I have the basic 8-5 job, sit at a desk ALL DAY, and etc... I dont eat lunch unless I start bringing something because the closest thing away is still pretty far, and its costing me alot to just go and get food like that when I need to just go grocery shopping. We also have those not so healthy vending machines which ive been living out of. Ive brought some 100 calorie snack packs with me before but Im still hungry. At work I tend to not eat at all and not be hungry or eat every 5 minutes.

I just want to get the general idea of what everyone tends to bring to work. Do you bring your food for the whole day?? DO you usually just bring lunch?? And What do you bring??

Also if anyone has any lunch ideas that dont necesarily have to be in the fridge or microwaved???

I don't work but I go to school full time and I always bring my food with me. I don't have a fridge at school so I bring an insulated lunch bag with an ice pack in it. Here are some suggestions:
* Lunch meat sandwiches - I get healthy choich ham or chicken, add a slice of fat free american cheese, mustard, on whole wheat bread.
* Chicken Salad Sandwich - I make chicken breast in the crock pot, sherd it, add light mircale whip, celery, onion and put it on whole wheat bread.
* Egg sandwich - scamble and egg or egg beater add a slice of fat free cheese and put it on whole wheat bread.
* If I have leftover stir fry I'll put it in a wrap and have that.
* Leftovers if you don't mind eating them cold. An example is if I have rice left over I'll add veggies and and maybe chicken if I have it and then some shreaded cheese.

Normally I will have either a piece of fruit or some veggies (like celery sticks and baby carrots) and either yorgut or a sugar free pudding.

100 calorie snack packs, vending machine, or nothing at all? Sounds like you’re in desperate need of a nutritional overhaul!

I leave my house with breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks every day. For breakfast I usually have Kashi GoLean cerial with soymilk and a piece of fruit. Lunch is usually a salad and either leftovers from dinner or a sandwich. For snacks I like fruit, carrot sticks, Wasa or RyKrisp crackers with hummus, l-f baked tortilla chips and salsa, or some of my healthy home baked treats.

Whatever you do, find a way to get some healthy fuel into your body during the day. You need it!

This is my favorite site for creative lunch ideas: The Vegan Lunchbox

I work anywhere from 7 or 8 AM until 3 or as late as 6 PM. I sit at a desk ALL day and dream of taking a walk....too hot here right now, though.

Every day, I bring a tupperware container with about 1/3 cup each of blueberries, strawberries and raspberries (for my morning snack)

For lunch, I have a baggie full of baby carrots, cut up celery and sugar snap peas (I keep salt at my desk--I don't use dip)
I bring fruit also (lately 1 cup cherries)

Some days I bring yogurt. Some days I bring 6 Triscuits and 1 wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. On occasion I'll have a protein bar.

I keep an emergency stash of canned, ready to eat soup.

Every once in a while I'll leave all that home and bring leftovers from the previous night's dinner (but it's rare that we have leftovers).

That's lunch 4 days per week (Fridays I go out with DH for lunch). I cannot imagine sitting all day and not eating. I don't have a vending machine (thankfully) so if I don't bring it, I don't get to eat. It's too far (and too hot) to run out to buy anything.

I find that if I package everything up on Sunday (it takes less than 20 minutes), then all I have to do is grab each tupperware and baggie and put it in my sack with a bottle of water (which I refill all day long). It's so easy!

I eat breakfast at home and take lunch plus two snacks with me to work. If you can't eat that early you could take cereal and single servings of milk (ff or soy.) I work 10 hour shifts (4 days per week) 7am to 5:30pm.

For snacks I bring:
Fruit
Crackers & low-fat cheese
Small portions of leftovers
Small ww tortilla or celery with low-sodium PB
Carrots sticks & Hummus
Cliff nectar bars or Lara bars (occasionally)
High protein pretzels

For lunch:
Various Sandwiches (PB & J/turkey/cheese/veggie & hummus and always on ww hf bread)
Salads (make sure to add a protein) with vinegarette dressing
Leftovers (I like them room temp)

I have a great lunch box that has a chill pack in it. Everything stays fresh until lunch. I think it's called fit & fresh. It's rectangular with two small containers that fit inside, plus the chill pack (the top is purple.) I think I picked it up at Bed, Bath, & Beyond for less than $10. You could probably find it online too or something similar.

I have a microwave phobia so I rarely use one. We have a full kitchen here at work and I never use it. We don't really have any vending machines other than for soda, but there is always junk food lying around. I find bringing my own food helps me say "no, thank you."

I bring a salad with cauliflower, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, cukes, baby carrots, peppers, whatever other veg I have around. If you clean your veggies in advance, it takes less than a minute in the morning to tear up a few pieces of lettuce, break off some flowerets of cauli or broc, and grab some carrots or tomatoes from the package.

To this, I add some sort of protein: leftover chicken, tofu, hard-boiled eggs, even deli meats although these are usually really salty & high in nitrites. I don't worry about refrigerating it.

I keep a 2 oz. bottle of olive oil & balsamic vinegar mix at work to use as a dressing, although I often just eat the veggies as finger food and don't worry about the dressing.

