Help-Food/lunches
 

Overall, I've been doing this healthy thing since August. I'm getting so bored with everything I eat. I just don't know what to do anymore and I dread eating. That's why I was totally off plan for the last month. How can I get motivated to eat healthy again? And spice these healthy meals up?

Also, I am a YMCA group leader. I'm going to be a counselor at camp which means I need to bring a lunch that doesn't require a fridge/microwave. How can I pack the most nutritious lunch possible?

My lunch last summer consisted of a South beach diet lunchable sort of thing, some ships, apple sauce, and a few other things. When I've had to work all day since being on this lifestyle, I've packed a cold cuts sandwich, sensible foods organic apple crisp, apple sauce, white cheddar popcorn, yogurt cheese stick, cheese wedge and crackers, soy nuts, sometimes 0 pt WW soup, and a few other things. I never ate all of it but it was nice to have something in case I'm ravenous or want a lower point option than at work. Last year, the days were so tough and hard that I was hungry sooo much because of the extra running/walking/etc. That's why I take a big lunch now even if I don't eat it.

Either way, I am at a food quandary.

By the way, I'm on WW but I figured I'd get more diverse answers/help here. I most eat alot of broccoli and fish. I like things quick and easy. I love low points too.

I have to pack both lunch and dinner for work, and don't always have access to a microwave. I have a huge lunch bag that I stuff full of things to eat, and co-workers sometimes laugh at how big it is!

Some of my favorite things to pack are enormous salads with tons of things thrown into it, chicken (which I cook beforehand and eat cold with spicy mustard or bbq sauce), mini-pita's with hummus or salsa, tuna, bagels, raw veggies with some dressing, and even beef jerky on rare occasion.

I don't know if any of this would fit on your eating plan, though, since I don't know anything about points or WW.

Go to the Farmers Market if you can find one locally. The stuff you can buy there, fresh and in season, will inspire you to find new ways to prepare things. Or just get whats in season at the grocery store.

Often my lunches are steamed or roasted vegetables. A big bowl of lima beans and ham, or a baked acorn squash or sweet potato, or some greens. Yummy.

Raw veggies cut up and ready to eat: pepper strips, radishes, compari/cherry/grape tomatoes, snowpeas, celery, carrots, cucumber,

Raw fruit, ready to eat: cantaloupe, berries, apple slices (dip in diluted lemon juice, fit back together as a whole apple and wrap in foil or plastic wrap), grapes, banana, grapefruit

cottage cheese with a fruit or raw veggie side
Cooked pieces of lean meat:chicken strips or cubes, beef, pork, shrimp

kabobs with raw veggies and cooked lean meats

Almonds, pistachios,

Rolled lean sandwich meat with low fat cheese

Gazpacho (cold soup made with tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers & other veggies)

Can of V8

Salads - all kinds of salads
Bean salads
Cauliflower salad (make your favorite potato salad recipe with cooked and chilled cauliflower instead. Sub a low calorie dressing for mayo)
Broccoli salad
Finger salad (veggie pieces sized to pick up with your fingers)
Lettuce based salads with lots of raw veggies and some cold protein
Don't forget beans go well on salads, not just garbanzos, whatever your favorite is. Sprinkle a few nuts on top.

Leftovers. Lots of things normally eaten warm can also be good cold.
Any leftover cooked vegetables can be good cold on a salad or with just a drizzle of your favorite low-calorie dressing
A leftover cooked sweet potato can be cut into rounds and served cold.

Yogurt
Yogurt or cottage cheese topped with a quarter to half serving of cereal (Uncle Sam, Kashi Go Lean)

Hard boiled egg.

Wrap-type sandwich made with whole wheat tortilla.

Dill pickle

Keep two refreezable blue ice packs in your insulated lunch bag or small cooler and trade them out to keep your food cold. Pack real cutlery (not your good stuff) if it's not available at your camp and a small tray or plate. Have a cloth napkin, damp handi-wipe or nice paper napkins - even small travel salt & pepper shakers. It's amazing how little things can make your lunch special.

Webrover, those are EXCELLENT ideas, especially with pepper slices(never thought of it), apple and napkins. It's not like I can exactly go to the bathroom to wash before hand. I know I got sick last year because of it. :(