Work Lunch

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gloriann1
gloriann1 Posts: 27 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi everyone!

I am a new teacher getting into the rhythm of a regular work day, and I have a question: What do you pack for lunch when you go to work? Also, how much time do you spend preparing your your lunch?

I am looking for ideas :)

Thanks!

Replies

  • clem7444
    clem7444 Posts: 64 Member
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    I'm also a teacher! I have a friend and we alternate making a big pot of soup on the weekends and splitting it with one another. Then, for lunch, I have a cup of soup and...
    half an avacado on Wasa crackers
    or
    hard boiled egg and 1/2 cup cottage cheese
    or
    salad with grilled chicken

    Normally, we try to keep our soup servings to about 100-150 calories. My lunches are usually between 300 and 400 calories, which works well for me because my minimum cals daily is 1700 and I eat back most of my exercise calories. I spend about 5 minutes in the evening packing my lunch: soup into container (1 serving), grab the rest of my lunch and put it in my lunch box so I just have to grab it in the morning.
    hope that helps!
  • ash190489
    ash190489 Posts: 587 Member
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    Hello fellow teacher!

    I absolutely love our lunch breaks (except for when we have to go out on "duty" - but it allows us to eat every couple of hours which is great! I am pretty boring when it comes to my lunches but I usually pack fruit and a yoghurt for morning tea and I take with me a Healthy Choice low fat calorie controlled meal! They are always delicious and filling! If I don't take one of those meals for lunch I make myself a wrap with lots of lettuce and ham/chicken/turkey or a sandwich (salad & meat or egg & lettuce). Sometimes I will take some almonds or something small and easy to nibble on if I need a bit more or for straight after school.

    Good luck with your future in teaching. :-)
  • MelissaJ20
    MelissaJ20 Posts: 46
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    Hey! I am also a teacher and usually pack an apple (for snack), sandwich (light bread, with three or two slices of turkey, mustard and 2% cheese), and a 70 calorie yogurt. Sometimes I pack a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I used to always eat lean cuisines, but I found I had difficulty losing weight. The sodium was killing me and they made me hungrier.
  • bisland
    bisland Posts: 245 Member
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    Salads allways work. I like to add nuts, grilled chicken or a small amount of feta for the protein. Do you have access to a fridge and microwave? I keep a packet of veggie burgeres and Joseph thin sandwich rolls in the freezer for days I just do not have time to pack a lunch before hand. I can have my lunch made in about 90 seconds.

    My biggest go to for lunch this time of the year is home made soup (canned has way to much salt for my taste) I make a batch of chicken or turkey soup. Freeze it in small containers and just grab one from the freezer in the AM.
  • kirstyg1980
    kirstyg1980 Posts: 302
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    soup either home made or in a tin, ham sandwich (or equivalent) a yoghurt or jelly

    Have an apple and some strawberries for snack or similar
  • Sweet_Potato
    Sweet_Potato Posts: 1,119 Member
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    I pack:

    Yogurt and berries - for a mid-morning snack
    Whatever's leftover from dinner (often soup, but today it's kale salad and butternut squash risotto)
    A piece of fruit - for later in the afternoon

    It takes only 1 or 2 minutes to throw everything together, depending on what I already have packed into containers. If I'm really good I already have it ready the night before.
  • sjv1966
    sjv1966 Posts: 121 Member
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    I usually spend several hours on Sunday in the kitchen doing things that help me get ready for the week. I cook a 4-serving low-cal meal for lunch, eat one serving and put the other three in single-serve containers. I do the same thing for supper. I also package up baggies of raw veggies and/or containers of cut-up fruit. And of course I go to the grocery store and when there stock up on containers of low-fat yogurt or other low-fat dairy. Every day I go to work I will take one of my packaged meals, a bag or two of cut up veggies, a piece of fruit, and a yogurt or two. This gets me through the day. Sometimes I will package up 1 oz servings of pretzels or crackers but we have a snack machine at work that has 1 oz snacks in it and I find it better to get them from there then to have that stuff in the house where I might over do it.
  • Pollyfleming
    Pollyfleming Posts: 147 Member
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    Wow! So many fellow teachers! I teach 3rd grade. Lunch takes me about 15 minutes the night before and then about 5 minutes in the morning. One thing I do is pack a snack for my 30 minute drive home. I carpool with my husband and I keep our snack in a cooler in the car as an afternoon treat. It really helps me to not binge at night.

    Here's a typical day for me:

    Snack 1: two triskets, 1 ounce smoked salmon, 1 laughing cow spreadable, cut up celery/peppers
    Lunch: salad with greens and veggies and 1 TBLSP blue cheese, 1 TBLSP low fat Trader Joe's Ranch dressing, low carb turkey wrap
    Snack 2: hard boiled egg, 1 tblsp walnuts, 2-5 triskets, cut up veggies

    Good luck!
  • ASUAlumniMamaof2
    ASUAlumniMamaof2 Posts: 36
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    I'm also a teacher! I am High School teacher which means my "lunch" is actually @ 10:30am (unless it is Monday and we have early release so that means "lunch" is at 9:30am). My lunch takes me about 5 minutes in the morning to throw together.

    I typically pack

    Salad, carrots, cheese stick, hard boiled egg, nuts/peanut butter and an apple.

