Lunch Ideas - At Work! (Snacks too)

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xxrainmakerxx
xxrainmakerxx Posts: 2
in Food and Nutrition
Just beginning week 2 and I'm already tired of the same lunches...usually a salad or chicken sandwich. I'd love to hear some fresh lunch ideas (and snacks too) to give me some variety so I don't hate this so much.

Thanks in advance!

Replies

  • 5stringjeff
    5stringjeff Posts: 790 Member
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    I actually eat most of my lunches during the work week out of the frozen diners section. Banquet and Michellina's meals tend to be good portion sizes for me, plus they have such few calories that I can have an afternoon snack without busting my calorie limit.

    When I got to the point of maintaining weight instead of dropping it, I moved to Hungry Man and Marie Callendar's frozen meals. More calories, but kept me in the habit.
  • maryjay52
    maryjay52 Posts: 557 Member
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    i eat nonfat plain greek yogurt and throw a cup of frozen dark cherries in it ..sometims 1/8 cup of slivered almonds too .. thats a snack though not a meal. meals vary for me im ususally a chicken eater so chicken wraps , chicken soup, chicken salad with low fat mayo and celery, sometimes whole grain macaroni and tuna , turkey burgers are awesome !! salads to me are boring and i rarely eat them because i ate them so much my first year i honkered down to lose weight. turkey or chicken chili is another meal thats great.. alot of stuff you make up at home so allyou have to do is throw it in a container to bring to work.
  • C00lCountry
    C00lCountry Posts: 282
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    I take some kind of beans to work. They seem to stay with me good and has good protein.
  • JlenniferL
    JlenniferL Posts: 48 Member
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    Try fat free 98% ham, we weigh out 2 ounces for sandwiches. Also white turkey breast lunch meat with 30 calories a slice. We go with 100 or 90 calorie snacks from Kellogg Special K products. And eating right cookies from Safeway.
  • XXXMinnieXXX
    XXXMinnieXXX Posts: 3,459 Member
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    I make pea and ham soup or chicken and noodle soup! I use egg noodles.. Sometimes I cook a pork chop with some Chinese seasoning, gree beans, Brocolli in a parcel when I cook dinner and warm it in the microwave the day after that's yummy. Over night oats with berries... Greek yogurt with honey and or fruit. Pork crunch lots of protein so filling, cheese strings fill a gap, almonds.. Mini cans of flavoured tuna fish.. You certainly don't need to get bored. I often make excess dinner too and take some as lunch! Protein shake... Popcorn. All healthy and yummy x
  • Nikki_XC
    Nikki_XC Posts: 69
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    Some of my lunches:

    Leftovers usually.
    Sandwiches made in low-carb/high protein wraps, or lettuce wraps or whole wheat bread if I need the carbs.
    Chipotle (double chicken, fajita veg, salsa, guac salad)
    Tuna wraps with a fried egg
    Soup
    Subway double chicken salads (vinegar, no dressing)

    I know I'm leaving a lot out, but hopefully those ideas work for ya, or inspire you to come up with some new stuff!
  • Vailara
    Vailara Posts: 2,454 Member
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    I sometimes like ...

    Crackers, blue cheese, chutney and olives or grapes (obviously going on easy on the cheese)
    Smoked mackerel and coleslaw
    Leftovers (cold)
    Soup (microwaved)
  • LMick1986
    LMick1986 Posts: 431
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    I had a pretty decent breakfast, so I just brought a yogurt and string cheese for lunch today.
    Cottage cheese with fruit.
    Obviously leftovers from dinner the night before.
    Veggie steamers.
    Black beans, corn, lettuce, pico de gallo, avocado, southwest dressing (salad).
    BLT sandwich.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    At weekends, I'll cook up a big pan of stew. In go any veggies which are getting old, a tin of tomatoes, plenty of seasoning (garlic, chilli, whatever herbs I have). I might add some protein - a tin of beans, some mince, some leftover chicken. I'll freeze this in single portion sizes. I've done this often enough that I have a whole variety ready to go:

    Ratatouille and rice
    chicken with buckwheat
    minestrone
    chowder
    veggie chilli


