I've been trying hard to eat well. For the last few months I've been eating a big salad for lunch with some shredded lunch meat or tuna or whatever and croutons. It may not be that fat free but I love it.
Anyway I believe it's interfering with my medication so I may have to switch it up a bit.
Big salads of varying types.
Sandwiches with deli meat and mustard with a side of carrots or a piece of fruit.
Soups or stews.
Leftovers from dinners past.
Simple things that will keep, or can be easily reheated. I like lunch to be as "effortless" as possible.
I like variety. My favorites are:
turkey sub on wheat (and throw out half the bread) with lettuce and mustard
tuna fish sandwich on whole grain (1 pc) with small side salad or carrots
large salad with berries and walnuts with raspberry vinegarette dressing
leftovers from dinner
I am completely in love with Green Giant Healthy Vision frozen veggies. Soooo yummy! (one package has 2 servings at 45 cal each) And I usually cut up a fresh tomato & cucumber to eat along side of it, and a piece of low-cal cheese, and occasionally when I feel the need for some protein, I have a piece of turkey or chicken.... A piece of fruit (lately I'm stuck on nectarines!) rounds it all out.
Then, if I want, I may have a 100-cal pack of Fudge stripe cookies!
Since I have been home, my lunches have suffered. Where I work I take my lunch break at a coffee shop about six or seven blocks away, and in 105 degree heat the walk drains me of any and all desire to eat. As such stomaching anything more than iced coffee has become something of an art.
However, on days off I try to eat smaller versions of things I do/would eat for dinner: turkey or veggie burgers, big giant salads, black beans with any number of things to go with them, soups if for some reason I'm feeling chilly, frozen meals if we have any (although I am often wary of their sodium content), and when I go out to eat I usually try and stick to a salad with the dressing on the side and grilled chicken. Oh and lots and lots of fruit!!!
chicken salad.
and more chicken salad.
i find its the only thing i can eat so i dont binge later.
theres a cute salad bar near my work so i usually take a walk tehre and they give us a paper menu and we check off what we want on it. fruits, salad and chicken in one meal, im a happy camper!
I try to eat a really big salad with tomatoes, cucumber and carrots. Quite often I will thrown on some black beans, chick peas, or cubed chicken that I poach. I try to avoid deli meats as I'm on such a sodium restricted diet. And often I will have a small slice of low fat cheese.
I eat a lot of small things. I'm not big on sandwiches and get burnt out on salalds easily. I'm also not big on eating a big meal mid-day and prefer to snack all day. It's not unusual for me to eat something like (acutally my plan for today):
Yogurt
Sliced orange bell peppers
Some strawberries
Few rice cake chips
-Also hummus and whole wheat pita or left over dinner from the night before or if I'm feeling it, some frozen, prepackaged dinner like a smart one although I'm not a huge fan of pre-packaged stuff. My lunches tend to be small because I do eat a snack between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner.
My favorite thing is a yummy salad. But-I HATE fat free dressing. So, I make my own with fat free sour cream and a ranch seasoning packet. It tastes so much better, and is low in calories (only 25 cals in 2 tbls)!
So, I put lettuce, mushrooms, cucumbers, celery, a tiny tiny bit of fat free cheese, chicken strips, and 10 gold fish crackers for an added crunch. I think I added all the calories up to about 180-and most of the cals are from the chicken.
I would say about half of the time I eat a ceasar salad with grilled chicken -- I make it myself and leave out the bacon . Otherwise it's normally leftovers or a sandwich on low cal bread with some veggie sticks or a piece of fruit. If we are going out for lunch I try to find some version of salad with chicken to eat.