I switched jobs recently and really need to learn how to eat healthy lunches as well. I don't know if it is a good idea or not but I just started drinking iced tea instead of mt dew. I get the sugary sweet stuff then water it down like 50/50.
I switched jobs recently and really need to learn how to eat healthy lunches as well. I don't know if it is a good idea or not but I just started drinking iced tea instead of mt dew. I get the sugary sweet stuff then water it down like 50/50.
We eat home cooked locally sourced organic or natural foods at all costs. At the end of the meals, I scrape off the dishes and the kids plates into something I can take to work. I make myself something maybe once every two weeks. The rest, I take leftover chicken or beef to make a sandwich, take leftover beans as a side (wife and Tunakid #2 made baked beans from scratch and they were delicious). Today I even have a homemade sweet potato pie (very little sugar, lots of deliciousness) for dessert.
So, take less food at dinner, shove it into a bag and take it to work. It's cheaper, too.
Fruit salads, especially this time of year. Watermelon, cantelope, honeydew, grapes, strawberries, blue berries etc. Won't bog ya down. Also snacks of carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, scallions w/ dip.
Cold water instead of pop. Freeze a plastic bottle full night before, drink mixes optional.
We BBQ and make larger dishes on weekends, then we have leftovers for lunches etc.
Replace the sandwich with a chicken salad. Dice chicken, add Curry, raisins, walnuts, mayo, done.
Tupperware full of chicken and lettuce, add salad dressing at lunch. A diversity of croutons or crunchy noodle things help.
Tuna in a tupperware. Add cherry tomatoes, blocks of cheese, baby carrots or snow peas.
Egg salad? Don't forget to add diced bacon.
Cut up brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, cheese, pepperoni and hose it down with Italian dressing the night before. Let it soak.
One quick tip: I leave the house at 5:30 am, the last thing I want to see is a bologna sandwich. I make lunches the night before when the kitchen is already a mess from dinner.
Dan
What are cheap, filling, asian lunches? I love me some ramen but not sure if all that sodium is good for me.
Asian: Find a sauce(s) that you like. Broccoli, cubed chicken, rice, etc flavored by said sauce, microwave - done.
nitraite / nitrate free lunch meat is out there, just read the label.
Thin sliced bread is a help as mentioned before, try a dark rye for flavor.
Water, water and more water. Just like at the race track.
Eat salads and fruits. Veggies too but try to do without the breading if possible. Unfortunately I have to eat some fried okra and cornbread periodically. The fried green and yellow tomatoes have recently been calling my name.
It is impossible to eat out and eat healthy. I try to eat out in local restaurants for lunch 2 days a week to see and be seen and eat in on the other days. I do dislike my office smelling of cooked foods so I tend towards homemade salads and fruit cups.
I delayed BP meds for long time just on the above diet and even now am on very low dose. YMMV
Beware the "light" yogurt, and anything that has "light" in the name. Most of these products are sweetened with aspartame or sucralose, with nothing to give them away but the ingredient list. Many times these products are marketed as being more healthful, but the evidence against artificial sweeteners is pretty well documented.
My kids can handle Coke Zero type products. My wife and I can't. Otherwise, don't over look 100-calore bread "thins"
Sometimes expensive, but otherwise good.
DoctorBlade wrote: My kids can handle Coke Zero type products. My wife and I can't. Otherwise, don't over look 100-calore bread "thins"
Bad news: My wife buys that crap and I can't stand it. Disgusting. Good news: I just eat my cheeseburger sans-bun. It's the ultimate zero calorie option! 
I stopped eating bread a couple of years ago (except when in Europe, good lord they do know how to bake bread there!) and feel much better for it. Lunch is a challenge though. Lots of interesting salads - I use shredded coleslaw mix with just about anything you can think of thrown in: avocado, chopped yams or parsnips, chicken or tuna, quinoa, olive oil. I tend to stay away from any and all packaged stuff since there are so many additives.
PHeller wrote: What are cheap, filling, asian lunches? I love me some ramen but not sure if all that sodium is good for me.
The noodles themselves aren't so bad, it's the flavor pack that does it. One thing I used to do is cook the noodles beforehand, and put them in a plastic sandwich bag so that they don't dry out. On my day off, I'd make a large amount of soup stock (Japanese dashi is my favorite). I had a separate container for the liquid, on the way out I'd pour some of the stock into it and add leftover chicken meat & tofu. Drop the noodles in at work, shove in the microwave for a few seconds, and you've got noodle soup. Making dashi:
http://japanesefood.about.com/od/soup/r/konbukatsudashi.htm
The most filling thing of all is Japanese rice balls (onigiri). Exactly what it sounds like, asian sticky rice with a small filling in the middle. You can add a little more flavor by mixing in some bonito flakes or sesame seeds with the rice. For a filling, I like using japanese pickles, or canned tuna with some shiracha sauce in it.
Here is cute girl of Asian heritage with demonstration of instructions!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai2IYOPvJ-Q
Making you own iced/cold tea is easy. Fill a pitcher with hot water, add tea bags as desired, 10 works well. Let it stand for a while then put in the fridge to cool. Learn to drink it with out sweeteners. add a little lemon juice if desired. QED
DoctorBlade wrote: My kids can handle Coke Zero type products. My wife and I can't. Otherwise, don't over look 100-calore bread "thins"
I get these instead
iceracer wrote: Making you own iced/cold tea is easy. Fill a pitcher with hot water, add tea bags as desired, 10 works well. Let it stand for a while then put in the fridge to cool. Learn to drink it with out sweeteners. add a little lemon juice if desired. QED
Or use flavored tea. It's more expensive than Lipton, but still more affordable than premise.
The best sandwich I have made lately was a wrap. One tortilla was about equal to two sliced of bread in calories. I stuffed it with sautéed chicken breast, a ton of lettuce, mustard, avocado, cucumber, and cheese. Very good.
Sine I've changed up my lunch (and really all my food intake) to what the majority of people here have mentioned I've lost 14lbs, in about four weeks, not even really trying to lose weight. I'm eating a lot more than I used to but now it's mainly fruits and veggies. I have more energy and feel more focused as well.
Listen to these people because they speak the truth.
Started a few weeks ago, cut out milk gone to almond milk, reduce the carbs, eat every 2hrs, protein with every meal. I am at 280 and aim for 230 pounds. Eating well takes time to prep food.
It doesn t take that much extra but have to be careful.
There are pre-packed lunch meats without nitrates etc. This is often boasted on the label.
If you want something fast and easy for the times when you don't have something healthy already made, check out lean cuisine. The food is good numbers are exceptional for packaged foods. Follow it up with some fruit for desert.
Lately I've been taking a giant family sized salad bowl and throwing a fist full of baby spinach, shredded cheese, hard boiled egg slices, raisins, nuts, and some kind of meat... either chicken, salmon or good deli meat (I buy Boarshead roasted turkey or black forest ham when I can), mushrooms, broccoli, carrots... whatever raw stuff I happen to have. Squirt a little ranch in and use cheezits/wasabi peas/chick peas or whatever for croutons.
It's like a 500-700 calorie "not too bad for you" meal that doesn't lay like lead in your guts or put you to sleep.
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