Pack for lunch?

ivygirl1937
ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hello everyone - I rarely post on here but I did have a question for those that pack their lunches to take to work -- what do you guys normally pack? I'm having a hard time finding some relatively quick and easy to pack and take that still stays where I want it to, calorie and health-wise. Right now I'm taking soup but not homemade, just what you get from the store. It's low in calories but it hasn't been very nice to my stomach and digestive system, so I need some other ideas. I have a 1770 calorie allotment, so I try to keep lunches around 400 calories or less, high in protein (I'm not a vegetarian by any means) and I love veggies. Breads are a little harder for me to digest. I don't have celiac disease, I just don't process them as well. I was wondering what all of you take that you can eat at your desk or in the break room or whatever. (Note: we have a microwave and a fridge/freezer to prep food with).
Thank you in advance!!

Replies

  • jmurray90
    jmurray90 Posts: 431 Member
    I bring lots of soup, definitely easy to just dump in a bowl and heat up. Today I brought in a bag full of salad stuff. Ill just leave it in the fridge and cut it up and eat it through the week.
  • lniber22
    lniber22 Posts: 29 Member
    If i plan ahead and prep on weekends i do much better! Usually when i do this, i cook chicken breasts in chicken stock in the crock pot so i have that made ahead for the week. this can be used in healthy casseroles or chilli, salads or plain with veggies. i also throw a yummy veggie soup together. Chicken stock, can of tomatoes, whatever beans i have on hand, lentils, and whatever veggies i feel like adding. this makes a huge pot and is ready to go for lunches for the week. Also, tuna mixed with avocado. Can be eaten on salad or just tomatos or a sandwich. But prep on the weekend and you'll be set all week!
  • leomcdee
    leomcdee Posts: 60 Member
    I work from home, but when I used to work in an office I'd take chicken salad with a low-cal dressing. Or a 'bento' style box of lots of different things - carrot, cucumber, hummus, granola bars, yoghurt, fruit, pitta bread, falafels, boiled eggs, raisins etc (not all at once, obviously) and then I wouldn't get bored.
  • ethompso0105
    ethompso0105 Posts: 418 Member
    That's tricky--something I struggle with regularly, too!

    When I have my *kitten* together the night before (lol) I like to put together a big salad with lots of veggies, lean meat, low-fat cheese, etc. I'm not a huge fan of croutons or the other topper things, so that helps to reduce calories. I have a great reusable container that has a chilling tray built in that also doubles as a salad dressing holder. I found the Bolthouse Farms Yogurt dressings are amazing and low in calories.

    I also regularly bring dinner leftovers for lunch. My SO doesn't like leftovers, and I refuse to waste tons of food...they make great lunches!

    One of my favorite lunches, however, is kind of random. I'll pack all kinds of high-protein items in combination with low-calorie options...some of my favorites are low-fat cheese, lean meat, rice crackers, salsa, hummus, fruit, veggies, etc. The combination of flavors and the great variety makes lunch feel fun.
  • rebolaugh
    rebolaugh Posts: 125 Member
    Check out this thread! Lots of good ideas: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1443314-what-s-in-your-lunch-box-for-lunch-and-snack

    I usually bring salad or a sandwich or assorted items (cheese, fruit, veggies, nuts) -- it depends on what I feel like! Today I have a salad from Costco (their kale-broccoli-brussels sprouts mix with pumpkin seeds and cranberries) and I have some turkey pastrami slices to eat as well.
  • moparjer
    moparjer Posts: 125 Member
    I usually have salad with some toppings and Walden Farms non-calorie dressings. Other days, I have Safeway's Eating Right meals (around 300 calories) or similar frozen lunches with a "treat" like no-sugar pudding!
  • kathdela
    kathdela Posts: 148 Member
    I tend to just bring leftovers from dinner.
    My favorite so far has been grilled teriyaki chicken thighs with rice (fairly low cal) or some squash soup.
    This does require some cooking on your end. But if you cook a lot, it should cover you for a while.
  • spickard34
    spickard34 Posts: 303 Member
    I take 1 cup lentil, half an Avocado, tbps of pumpkin seeds, sweet peppers, garlic, cayenne pepper and lemon juice. Yummy and cheap I seriously eat this everyday I am a creature of habit. 334 cals and full of protein and fiber.
  • jenready
    jenready Posts: 2,658 Member
    I try to do some extra prep work on Sundays to help me with lunches during the week. It makes it so much easier to have something ready to go quickly during the week.

