Healthy meals for office

I work 12 hour shifts...so I have to have a plan. Here are some things that work for me:

I eat a lot of kashi frozen meals

I bring big salads in tupperware containers

Turkey sandwich with cheese and mustard on whole grain bread. I also like PB&J or tuna salad sandwiches.

I have single servings of frozen veggie lasagna and turkey chili in my freezer. I can take them out the night before, thaw them in the fridge overnight, and then have them ready to reheat at lunch the next day.

I have a lunch size mini crockpot that I heat soup in

I do a lot of grazing. I know you said you prefer more substantial things. But eating smaller things every few hours can really help you stay full and keep your blood sugar steady. Some of the snacks I love are apples, clementines, greek yogurt cups, quest bars, 100 calorie packets of almonds, 100 calorie packets of dry roasted edamame, string cheese, freeze dried fruit, raw veggies with greek yogurt based dip...etc, etc

Hope some of these ideas are a help!

I like Kashi, Amy's, Marie Callender, and Boston Market frozen meals for lunch. Or you can cook your own food the night before and microwave it there.

Another point that almost all my coworkers order food so its not common to take cooked meals to office.

Stay "against the grain", log your food and support your friends on MFP while you eat alone, read the paper, plan your next meals
Save the calories and save the money too!

If the ordering food is such a temptation - allow it when you can. Brainstorm some acceptable choices from places you tend to order from and order those when you truly want that food. You might find yourself wanting it less and less over time, but if it will cause you to fall because you want it so much then I think it better to incorporate it than fall.

Otherwise - I like upside down salads - take deep bowl - and put in all your salad bits (I often include some leftover stuff from last night) upside down. That means the dressing is on the bottom, then cheese and proteins, then sturdier veggies like tomatoes, carrots etc, and then the lettuce/greens part. Leave a little head room - shake it up just before eating. Keeps the dressing from wilting the greens.

I also cook and freeze leftovers - they either get frozen and labelled for another day OR worked into an upside down salad. Depends on the leftover. Or it's just packed and taken as is the next day.

Precooking and precutting a load of ingredients also helps. I usually have many small bowls in the fridge bottom (I call it the salad bar). Each thing has it's own bowl. I just pull it all out and assemble things. Cooking some boneless skinless chicken, hamburger patties or meatloaf etc - just cooked plain - gives you a lot of options for the week. Salad proteins or sandwich fillers or ingredients for supper when you come home tired.

It's hard to not eat out when you work at an office! At my office, most of the staff goes out every day while only a handful of us stay behind to hang out in the break room. If you feel like you're missing out on that social aspect, maybe only go out once a week and research healthy options from the places that everyone likes to go to.

I've gotten in the habit of making sure that I have leftovers from dinner every night. On nights where my dinner won't make great leftovers, I make a tuna sandwich and prepare some sort of side dish.

One thing I like to do when colder weather hits is make a big batch of soup or chili on sunday so that I have enough leftover to either freeze or float me through the rest of the week.

Personally, there is no reason for fast food when you can make better and more cost efficient food for yourself at home. I make batches of grilled chicken over the weekend, along with plain quinoa. I buy boiled eggs already peeled to save on time in large bags, canned beans (rinsed well before using) and lots of produce. I make a large salad every single night and add whatever I have in the fridge to it that give me the most protein to keep me full.

I bring in snacks as well like baby carrots, jerky (unless you're watching sodium), fruit and a few other little things to curb cravings if they happen. I have a large soft cooler that I bought at Target for $20 plus an ice pack and I take it to work every single day. At first I felt odd since I had this enormous bag and everyone had a frozen meal in a box but after a while, I realized that I am eating better than most around me and I couldn't be happier about it.

Its worth a little time and effort to prep ahead and do better for your body and avoid the fast food junk.