Throw in a piece of fruit, and it's lunch.

Other ideas:
- nut butter sandwiches, as long as you go light on the nut butter and use whole wheat bread or crackers
- a "grain" salad, like tabbouleh made with quinoa
- garbanzo beans
- an egg salad kit: hard-boiled eggs and a packet of mayo (if you don't have a fridge & are worried about warm mayo)
- recently, red cabbage salad made with red cabbage, olive oil, and vinegar. (Some people like apple in theirs, too, but I'm a purist.)
- and, of course, leftovers

I started this weight loss journey in a similar way. I used to eat from the vending machine for many lunches/snacks... or I ate greasy food. Now I pack a lunch and 2 snacks as well.

That was the first change I made in my lifestyle and it has really worked!!

Yes, it takes time to plan, buy and prep the food -- but I save money overall, and I can't argue with the results!!

Well we have a couple fridges and freezers here so I can bring whatever really. And also luckily there is no vending machines. However, unfortunately there is every possible fast and convenient fattening restaurant directly next to my work. eek! I generally pack breakfast, Lunch, and a couple snacks.

Breakfast- is sometimes a sandwich, or fruit, or even those little instand oatmeal packets and I get hot water from the water cooler machine.

Snacks- granola / health bars, fruit, string cheese

Lunch- salad or sandwich or leftovers... or sometimes I will keep a few lean cuisines in the freezer.

I have my own fridge/freezer microwave in my outer office...no excuses, but there are 2 huge cafeterias packed with 3 different hot entrees, burgers, pizza, soups, salad bar, chix. fingers, etc.....I try to avoid the menu like the plague, because there i lose control....and it's employee pricing so i can get fat very inexpensively.

I bring Kashi TLCs for a snack, some pretzel crisps, low sodium soup at times, a nice salad, starkist tuna creations packets, fresh berries, non-fat yogurt to mix with the fruit, triscuits or a leftover to heat....I bought the smaller glad containers and use them for portion control...also non-fat dressings, good mustard that I keep on hand....(i hate the packet stuff)..If i pack and plan, it's easier to stay on track and give myself a wide variety of food...and if I cook it myself, I know what I did about the fat/oil/etc....lowfat peanut butter is also a good choice because it will fill you up.

vending machines just carry mostly over -processed stuff that doesn't appeal to me, i'm not even tempted...i'd rather splurge on the frozen yogurt machine.

I just went to bed bath and beyond. Thanks zenor77!! I got the fridge to go. I have a fridge at work, but Ive been there for like 2 weeks, and I just dont feel at home yet. So for now, this will have to work.

Do you feel like you munch a little all day long when your at a desk all day?? I just get that feeling of needing to eat every second. I need to bring my water to work too because that coke machine is getting pretty rich with all those diet dr. peppers I keep buying.

Thank you all for the ideas, Im about to head back out to the gocery store. Oh what are your feelings on pre-packaged salads for the grocery store. I dont cook. And they have these big salads at my local walmart already made with all different kinds of stuff on them. I dont use that dressing, I have my special pre-packaged 50c. dressing. Is that why those salads are so bad?? Because the dressings??

These are awesome ideas and I got lots of new tips.

Other things I keep:
small cans of low sodium V8
small whole wheat crackers
whole wheat pretzels
small baggies of nuts (careful on the portion control)

In a fridge or insulated pack:
cut up veggies
ff plain yogurt (tho. lately dairy hasn't been agreeing w/me and I'll probably switch to soy yogurt)
grape tomatos
Laughing Cow wedges

In terms of pre-packaged salads, they are certainly convenient. I rinse them in a colander anyway, in light of the e. coli and other problematic things that have happened.

I bring breakfast, snacks and lunch with me to work.

For breakfast, i pack two egg muffins (mostly just made up of egg whites and cheese), a banana for my mid-morning snack, lunch is usually a peice of chicken breast and some sort of veggie out of a can usually, then a cup of yogurt for my mid-afternoon snack and also a small box of raisins to hold me over till dinner after my gym workout. I cook most of my food for work on sunday so all i have to do is throw is in a dish and toss it into my lunch box before bed and grab it and go. I eat alot of the same things every week, so it makes planning pretty easy. also when healthy choice or lean cruisine meals are on sale and i see the ones i like, i'll stock up on those for a little variety. I eat out very little because i just don't have the money. when i do eat out, i eat out lunch and it's usually boiled shrimp (my boyfriend works at a seafood restraunt and gets me his employee discount...hehehehe.)

We have vending machines at work, but i haven't bought anything out it in i know over 6 months. just not interested i wasting my calories on a bag of chips. Now...if i can get the vending machine lady to STOP giving me free chips out of it, i'd be doing okay. No lie....I have like 5 bags of chips in my desk drawer and 3 bags i took home to my kids last week. she's killing me. I want to eat the chips, but i just haven't worked them into my calories yet. one day....i am going to try these ketchup chips she thinks I wanted. lol. (I think someone else asked me to see if we could get them and now she thinks I wanted them. lol.)