    Some of my go to lunches are: Salads with chicken or salmon. I make at least two at a time and put in containers with the dressing on the side so it doesn't get soggy. Hummus with veggies; carrots, celery, bell peppers. Soups, it is pretty easy to make a large batch of soup and then I like to split it up into individual serving containers so I can just grab one in the morning to take for lunch. Leftovers are another good option. When you put your dinner away from the night before, just put it away in to go size containers so you can easily grab one the next morning.
  • onelovejenn
    onelovejenn Posts: 49
    I bring left overs a lot, at night when I'm fixing my dinner plate I will measure out my lunch for the next day also. I also like to bring a sandwich on the 100 calorie sandwich thins breads along with low sodium ham or turkey and a laughing cow wedge and some kind of veggie on the salad, either a small salad or cucumber usually. Occasionally I will bring a frozen meal. I really like Healthy Choice Steamers.
  • kshadows
    kshadows Posts: 1,315 Member
    Usually dinner leftovers (I'm eating Monday night's chili right now!). But if there are none, I will try and plan in advance to avoid a sandwich (because it's boring to me!). Chicken breast with rice and broccoli, homemade mac & cheese, etc.
  • CaitlinW19
    CaitlinW19 Posts: 431 Member
    Mason jar salads are the best! Make them on Sunday and they stay fresh all week so you can just grab, shake and eat. I have never been a big salad eater, but I make a few that I love so I am happy to eat them again and again. For me, the key is mainly litehouse greek yogurt dressings...full of protien, creamy and low cal. They do not taste light at all. I rotate and make Chicken Caesar with some whole wheat pasta in there, taco, BBQ chicken and Buffalo Chicken. I try other things sometimes but these three I can't get enough of.
  • Illini_Jim
    Illini_Jim Posts: 419 Member
    This was today and yesterday actually :

    Flat Out - Light Original 90 Calories Flatbread, 1 flatbread 90 16 3 9 9 

    Bolthouse Farms - Cut and Peeled Baby Carrots , 6 oz 70 16 0 2 4 

    Kellogg's All-Bran Jb Edit - Bran Buds High Fiber Cereal, 1/6 cup 40 6 0 2 7 

    Tribe - Hummus Forty Spices, 4 tbsp 100 10 6 2 2 

    Plums - Plum, 1 plum 30 9 0 1 2 

    Great Value - Light Piña Colada Yogurt, 6 oz 80 16 0 5 0 

    Bolthouse Farms - Fresh Cut Carrot Matchsticks, 2 ozs

    Total – 422 Calories
  • levicrouch
    levicrouch Posts: 99
    I usually have a PB&J sandwich or a turkey sandwich. For a high protein lunch, I go with 130-140g of chicken (cooked ahead of time and heated up at work) and salsa on the chicken. To hit 400 calories though you might need to go to 215g of chicken. You gotta be pretty dedicated to eat 215g of cooked chicken though.
  • amanda890813
    amanda890813 Posts: 3 Member
    I started cooking a soup in my crock pot on Sundays- chili, chicken noodle, chicken tortilla. I just find a recipe on pinterest and make that. Then that's what I have for lunch all week. At the end of the week, whatever is left over I freeze in muffin tins and put the little "hockey pucks" of soup in a big ziplock. Then I have quick lunches too for the week I don't cook a soup.

    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/268949408968861922/
  • cariorliz
    cariorliz Posts: 26 Member
    On Sunday's I prepare 4 out of my 5 lunches for the week... this week:

    Harvestland turkey burger with grilled onions & mushrooms ( I put either bbq sauce or mustard on it..no bun)

    Sweet potato wedges with a tad bit of salt and bbq seasoning...

