Lunches to pack for work

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NelsonKatelyn
NelsonKatelyn Posts: 120 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm stuck in a rut with my lunches. I usually take a sandwich orsalad, and some fruit on the side. There's a cafeteria where I work that has horrible choices, so I really need ideas for something quick to put together so I don't have to resort to that. Anyideas would be greatly appreciated!

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  • mfaas2610
    mfaas2610 Posts: 1
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    I've been taking greek yogurt, a peach and a fiber bar. Its not exciting but it satisfies my hunger until I get home. I'm also a big proponent of home made vegetable soup. When I find something that is healthy and I like I try to keep with it as long as I can. When I have to think about something new to bring everyday I start to make bad choices.
  • taramaureen
    taramaureen Posts: 569 Member
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    I pack nuts, carrots and greek yogurt for my snacks then for lunch I either have a salad, veggie soup, or a frozen "dinner".
  • EliRob
    EliRob Posts: 53 Member
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    I vary my salads: blackened chicken caesar, chef salad, and the like. I also bring wraps: turkey wraps, tuna wraps – loaded with tons of veggies! I also vary my fruits. Last week I had bananas, this week I have sweet clementine’s, next week plums? Who knows!? The sky is the limit on choices :) Add a yogurt or keebler 100 calorie snack and lunch is made! I also pack an extra snack just in case – like string cheese or apple sauce. Sometimes I get the munchies so having something healthy on hand saves me from going to the vending machine :)
  • KyliAnne26
    KyliAnne26 Posts: 209 Member
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    I'm someone who is incapable of sticking to healthy eating if it means eating the same thing day after day. I end up caving, not because I'm hungry, but because I'm so bored!

    We like carrots (or any veggie, really) and hummus. Low fat cottage cheese and grapes. Hard boiled eggs (I just eat the whites). Celery and regular or reduced fat peanut butter. I love making bean and veggies salads - (theres tons of recipes on allrecipes.com) because they're lowfat but very filling. If you like spicy stuff you should google a Texas Caviar recipe, it's a wonderful bean salad with jalapeno in it - we make a big batch and eat it by itself or as a side all week because it's so healthy and yummy.

    Also, cooking for two, we usually have lots of dinner left overs which work out great. For example, if you pre-cook turkey burgers or veggie black bean burgers the night before (Morningstar has a spicy chipotle black bean burger that's delish) then just re-heat at work with a slice of low-fat cheese on a skinny bun, or even by itself. Also quinoa is a really yummy, low fat source of protein that can help you stay full and can be eaten hot or cold (Near East is my favorite brand of quinoa).

    Amy's brand organic spicy chili is very good (Can you tell we like spicy stuff?), my man and I can split a can for lunch because it's also very filling. I liked someone elses post about homemade vegetable soup - you could make a big batch and divide it up into servings and eat throughout the week.

    Anyway, hope these ideas help!
  • fay_pigu
    fay_pigu Posts: 125 Member
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    pitta, lettuce, tomato, cucumber with meat of choice. Take 1/2 lemon or lime and squeeze over before eating.

    Carrot batons (stcks) with salsa.

    mix it up? a small sandwich and salad, with fruit after.
  • kristinrayerootes
    kristinrayerootes Posts: 21 Member
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    One of my favorites is strawberry and spinach salad with a raspberry vinaigrette. I make quite a huge one and put it in an extra large Ziploc storage container. There is less than 150 calories in it, but it keeps me full for quite a while.
  • MyOwnSunshine
    MyOwnSunshine Posts: 1,312 Member
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    I frequently take leftovers -- when I'm cleaning up after dinner, I put the leftovers in one-portion-size gladware that are ready to throw in my lunch bag.

    I also fill up baggies with baby carrots and portion out hummus into small gladwares for the week to take as a snack.

    Greek yogurt, fruit, raw veggies with dip, turkey and cheese roll-ups, Madras Lentils (buy at Costco), chili dog bowls (all beef hotdog with canned or homemade chili and cheese over it), taco bowls (taco meat and cheese in one container; lettuce, tomatoes, olives in another; or buy the salad stuff in the cafeteria and add your own taco meat and cheese).

    On Sunday night, I try to pre-package as much stuff as I can for my lunches, so they're easy to throw together in the mornings. A few times a week, I cook things that yield a lot of leftovers so I have lunch stuff. I have quite a few go-to things that I eat over and over, which makes tracking and calorie planning quite easy.
  • Chryskk
    Chryskk Posts: 22 Member
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    Instead of sandwiches, I usually take a wraps. Tortillas come in all kinds of flavors and they have the same calories as bread, so it's easy to add variety to lunches. I also alternate between lettuce and spinach salads. Quaker makes 100 calorie mini rice cake snack packs in lots of flavors for healthy snacks.
  • strongnotskinny121
    strongnotskinny121 Posts: 329 Member
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    I make a big pot of something on Sunday night and split it into 5 tupperware containers. You can do less if you don't like eating the same thing everyday. I would do a pasta salads or wraps.

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