I am trying to count calories and work out again to lose weight - it is the only thing that has worked for me in the past.

What do all of you calorie counters eat for lunch, especially if you eat out? My work has a terrible cafeteria and I hate making lunch every day.

TIA for any suggestions

I make a batch of soup every once and a while, filling and lo cal! I had some gumbo today... I eat wraps a lot, whole wheat tortilla with chicken, sprouts, spinach etc and a little bit of dressing or cheese. Salads are good and you can get them at fast food places too. I wouldn't really recommend trying to eat much else at fast food places (I think the salads are even iffy but it's better than a burger I suppose). I like to spread a Pita with nonfat refried beans, sour cream, cheese etc and make a tostata... There are a lot of things you can make with just a little bit of prep at the beginning of the week!

taco bell spicy chicken soft tacos!!!
any lowfat subway sub...
grilled chicken sandwich
panera soup and salad
grocery store salad bar

i try to avoid dishes with lots of mayonnaise, cheese, creamy dressings, or loads of bread.

I either make a nice healthy sandwhich or take a lean cusine. I need to start changeing things up a bit because Im getting pretty tired of the same things. But it's working for now. Alot of the ideas above sound really good.

If you eat out, there are some healthy choices out there:

~Panera sells fresh fruit cups-a small is 70 calories, and a large is 140, and is one or two servings of fresh, cut up fruit, depending on the size you get. You can also check their nutritional info on some of their salads.

~Pack a lunch for yourself: fresh fruit, salad, cut up veggies with natural peanut butter or hummus spread, yogurt (with ice packs ) and sandwiches all pack well...there are many options!

~A salad with grilled chicken at just about any fast food place-but avoid the croutons and full fat/calorie dressings-ask for the light-and get your nutritional info off their websites.

~Wendy's chili (large or small) is in the 200-350 calorie range depending on the size you order.

LynnA had a good thread yesterday about wraps. I wonder if I can find it.

here it is ...
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86679

I've been in a rut for awhile, I bring a salad to work usually:

Spinach
Grilled, skinless chicken breast (which I bring separately and heat in the microwave before I eat my salad)
Grape tomatoes
Pepper strips
Carrots
Red onions
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup nuts
Balsalmic vinaigrette dressing

It's great and super healthy, but I need to make something else for next week

When I bring my own lunch it's a combination. Today was a tuna sandwich on a whole grain pita, carrots, and cottage cheese and some whole grain crackers. Total: 385 calories.

Sometimes I swap out yogurt for the cottage cheese. Sometimes I bring hummus and pita... I also bring leftovers or a salad.

If I go out... that's trickier. One of my favorite lunches is soup at Panera. As a side I pick the whole grain baguette. I never would have believed this would fill me up, but it does now! I've also tried salad (and bread) at Panera, but only get dressing on the side.

My husband gets a lot of lunches out. He gets a lot of chicken sandwiches. At the office cafeteria, he gets a turkey and swiss wrap which he has them make to his specs.

I try to plan it so that if lunch is less in my control, then I know I have a lower calorie dinner planned!

I eat big lunches, and small dinners. Seems to work for me. Good Luck!!!
joy

You don't have to pack your lunch every day--like Val mentioned, you can make food once a week and have enough for lunch every day. I actually make 5 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (180 cals each) on Sunday so I have one for each day. I have also done this with regular meat and cheese sandwiches--I feared they would get soggy, but they actually held up really well!

I don't eat out every day for lunch even though we have a cafeteria in the building--how insanely expensive! Lately, I have been bringing SmartOnes frozen meals--the Truth About Carbs line, so it's basically just chicken and veggies. They only have 140 calories per meal. I have that and then maybe the pbj sandwich a bit later (I have breakfast at about 6am and dinner at 6-7pm, so I have small meals spread throughout the day instead of just one big lunch).

The other thing to watch if you're eating out every day is sodium--restaurants PACK most of their food with sodium. This is true even of lower-cal or low-fat meals. My SmartOnes has 800mg of sodium, so I drink extra water, but lots of restaurant foods can have MUCH more.

So blah blah blah...I know I say a lot...moral of the story: a little planning goes a long way

I like easy. I get part-skim mozzerella, which is around 100 calories a slice with 8 grams of protein. Stick two pieces of that on two pieces of healthy bread and voila! A moderate-protein, 400-calorie meal.

I make all of my dinners in double the portion I'll need, then put the leftovers away immediately after cooking (NOT after eating, you'll be tempted to nibble, trust me on this one). This way, not only do I balance my meals a bit better (before this, I used to starve myself all day and gorge on dinner, now my lunches and dinners are by default around the same calorie level), but I don't have to cook anything extra - just set aside the extra portions and heat up the next day. On days when I didn't eat at home or couldn't save leftovers (rare), I will usually make a tuna salad with a can of tuna and 30 cals worth of LF parmesan ranch and a bit of mustard, then serve with whole grain crackers (Ak-Mak or Ry-Crisp are both good) and thinly sliced cucumber. High in protein, a decent amount of fiber, and pretty tasty.

I actually love frozen diet meals. I buy whatever is on sale, and under 300 calories. If it's a low carb meal (like today's 160 calorie chicken and veggie), I'll add an apple.

Another fave is bake up a bunch of chicken (I use a parmesean breadcrumb coating - 170 cals a piece). Take a piece to work with a round of pita bread (130), a leaf of lettuce, light string cheese (60) and some taco bell hot sauce. Slice up the chicken, shred the cheese, lay it on half the pita, microwave until cheese is melty, add lettuce and hot sauce, fold....a whole meal for 360 cals to die for!