza's when we go shopping, and I guess I nee to find a substitute for chips, cause I enjoy chips with all sorts of meals

Whenever I have a chip craving, I make my own corn chips. I take one corn tortilla (the 6-inch, fajita size) and cut it into 8 triangles on a baking sheet. I then spray it with cooking spray and sprinkle with Mrs Dash salt-free Fiesta Lime seasoning. Bake at about 350 for 10 minutes. They come to 59 calories, 8g carbs and 5mg of sodium.

Might have to try that out. Thanks..

Confuzzled4ever

Open diary.. lots of different lunches.. or other meals that can be used as lunches.. feel free to look..

ChrisinGA

So I added water to my chart but my sodium number didn't change, will it not affect the chart? but it does help the body