Do you pack a lunch?

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  • sara1923
    sara1923 Posts: 53
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    Yep same.. take a food prep day.. portion everything out. I will literally have 3 different marinades/seasonings for chicken and then usually make rice/veggies to go with. My lazy meals are baked potatoes with salsa. I also like bringing sweet potatoes for lunch. Soups/salads. Yogurt with . cottage cheese. My diaries are public. I pack my lunch everyday but as a forewarning I had upped my calories to try to get over a plateau so you might get sick of reading :)
  • monicaroozo
    monicaroozo Posts: 200
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    I like to make variations of the same thing. Lots of the ingredients are repeats so its easy to shop for & plan a week. All of these lunches are between 350-400 calories:

    Salads - I like to mix lettuces & spinach and add the following ingredients to them.:

    1. Sliced almonds, light feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, & dried cranberries
    2. Sliced almonds, light feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, & sliced granny smith apple
    3. Light mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and either chicken or steak (cooked from the dinner before)
    4. Morning star veggie burger (can microwave and break up on top of salad), salsa
    5. "Summer salad" made with cucumbers & tomatoes instead of lettuce (can use toppings listed above)


    Open face sandwhiches (which I make with light bread):

    1. Tuna, light mayo, chopped celery, laughing cow cheese
    2. PB2 (powdered peanutbutter), sliced banana or sliced granny smith apple
    3. Sliced deli meats, veggies, light mayo or laughing cow cheese
    4. Homemade pizza slice (can make with less & light cheese and healthier toppings for 300 cals a slice)

    Snacks:
    Clementines, granny smith apples with PB2 or laughing cow cheese, bananas, nuts, tazo teas, sparkling water, greek yogurt, berries, pineapple chunks, unsweetened apple sauce, veggies with hummus
  • monicaroozo
    monicaroozo Posts: 200
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    Also, you can do crock pot recipes at the beginning of the week... like a chili... but it kills me to eat that all week long.... haha
  • UpToTheChallenge
    UpToTheChallenge Posts: 247
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    I usually just make extra dinner from the night before and pack it for dinner. If not, I usually make chicken and salad or chicken and rice or soemthing along those lines. Something I can throw in the oven and get some school work done. It reheats nicely the next day.
  • NovemberJune
    NovemberJune Posts: 2,525 Member
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    I bring my lunch almost everyday and it's usually leftovers. Or I make a big pot of something just for work. So over the weekend I made a big thing of bean chili and split it into 7 servings, put half in the freezer for in a couple of weeks and half to eat this week.
  • buzzcogs
    buzzcogs Posts: 296 Member
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    can of soup (if you have a microwave). Leftovers from the night before, boiled eggs, boiled egg sliced in a tuna pack (really yummy and really high in protein), crackers, cheese, and sliced tomatos, hummus and veggies for dipping. Granola, blueberries, and greek yoghurt (more like a dessert!)
    I tend to be a sort of "boring, same" person so I often end up eating the same thing everyday and liking it! ;-)
  • maieranne77
    maieranne77 Posts: 191 Member
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    If there are no leftovers from dinner I sometimes will take some chicken breast and mix it in with cottage cheese, avocado and tomato.
    OR
    Canned Tuna with corn, cottage cheese and tomato

    These are two of my go to lunches.
  • blgerig
    blgerig Posts: 174 Member
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    Here are my standbys for lunch:

    Soup (sometimes with a side of veggies or crackers and cheese)
    Cottage cheese or hummus with a side of veggies and pita chips
    Beans! Find they fill me up well - black beans and salsa with a half serving of tortilla chips or half a container of chick peas with frozen veggies
    Leftovers

    I find if I get fruits and veggies prepped (clean, cut, individually portioned) at the beginning of the week I am MUCH better about eating them all week long. I am also one of those people who will eat the same thing for weeks at a time if it sounds good, if you look at my diary I get on kicks of eating the same breakfast or same lunch for several days in a row sometimes lol.
  • Il_DaniD_lI
    Il_DaniD_lI Posts: 1,593 Member
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    I always pack my lunches. Sandwhich, turkey wrap, soup, salad, grilled cheese from the cafeteria (sometimes). Those started getting really boring so I sometimes will make extra supper in the evening so I have left overs for work.
  • majordlite
    majordlite Posts: 266 Member
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    I make a large bean burrito that has less than 200 calories. I take a La Tortilla factory whole wheat or white tortilla (100), spread on 1/2 cup of fat-free refried beans (23), 2 tbsp shredded 2% colby cheese (40), 2 tbsp of chunky salsa (10), and 1 tbsp light sour cream (20), for a total of 193 calories. You can also add lettuce and tomatoes for less than 10 calories. It totally fills me up.
  • MandaJean83
    MandaJean83 Posts: 677 Member
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    I love the Amy's brand organic burritos. They are huge, relatively healthy, and taste delicious! :smile:
  • kpwatson
    kpwatson Posts: 60 Member
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    I keep starkist tuna packed in water pouches and keebler multigrain crakers at work to grab. I also keep a few low cal progresso soups around, but not many as they contain quite a bit of sodium. I usually add raw veggies or fruit like an apple or pear. the large amt of protein keeps me fuller.
  • kpwatson
    kpwatson Posts: 60 Member
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    yum!