    Or:

    Grilled Chicken breast, carrots, cheese stick, hard boiled egg, nuts/peanut butter, apple

    I don't eat it all at my "lunch" but typically snack here and there.

    I will also toss a hershey kiss or something for a little chocolate fix as well. We have meetings every Monday from 12:30-3:30 so I try and bring something there because those meetings are known for having salty/sweet, carb and calorie laden yummies.
  • kendrafox
    kendrafox Posts: 111 Member
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    I am also a high school teacher and usually for lunch I pack a turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with Dijon mustard instead of mayo or a PB&J, a snack size baggie of air popped popcorn, and a banana or apple. I usually only take 15 minutes the night before and make my lunch and my sons all at the same time then a few minutes in the morning to get everything from fridge and throw them in the lunch pails.
  • Momieof2girls
    Momieof2girls Posts: 79 Member
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    Wow, you guys are so good!! I always eat a lean pocket for lunch, about 270 cals 5-8 grms of fat. Not the best choice, but with 2 little ones at home, 3 if you include my hubby. ; ) no time to make anything extra it seems.
  • micneg01
    micneg01 Posts: 147 Member
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    I'm also a teacher! I usually try to prepare food on Sunday. For breakfast, I will make a pot of Steel Cut oatmeal and put in the refrigerator in servings. Then in the morning, I just add blueberries and zap in the microwave.

    On Sunday, I also prepackage my veggies, etc. and make my bread. The bread usually lasts two weeks so I only have to make it twice a month.

    For lunch, I will have either soup or a sandwich. On my sandwich I put a cup of spinach and some cucumbers and then either chicken, turkey, or tuna. With tuna and canned chicken chunks, I add Miracle Whip, otherwise I put mustard or eat it dry. I will try to pack bananas, apples, oranges or some type of fruit everyday. I will also pack a baggie of carrots or cucumbers and also some yogurt

    I find the more veggies (like spinach) that I eat, the less hungry I am. It was hard at first but now it is second nature.

    Also, I keep almonds and a can of soup in my desk just in case!

    Hope this helps,

    Michelle
  • emmyvera
    emmyvera Posts: 599 Member
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    I do lighter lunches. If I eat too much sometimes, it makes me a little tired. :yawn:

    I usually pack a small portion of leftover from the night before. I also like taking salads and once a week or so I go to the local deli and get a turkey sandwich on wheat bread. Oh, once I did brown rice for a week. That was nice. I made it up in advance. Then just added random things from the fridge with the rice for lunch.
  • Katieladie40
    Katieladie40 Posts: 45
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    Im a high school student and our school lunches are horrible. So i normally pack and 80 cal yogurt, pineapple chunks, tomatoes, cucumbers, banana, apple, and once in a while some cheddar popcorn as a treat. For me lunch is boring. I always find that if i have alot of little things to munch on during the half hour I can normally stay in my calorie range for the day and feel full.
  • NKF92879
    NKF92879 Posts: 601 Member
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    Honestly, I usually pack leftovers. I just bring a smaller portion if it's something high calorie. Once a week we order Subway, and I find it easy to choose something healthy.
  • Quiing
    Quiing Posts: 261 Member
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    I usually make a salad with tuna and baby spinach with italian dressing, or I might make a quick stir-fry with broccoli, mushroom, and chicken/shrimp.
  • twoscimitars
    twoscimitars Posts: 272 Member
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    I make a big ol' salad. :) I vary the ingredients so it doesn't get boring. Today, I used 3 cups of salad mix, then added imitation crab, fat free mild cheddar, banana peppers and chick peas. :) Some days I add chicken, or ham, or tuna. It's super-filling and has lots of different flavors.
  • kazpixie
    kazpixie Posts: 20
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    I'm not a teacher but I don't have long for lunch and there aren't that many lunch on the go places near me that help much with the diet.

    My staple is sweet potato (in the microwave - 6 minutes) with cherry tomatoes and sliced chorizo and then an apple for lunch desert. It's really filling, gives me enough energy for my crazy evening workouts and has loads of vitamins in :)
  • jody664
    jody664 Posts: 397 Member
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    I pack breakfast and lunch. (I have trouble eating too soon after waking up......I'm always slightly naseous in the morning.)

    Breakfast:
    One 6-oz container of yogurt
    A piece of fruit (banana or apple)
    Pkt of oatmeal

    Lunch:
    Leftovers
    A piece of fruit (apple or banana)
    Sometimes veggies (baby carrots, snow peas)

    Snack:
    Small amount of Nilla Wafers, lemon wafers or ginger snaps

    or

    "100 calorie" packs

    or

    almonds
  • shaylynnshops
    shaylynnshops Posts: 1
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    Today my lunch was 403 calories. I had a Hungry Girl traditional white FlatOut (found them at Wal-Mart), filled it with 2 oz of Jennie-O turkey from the deli (at Wal-Mart also), 1.5 of Cyrstal Farms 2% mozzarella string cheese, cucumber, tomato, white onion and I used 1/2 avocado for a spread. I also had 1 small yellow squash, sliced thin and microwaved for 2 minutes with a little water. I sprinked Mrs. Dash (spicy) on it for some additional flavor. 39 carbs, 12 fat, 35 protein and 8 fiber. The sodium today was too high, it came in at 1189. I won't do this for lunch every day since the sodium was ridic, but it was very good and very filling.

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