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MyFitnessPal Community

"Brown Bag" Ideas?

dbkyser

Looking for healthy lunch and snack ideas to get me through the 11 hour days at work. I have learned to enjoy whole wheat bread but not into soggy sandwiches.

This makes healthy sandwiches a little more challenging.

Replies

labeastette

Do you food prep? It can really help a great deal in making the right choices. I usually do my food prep on Sundays and it takes a couple of hours. I end up making 2-3 days worth of meals.

I normally cook chicken breasts, roast some vegetables like squash, zucchini, red and orange bell peppers and onions together, and make a batch of brown rice and roast some sweet potatoes. Those are my staples. Once everything is cooked, you just portion it out into containers. I normally do about 4-5 oz of protein, 1 cup of the veggies, and 1/3 cup brown rice or 1/2 cup sweet potato.

I know it may sound boring eating the same thing every day, but you can also throw in another protein to prep like ground turkey meat or turkey chili. Then alternate turkey chili with chicken and brown rice with sweet potato. I store them in my fridge and in the morning, just grab what I need and go.

Depending on your calorie intake, you could probably eat more or less.

I also prep my snacks. I usually have 2 snacks - light string cheese with a piece of fruit and 1/2 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt with some strawberries or pineapple.

Good luck to you!

labeastette

I forgot to mention, 6-Pack Fitness also has some lunch bags you can purchase that come with containers and ice packs so you can prep your meals and bring the bag to work. I love mine!

http://www.sixpackbags.com/

jaynerz

Tuna (you can get it in the pouch so you can eat it with crackers or right out of the packet without worrying about a can!), string cheese, veggies and hummus, cottage cheese. I have been bringing a lot of turkey/chicken sausage to work, they have so many good flavors now, and you can heat it up with a side of vegetables. You can also cook eggs in muffin tins with bacon and veggies and cheese and make little egg muffins to bring! If you crave a sandwich you can bring a low calorie wrap and fill it at work so it doesn't get soggy through out the day maybe. Good luck!!

successgal1

Its perfectly ok to bring your sandwich preparations to work in separate containers and assemble at lunch time.

I premake lots of things, weekly or every other week. Last week I made the turkey meatballs someone posted on MFP and I just ate 4 of those on pureed cauliflower (seasoned like mashed potatos), with some jarred homestyle gravy in the microwave its a delicious hot lunch. I froze the majority of the meatballs so I have them on hand.

I love Bush's new Chili beans. They have a variety of beans in chili sauces of varying intensity, I'll have a serving of one of those over sauteed kale or spaghetti squash.

There's a gazillion things you can make ahead and freeze, any meal you make for dinner can be put in a container for lunch.

jeffd247

Bringing my lunch to work has been a great tool for managing my calorie intake.

I'm the type of person who is cool eating the same thing day in and day out. I've been packing the same lunch for the most part of a year now. I bring enough food to have a snack at 10:30ish and then lunch towards 1:00PM so I am not so hungry when I get home.

My staples are:

1. Morningstar Garden Veggie Patties (Microwavable veggie burger)
2. Some kind of yogurt (I like the 90 cal Greek yogurt)
3. A piece of fruit (I like apples)
4. A protein bar (<200 calories)
5. A Clif Kidz bar (<150 calories)
6. 10-15 almonds

I also will have two cups of coffee, each with 2 tablespoons of half in half in them. Again the only thing above that needs any prep is the veggie burger

When I do bring a sandwich to work, I keep the bread separate from the meat and condiments. This makes it so that it doesn't get soggy in my cooler. I have a little bread shaped crayola Tupperware thing that we got for my kids at the grocery store. It's perfect for keeping my bread from getting smashed or nasty

All in all this leaves me plenty of calories for dinner when I get home. My wife and I put a lot of variety and nutrition into those dinners and it's been working really well!

jgnatca

I hardly ever eat a sandwich. I prepare lunch the night before based on leftovers from dinner (I cook for two and menus are usually for four). I have some Rubbermaid lunchblox. This is what I am using today:

I pack the dry and crunchy separate from the saucy/soggy. I also am a big fan of snack size ziplocs.