    Meant for the 193 calorie bean burrito.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,967 Member
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    I'm no help. I bring a sandwich every. single. day.

    It's getting old.

    Although I've recently switched from turkey to pb&j lol
  • 10KEyes
    10KEyes Posts: 250 Member
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    I bring my lunch with me everyday to work, I've noticed I bring quick things that are high in calories and all of that. I'm sick of eating a sandwich everyday, it get's old!

    Does anyone have any ideas on what I could bring for lunch that is easy to make and not high in calories, yet filling?

    I bring my lunch from home as well, every day. Usually, I use left over food from dinner and add other things if it is a little short.

    Today's line up (I am sure higher calorie than you are looking for):

    4oz of baked wild salmon
    about .5 cup of green beans
    1 med sized banana
    1 medium avocado - Guacamole (garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, chopped onion and a dash of salt)
    1 oz mixed nuts

    I usually take left overs as my wife will make a little extra for me to take. Some times I will freeze left overs if there is much, to use at a later date for lunch. Really I just kind of throw stuff together.

    If I don't have anything to bring, it is my intermittent fasting day, so lunch gets skipped. LOL
  • 19danno77
    19danno77 Posts: 84
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    SMALL portions of dinner leftovers...or as my 2 year old told me once: rightovers. Soups. Slice and a half of pizza is ~400 calories. Sandwiches are tough to beat though...and they can be almost anything. Expand the definition of a sandwich...have you tried the PB&J with nuts and/or chocolate chips? Or sliced bananas? I literally could eat those for every meal. Lot's of meat/bean/grain leftovers can go on a bed of greens with some nuts/seeds + cheese for a good salad with a vinagrette. Keep avacados, a bag of nuts in the freezer, frozen corn, shredded carrots, diced peppers and onions to church up everything from soups to sandwiches, to frozen pizzas to stir fries.

    Something else I've done more of lately is taking any old hot leftover and throwing some leaf spinach in with it and heat them up together sneaking some low-flavor/texture-impact nutrients in anything. Cooked greens aren't what I thought they'd be and they work out well for me.
  • manderann
    manderann Posts: 189
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    Most days I try to have leftovers from the night before. Maybe it's just because I'm a single mom, but I think it would be pain to try to cook dinner and still have to whip something up for lunch, or worse yet, trying to put something together before work in the morning. Knowing that I can't chow down everything that night because I need a lunch the following day helps keep my dinner portion size under control, too. The rest of my lunch typically consists of fresh fruits and veggies, string cheese, yogurt, nuts and crackers. I also keep soup in my desk drawer at work, so that I'm not tempted to hit the drive thru if I forget to pack a lunch one day.
  • 10KEyes
    10KEyes Posts: 250 Member
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    When in a crunch, I'll make a quick tuna or chicken salad. Eat it with a fork (heated sometimes, even), or put over a salad. (I'm gluten intolerant, so I don't do the bread anyways)

    I'll also make bacon/sausage/boiled eggs ahead, so I can just grab breakfast on days I'm not up in time to make something. It's all about planning ahead! :flowerforyou:

    I usually keep a carton of hard boiled eggs for breakfast with some fresh slices of tomato and cucumber. Sometimes I will alternate and saute onions and peppers and scramble a couple of eggs for breakfast. Depends on time. Weekends I almost always make scrambled eggs, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and either bacon or sausage for the family.
  • shar140
    shar140 Posts: 1,158 Member
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    I bring my lunch with me everyday to work, I've noticed I bring quick things that are high in calories and all of that. I'm sick of eating a sandwich everyday, it get's old!

    Does anyone have any ideas on what I could bring for lunch that is easy to make and not high in calories, yet filling?

    I bring my lunch from home as well, every day. Usually, I use left over food from dinner and add other things if it is a little short.

    Today's line up (I am sure higher calorie than you are looking for):

    4oz of baked wild salmon
    about .5 cup of green beans
    1 med sized banana
    1 medium avocado - Guacamole (garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper, chopped onion and a dash of salt)
    1 oz mixed nuts

    I usually take left overs as my wife will make a little extra for me to take. Some times I will freeze left overs if there is much, to use at a later date for lunch. Really I just kind of throw stuff together.

    If I don't have anything to bring, it is my intermittent fasting day, so lunch gets skipped. LOL

    I actually used to make my own frozen dinners, when I lived alone. I'd make 3-4 servings at dinner, then save some for lunches, and freeze the rest, already-portioned. I'd get tired of the same thing after a couple times!
  • RillSoji
    RillSoji Posts: 376 Member
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    You're welcome to my lunch box ideas... I've just started doing them again. ^_^ I've found that variety is an awesome way to not get bored.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/RillSoji

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