    Other days I make a salad - spinach leaves, tomato, cucumber, boiled egg, olives, maybe some fancy mushrooms or artichokes from a jar.
  • gottagettagrip
    gottagettagrip Posts: 19
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    My favorites:
    Leftovers from night before (because you can measure and control portions at home,)
    Progresso soups (lots of varieties--filling and low calorie,)
    Healthy Choice cafe steamers (a little better than the regular frozen dinners if you ask me,)
    If I have to go out, Wendy's chili with saltines,
    McDonald's southwest salad with grilled chicken and no dressing (it already has a lime juice on it,)

    For Snacks:
    100 calorie packs of almonds
    Nature Valley protein bars

    I have found that the longer it takes me to eat something (i.e. soups and salad) the more satisfied I am. I can wolf down a sandwich in no time! I also try to incorporate protein for longer satiety.
  • booboo68
    booboo68 Posts: 302 Member
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    One of my favorite lunches has become:

    1 Sargento Reduced Fat Sharp Cheddar Stick 60 calories
    5 green olives 25 calories
    Sliced red and green peppers (very few calories)
    14 almonds (equal to 100 calories)
    1 Dannon Light and Fit Greek Yogurt 80 calories
  • JewelE77
    JewelE77 Posts: 134 Member
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    I love all these great ideas on here! I usually take a sandwich (made with fat free luncheon meat, mustard & Sara Lee 45 calories & delightful honey wheat bread) and a 110 calorie tub of pringles (bought a huge box at Sam's) or I go to McDonald's for their Grilled Chicken Bacon Ranch salad and only use 1/2 the packet of ranch (the salad is 230 calories and packed with bacon, cheese, lettuce & delicious grilled chicken and 1/2 the packet of ranch is 85 calories). I just tried Wendy's full size Grilled Chicken BLT Cobb salad without the blue cheese crumbles and it is phenomenal and so filling! It doesn't feel like diet food because it has diced hard boiled egg, bacon and yummy chicken on it. It was a little more calories than the McDonald's one though (280 calories for the salad and I wound up using a little more than 1 1/3 packets of dressing - it comes with two packets and each are 100 calories) but it was super filling so I bet a 1/2 portion would be plenty and it would make it 300 calories for the salad and a whole packet of dressing. :)
  • saltedcaramel86
    saltedcaramel86 Posts: 238 Member
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    I like to vary my lunches to prevent boredom. Variety is the spice of life! :)

    Depending on my work patterns--
    Jacket potato with leftover veggie chilli or bolognese
    Pasta salad filled with different veggies (always wholewheat pasta, and very versatile in terms of different vegetables)
    Wholewheat sandwich or wrap filled with Quorn deli meat and/or veggies (a few days ago I had chicken-style slices, loads of spinach, tomatoes, spring onion and mayo...yum!!)
    Homemade soup and wholewheat roll (this week was butternut squash and chilli...also love spicy tomato and lentil)
    Wholewheat pasta with red lentil bolognese

    Lunch is always with a handful of nuts, piece of fruit and lots of water!
  • AnikaP81
    AnikaP81 Posts: 59 Member
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    I often take the frozen meals as well, but I try to make sure that they have a decent amount of protein and fiber in them (both help you to feel full longer). But any veggie works, with whole grain pasta or brown rice/quinoa/whole wheat cous cous. And if you are tired of chicken, you can do fish (salmon or tilapia work well) or add beans like someone else suggested. Plus, your salads don't have to be boring, you can add all kinds of things...strawberries, blueberries, any type of nut, feta cheese or blue cheese (not too much of course, because it does add calories ;) ), dried fruit (beware the added sugar). And you can certainly switch up the dressing to give it a different flavor. Also to add flavor to a wrap or pasta, you can add salsa (I like corn salsa or salsa verde) instead of high calorie sauces or plain red sauce (I am not a huge fan of tomato based pasta sauces LOL).

    And sweet potatoes work great too...put a little cinnamon on top, but skip the butter ;)

    As for snacks, I usually take greek yogurt and add 2 Tbsp of flax seed for fiber. They make a lot of different flavors now...

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