Help with lunches!!!

mikomarcia
mikomarcia Posts: 10 Member
in Food and Nutrition
So my Dr wants me eating only 1300 cals a day and to limit my carbs to no more than 30 a meal. Breakfast and dinner is fine, but for lunch I'm really struggling. I need something super easy to make without a bunch of cooking or time. Right now I'm taking a sandwich (I try to change up the type from week to week) 7 wheat crackers, a wedge of light laughing cow cheese, and a small fruit. It's too high in carbs and I am so over salads. I eat salad every single night. More of a savory person than a sweet one. I'd like to keep lunch no more than 600 cals. Any suggestions??

Replies

  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    I eat sandwiches most days, either turkey lunchmeat or tuna salad. It's around 45 grams of carbs, but you can get lower carb bread and switch the chips for something else (like carrot sticks or something with fiber), or just the cheese no crackers. It's around 450-550 calories too.

  • onyxgirl17
    onyxgirl17 Posts: 1,722 Member
    I am very busy at lunch time so I eat a protein bar with a banana and it works for me until I get home from work. I then have a small snack before dinner. The protein bar + banana combo has worked for me the entirety of losing weight and when I was keeping 1300 calories it was well within my dietary limit as it only amounts to 300 calories. It’s not for everyone but it worked for me. Have you tried protein bars?
  • naturallykat
    naturallykat Posts: 118 Member
    I rarely eat bread or crackers. How about soup? Or a vegetable + protein stew (skip the rice).

    When I did dairy I quite often had a cottage cheese lunch - cottage cheese plus sweetcorn/bell peppers/pickles or whatever salad stuff you fancy.

    Sometimes I have a home made curry or a chilli for lunch.

    I know you said you have salads for evening meals, but do try to switch it all up so you don't get bored. There's no reason you have to have salad every day.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,412 Member
    edited June 2022
    Yeah, if you're limiting carbs then grains are problematic. When I'm in weight loss mode, grains are eaten very sparingly. Maybe one serving per day.

    I tend to have a largish breakfast and dinner (like 500-600 each) but then just a couple smaller snacks in between. I'll have a slice of cheese or a serving of nuts mid-morning and then roasted chickpeas or hummus with raw vegetables a couple hours before dinner. Cottage cheese and vegetables is another option that is filling and lower carb. A protein shake.

    Also, not knowing anything about you - maybe 1300 is too low in general and 90g carbs total is hard to stick. Most of the time I'm using fruit as snacks -lots of energy in them, and easy to pack, but higher carb. I generally stuck with 125-150g carbs daily when I was losing.

    I don't know, and I don't know your doctor's reasoning or nutritional training so s/he could have good reasons...but if you are going to work and (presumably) doing house chores or caring for kids? 1300 is really really low.
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I don't know, and I don't know your doctor's reasoning or nutritional training so s/he could have good reasons...but if you are going to work and (presumably) doing house chores or caring for kids? 1300 is really really low.

    It really depends on the OP's height. I'm 5'0", I work from home but use a standing desk and move often, and I work out 4x a week - I am on 1450 calories to lose weight. When I was only working out 3x a week and not standing for work, I only ate 1350 calories.

    1300 is not really low for smaller framed people.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,412 Member
    edited June 2022
    ExistingFish wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I don't know, and I don't know your doctor's reasoning or nutritional training so s/he could have good reasons...but if you are going to work and (presumably) doing house chores or caring for kids? 1300 is really really low.

    It really depends on the OP's height. I'm 5'0", I work from home but use a standing desk and move often, and I work out 4x a week - I am on 1450 calories to lose weight. When I was only working out 3x a week and not standing for work, I only ate 1350 calories.

    1300 is not really low for smaller framed people.

    I'm well aware. I've been at this for a minute. :lol:

    I said - twice - that I didn't know her and that I might be wrong...I don't know what else you think I could have said to please 100% of the people and every single situation.

    If you feel a need to correct people, have the courtesy to quote the entire post, k?
  • ExistingFish
    ExistingFish Posts: 1,259 Member
    cmriverside wrote: »
    ExistingFish wrote: »
    cmriverside wrote: »
    I don't know, and I don't know your doctor's reasoning or nutritional training so s/he could have good reasons...but if you are going to work and (presumably) doing house chores or caring for kids? 1300 is really really low.