    Snacks are chobanis, apples, cheese sticks and grapes..

    The key I find to this..is by prepping on Sundays...it's worth it.
  • horseplaypen
    horseplaypen Posts: 442 Member
    I have a bento lunch box, so I can bring 4 different items. One is usually an egg variant - boiled, cold scrambled, whatever. One will be another protein source that I prepare on the weekend - baked chicken breast, meatballs, shrimp, beans, lentils. Then I'll have some veggies - tomatoes, steamed asparagus, broccoli, whatever. And then a fruit - whatever's in season. There's tons of ideas on bento lunches that I was inspired by, if you google it. And it's easy to make it low carb if you want, or vegetarian, or whatever. I'm usually anywhere between 350-500 calories and about 30 g of protein.
  • randomworldgirl
    randomworldgirl Posts: 106 Member
    I do a lot of preparing on Sundays also. I bake about 2 pounds of chicken breasts, a pound of boneless pork chops, boil a dozen eggs, and sometimes fry an entire package of bacon. I weigh everything in single servings and put each one in a separate ziplock bag. Then I just write the weight on the bag with a marker and throw everything in the fridge (well except the eggs, they just go back into the carton and on the shelf). At night while I'm cooking up vegetables for my dinner, I'm grabbing these baggies of protein and throwing them in my lunch bag with other things like string cheese, a can of diet pepsi, a bottle of water, a tomato and a couple of protein bars. If I feel like having fresh veggies, I cut them up at night (I don't do this ahead of time because they stay fresher longer if you leave them whole). Or if i want to sautee them in olive oil, I'll do that while I'm cooking dinner and throw them in a plastic container which also goes in the lunch bag.
  • rpantusa
    rpantusa Posts: 267 Member
    tuna salad, chicken wrap, turkey sandwich, or leftovers. I sit down on the weekends and plan out a menu for each day of the week. Breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, after dinner snack, and i do this for each day for the entire week. then i make my lunch the night before. I pack it up with my snacks for the day and head off to work fully prepared, so I don't make any last minute hungry decisions. its a lot of prep work but well worth it for me to stay on track, and easy for me to grocery shop. hope this helps and good luck :smile:
  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
    If you don't mind eating the same thing all week, make a big batch of whatever, portion it out I to Tupperware containers and grab n go in the morning.

    I pack things like:
    Hamburgers
    Hot dogs
    Soup/stew
    Chili (sometimes with a hamburger, or noodles or rice)
    Jambalaya rice (can add chicken or sausage)
    Baked spaghetti dishes
    Casseroles of assorted varieties


    Or just make a little extra at dinner time and pack that
  • keefmac
    keefmac Posts: 313 Member
    Leftovers from dinner (make two meals out of 1), ham and onion filled pita breads (toast at.work), tuna with 2 chopped tomatos/ half an onion/ coriander/ chilli seeds, chicken breast and jalapeño wraps.
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    Wow, I wasn't expecting such an amazing response, thank you all! I'm saving this thread and I think I'm going to try a little bit of all of these and see what works, they all sound wonderful!! I appreciate it so much! :):)
  • ivygirl1937
    ivygirl1937 Posts: 899 Member
    I noticed a lot of you suggested hummus. I've never tried it, what is a good flavor to try?
  • justlistening
    justlistening Posts: 249 Member
    My favorite is roasted garlic with carrot sticks. I would go with a flavor that you usually like.
  • aNewMiniMe
    aNewMiniMe Posts: 116 Member
    I try to set aside a portion from dinner (before we begin eating) for my lunch the next day, if it packs easily. Sometimes I use Weight Watcher's meals. When I don't have any of those I use the low cal/high fiber European Bread Rounds and make a turkey and cheese sandwich with a piece of fruit, low fat yogurt and my diet soda. I am not one to want salads every day for lunch. They just don't fill me up enough.

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