What do you eat for lunch when working in an office?

I like a mixture of leftover crockpot meals (Thai Curry, Beef Strogonoff, Chilli etc) with some microwave rice or I meal prep a bunch of cold pasta dishes (Tuna & Sweetcorn, Egg & Spinach, Chicken & Bacon, Feta & Artichoke Hearts) on a Sunday.

Oatmeal with protein powder is my go to.I buy the oatmeal packets and then just put a scoop of my protein powder in a container. Good boost of energy mid-day and by the time I go to the gym after work the protein is in my system!

Leftovers, chicken or turkey wrap with avocado/spinach/tomato, Caesar salad with grilled chicken, Amy's frozen dinners (b/c they taste good - they're a bit light on protein and high in carbs though); if I'm stuck with fast food it's generally going to be a grilled chicken sandwich and side salad.

deannalfisher wrote: »

I found these great pre-packaged meals called Ready Chef Go at my local grocery store - they are chicken, vegetable (broccoli or asparagus) and a small pat of compressed butter with some kind of flavor (today's is garlic scampi) - cook for 6mins in the microwave and voila

Those sound good! I'm jealous.

I food prep every Sunday and include breakfasts, lunches, snacks and dinner for me and my husband. I went out a while ago and got myself a really nice cooler lunch bag with appropriate sized containers and a little ice pack. Usually breakfast is scrambled egg whites and a chopped up banana with cinnamon. Lunch is always greens (spinach, kale, boc choy, broccoli, brussel sprouts) any green veggie, a lean protein (other than red meat), and a quarter cup of sweet potato or sometimes I skip the protein and potato and just bring a mixed green salad loaded up with veggies and a shake of protein powder mixed with water. Snacks are... piece of fruit, hardboiled eggs, almonds or another kind of nut, cottage cheese, string cheese... not all of that all in one day obviously but one or two of those things daily. There's a beautiful full service cafeteria, a restaurant and a café where I work so it would be super easy to just buy/eat out every day but that will become unhealthy and expensive in a hurry!

I usually bring soup, chili or leftovers that I parcel out and freeze. Sometimes I just bring a bunch of hummus and veggies and crackers and cheese to meet my calorie target for lunch.

For me the trick is my Lunch Crock. The office microwave is old and slow and doesn't heat evenly anymore (plus there is often a line for it if I'm eating at noon).

Lunch Crocks cost about $20 at Target or Walmart (or on the Crock-Pot website). They don't get hot enough to cook food, but they are perfect for heating food up. I plug mine in when I get to work and when lunch time rolls around my food is at the perfect temperature for eating, even if it came out of the deep freeze that morning.

I hadn't intended for this to become a sales pitch, but I honestly found it completely turned me around on bringing lunch to work and since I got it I am so much better about bringing lunch from home than I used to be.

kbonamission wrote: »

It's so easy to grab something fast at lunch (and unhealthy). I could use some ideas on healthy lunches to pack. Any ideas out there?

I have not eaten out at lunch for many many years, other than the rare birthday or celebratory lunch for a co-worker - but even those hardly ever occur anymore as most of us are too busy and/or health-conscience these days. I make a grilled chicken salad 2-4 times a week, or just plain grilled chicken. Chicken is really my main item for lunch. I never tire of it. If I am out of chicken, I usually try to have some Lean Pockets in my freezer that I can grab and take with me. Also I have some freezer-prepped meals from things like chicken pot pie or a pot roast. I portion them out and freeze so that I have something to take for lunch when I am out of everything else.

I have two jobs. In one "office" I load airplanes with a forklift, in the other I run a shipping department in a warehouse. I work 12.5 hour days and here's what I do: in my lunch pail I put a piece of meat (porterhouse steak, trout, 3 sausages from my charchuterie, chicken thighs) and 1 or 2 handfuls of vegetables (turnip greens, bell peppers, asparagus, kale). I don't refrigerate or use a microwave in the office. I just pull it out and eat it cold--or eat it warm in summertime.

I keep lunches light and save my calories for the evening. We have a great salad bar at a cafe in the building, but I keep a reserve of soups and tuna on standby for late meetings.

Today I'm having unsweetened oatmeal with raisins. one of my favorites is a big taco salad (I only use about half a cup of taco meat, plus lots of lettuce, a little cheese, a third of a tomato, and a little salsa. I also premake egg and sausage mini-burritos, and freeze them so I have a quick lunch when I want to. I also like to bring an orange or something for a snack. I like to have small lunches so I have calories to fund my love of evening snacking

I prepare soup for the week or salads, put them in jars and bring them to work to stash in the workfridge. So simple this way.