    It really depends on the OP's height. I'm 5'0", I work from home but use a standing desk and move often, and I work out 4x a week - I am on 1450 calories to lose weight. When I was only working out 3x a week and not standing for work, I only ate 1350 calories.

    1300 is not really low for smaller framed people.

    I'm well aware. I've been at this for a minute. :lol:

    I said - twice - that I didn't know her and that I might be wrong...I don't know what else you think I could have said to please 100% of the people and every single situation.

    If you feel a need to correct people, have the courtesy to quote the entire post, k?

    I apologize for specifically replying to part of your post, I dislike large quotes.

    I would avoid words like "really" in the future. If you'd just said "low" I probably wouldn't have thought twice.

    I wasn't trying to correct you, I just wanted to point out that height was a factor and even a relatively active short person doesn't get that many calories. I know I'm short, I'm in the 8th percentile for height - but often people find it hard to believe that I only get so few calories.
  • sarahnewton4862
    sarahnewton4862 Posts: 2 Member
    Salmon or shrimp burgers from Trader Joes, or a protein bowl with beans, lean meat, a little cheese, and veggies. Adult "lunchable" with cold cuts, cheese, veggies and dip (hummus, low fat cream or cottage cheese). Rice cakes as a snack with tuna or peanut butter! I've also taken canned chicken, warmed it and added some LF cream cheese and buffalo sauce and spread it on bread or or rice cake. Good luck with your goals! 1300 calories seems so few :(
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,173 Member
    Just as an observation: Some doctors will recommend a very low calorie goal, under the belief that most people will not log food accurately and therefore will actually eat more. (There's research showing this underreporting effect, where estimating/eyeballing/memory are involved.) I admit, they usually generically seem to suggest 1200, so maybe your doctor is using more nuanced approaches.

    You still might want to check MFP's recommendation (for a sensible weight loss rate), or a TDEE calculator's** maintenance estimate for your demographics, just as a comparative data point.

    ** Such as https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/, which I think is a better than average one (more activity levels, includes multiple research-based formulas' estimates).
  • DeserveVictory
    DeserveVictory Posts: 133 Member
    When I have to pack lunches for work, I make a big pot of soup/stew/currie/chili and then portion it out into lunch containers so they're quick to grab and go in the mornings. This is especially quick if you have an Instant Pot. If you have the freezer space, I find each week has extras so I freeze them and then have a collection of different frozen lunches ready to go. I fail miserably if I try to pack a lunch in the morning.

    You could also change it up for "buddha" bowls. Make a big pot of rice/quinoa and prep the veggies and sauce, then portion it out into lunch containers for the week.

    I have a huge Pinterest board of recipes you could look at for ideas. I'd recommend the Bowls, Curries, Instant Pot or Soups and Stews categories. https://pin.it/4pB69Hg
  • mlrtri
    mlrtri Posts: 425 Member
    My lunches tend to be a lot of little things. That way I can spread it out or eat it all at once. Today I had celery sticks and a light laughing cow, blueberries, turkey breast slices and green pepper slices.

    I guess you could call my lunches “deconstructed “. If I put it together in a sandwich or salad or even wrap then my calories go up ( dressing and bread) and it doesn’t make me feel any more full. Then I reserve calories for an afternoon snack so I am not super hungry at dinner. That keeps me from wanting seconds or snacking while I cook.


    Other items I frequently include: hard boiled eggs, nuts, cottage cheese, cheese slices, all kinds of vegetables, hummus, apple and PB, yogurt. Fruit but in moderation.

    I have a nice bento style lunch container that makes it easy. And I don’t have a lot of small containers to mess with or baggies to waste.

  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,597 Member
    I frequently have frittata for lunch: eggs, reduced fat cheese, veggies like onion, peppers, spinach and carrots. I add potatoes but they may be too high carb for you. It ends up being low carb*, high protein, filling and very tasty.

    *it’s actually too low carb for me so I end up having a chunk of bread or potato salad with mine!
  • mikomarcia
    mikomarcia Posts: 10 Member
    Thank you for the great ideas everyone!

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