AngryViking1970

successgal1 wrote: »

Its perfectly ok to bring your sandwich preparations to work in separate containers and assemble at lunch time.

I do this a lot; some deli, slice of cheese, a "bread spread" like Laughing Cow or some avocado and whatever bread I'm using.

dbkyser

Thanks everyone, come great ideas.

SuggaD

dbkyser wrote: »

Looking for healthy lunch and snack ideas to get me through the 11 hour days at work. I have learned to enjoy whole wheat bread but not into soggy sandwiches.
This makes healthy sandwiches a little more challenging.

Keep sandwich fixings separately, at least the parts that cause sogginess. I sometimes work really long days...even all-nighters. Those are the nights that I usually don't do so well because I get hungry and there is only unhealthy stuff in the dining room. If you know you are going to be working 11 hours on a particular day, pack A LOT of extra food. Things that fit into your plan.

dbkyser

Just ordered a few lunchblox sets, should make life simple

sofaking6

Also toasting the bread can help keep it from getting too soggy. Put tomatoes in the middle instead of against the bread.

Yogurt and granola is my go-to work lunch - probably a snack for most people but it's easy to carry and easy to mix together and eat.

I love wasabi peas for a snack. Cunchy, salty protein with a kick. And fruit. Apples are filling with all the fiber, bananas are my pick because I always need potassium.

Fat4Fuel2

I'm a fan of slow cooker lunches. I throw everything into the crock pot, let it cook all Sunday, then portion out my serving size and ad veggies if I want.

EmmaFitzwilliam

Do you have a refrigerator and a microwave at work? I do, and those have been a huge factor in what I choose.

My M-F breakfast at the office is a bowl of steel cut oats (reheated), with 2T half and half, and 1/2 cup blueberries.

For lunch, I have a 2-3 portions of snap peas, 1/2 - 1 portion cherry tomatoes, an apple, and, according to my mood and needs, a wasa cracker with hummus or cream cheese, a couple of oz. of deli turkey, and an ounce of cheese.

For me, the real key has been portion control and advance prep. I have a digital food scale at home, and when I make the oatmeal I portion it out into three equal servings. I buy a 1/2 pound block of cheese and cut it into 8 1oz portions. I buy lunch meat and portion out my 2oz portions. I go through a lot of snack size baggies.

I have been known to bring leftovers from the night before, as well, but that makes for a higher calorie count at lunch than I usually go for.

unknown

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ryanbrowning115

I like to make turkey roll ups loaded with veggies or some great salads with salsa as my dressing. Also, I usually grill a bunch of chicken on Sunday and use that throughout the week.

Lounmoun

I have those lunchblox containers for packing my dh's lunch! We have the salad size and the sandwich size. Any sealed container works pretty much the same though as long as you food fits.

I often send leftovers for dh's lunch.
Sandwiches are okay... just don't put things that will make the bread soggy on in advance or put a barrier (meat, cheese, spinach/lettuce) between that item and the bread. Try a wrap with a tortilla or do a lettuce wrap for something different.
Whole fruit
Raw vegetables
Cheese, cottage cheese
Yogurt
Hardboiled egg, deviled egg, omelet
Granola bar, trail mix
Rice ball
Put dressings, sauces or condiments in a seperate small container and add when you are ready to eat.

My dh appreciates a certain amount of non-perishable stuff so if he doesn't finish it he can save it for later or the next day. Fruit or a granola bar or trail mix is good for that.

Amitysk

jgnatca wrote: »

I hardly ever eat a sandwich. I prepare lunch the night before based on leftovers from dinner (I cook for two and menus are usually for four). I have some Rubbermaid lunchblox. This is what I am using today:

I pack the dry and crunchy separate from the saucy/soggy. I also am a big fan of snack size ziplocs.

I have one of these too! It's perfect for preventing soggy lettuce. They make a sandwich version too that keeps everything separate.