[vicki1]

Last August I left a job that I had been at for 20 years. Over the past 6 months I have worked on getting healthier - have been eating healthier & exercising - and as a result have lost almost 50 lbs.

Next Monday I am returning to work - a job I am excited about. I want to continue on my weight loss journey so plan to bring my lunch. This is where I need help - I would appreciate ideas on healthy lunches i can take to work with me. I know there is a lot of expertise out there - please help!

[JudgeDread]

nice job!

Well it depends on your work place..does it have a microwave?

If not you will get limited!

I hate salads, but if you like them then take a salad.

Sandwiches are good, as long as you make them that way!

I like to get the select campbells soups or healthy choice (I add pepper flakes! and hot sauce ) I don't like to eat these every day because they are super high in sodium..I try to make my own soups, but, realistically you don't always have time.

I got a food saver for christmas and recently I have been cooking chicken and preportioning it out to 4 ounce servings. My fav is cutting up chicken and searing it in a nonstick pan with garlic salt, curry powder, and black pepper. I vacuum seal it and bring it to work and eat it with cottage cheese..mm!

I have also bought a big bag of mixed veggies (frozen, because I HATE raw).....I steam them in the micro and eat cottage cheese and butter spray with it. My coworkers (all male), complained about the smell so now I have had to resort to other things. buttheads!

Bring any leftovers you preportioned out...or Healthy frozen meals..again they do have a lot of sodium too.

Keep lots of low cal snacks (around 100) in your lunch box and plan to eat them every 2 hours or so to keep you from starving by lunch time.

[vicki1]

Originally Posted by JudgeDread

nice job!

Well it depends on your work place..does it have a microwave?

If not you will get limited!

I hate salads, but if you like them then take a salad.

Sandwiches are good, as long as you make them that way!

I like to get the select campbells soups or healthy choice (I add pepper flakes! and hot sauce ) I don't like to eat these every day because they are super high in sodium..I try to make my own soups, but, realistically you don't always have time.

I got a food saver for christmas and recently I have been cooking chicken and preportioning it out to 4 ounce servings. My fav is cutting up chicken and searing it in a nonstick pan with garlic salt, curry powder, and black pepper. I vacuum seal it and bring it to work and eat it with cottage cheese..mm!

I have also bought a big bag of mixed veggies (frozen, because I HATE raw).....I steam them in the micro and eat cottage cheese and butter spray with it. My coworkers (all male), complained about the smell so now I have had to resort to other things. buttheads!

Bring any leftovers you preportioned out...or Healthy frozen meals..again they do have a lot of sodium too.

Keep lots of low cal snacks (around 100) in your lunch box and plan to eat them every 2 hours or so to keep you from starving by lunch time.

These are great ideas - thanks! I will have access to a microwave which will help.

[JudgeDread]

No problem. If you have a place to put a weeks worth of food do it. I am a food horder in the office (which they ***** about too) but that way I can pick and choose sometimes what I feel like!

[sontaikle]

Wraps! Wraps are good too, like sandwiches. I love my wraps You can pretty much throw anything in there (and they're good if they're with messy things like tuna or something) and they're quick and easy to make and store.

My favorite thing to eat for breakfast (but I've sometimes had for lunch) is poached egg with tomato. You can totally make that in a microwave though and it's very yummy with some salt and pepper.

[Munchy]

I love love love soup. I make at least two big batches on weekends, portion into 1 cup containers, and freeze. They range from 100-175 calories a cup, and I just pack one every morning for myself (along with two snacks for the day). I never get sick of them because I only make what I really like.

I cater lunch for a coworker (soup and something else), and her menu this week is/was:

Monday: Leftover low cal stuffed mushrooms paired with one cup of roasted broccoli soup
Tuesday: Caprese salad and one cup of spicy tomato blue cheese soup
Wednesday: Thai chicken wraps with some poached leftover chicken I had, a quick peanut sauce made with peanut butter, sriracha, soy sauce, water, and agave, a huge bunch of broccoli slaw, and fresh mint and basil paired with one cup of carrot peanut soup.
Thursday: Bagel thin with neufchatel and a little coriander and cumin with a cup of curried lentil soup
Friday: Arnold bread round with dijon, honey ham and swiss with a cup of split pea soup.

I love to bring salads in the summer - I'm a sucker for spinach and cucumbers with gorgonzola, craisin, sunflower seeds and champagne vinaigrette, but there are just so many different salads you can make (and they can all be put into a wrap too).

Quinoa salad with roasted red peppers, roasted broccoli, scallions and a little bit of feta is so good, even my four year old likes to eat it!

My mom used to make a traditional tabbouleh salad (without the tomatoes) when I was a kid and put it into a half a pita with raspberry vinaigrette. I know it sounds odd, but it's delicious!

Other wraps that I like are BBQ chicken or buffalo chicken, or a veggie burger. If I'm in a rush I'll make a quick wrap with some hummus, cucumbers, spinach, tomato.

There are always leftovers too! Just pack up a small portion of what you had for dinner, and you're all set.

[DietVet]

I do soups too! I make a big batch every week or two, package them up in individual 2 cup plastic containers and freeze them. I bring in a bunch at a time and leave them in the freezer and then just nuke one each day at lunchtime.

The trick is to make sure the soup is a properly balanced meal. My favorite is a Mexican inspired chicken and black bean soup with tons of veggies and chopped chipotle and cumin for seasoning. It's very tasty, has plenty of veggies, and plenty of protein. Good stuff.

[Eliana]

I tend to be fairly routine in my breakfast and lunch and the monotony I find comforting. But here's what I do, rotating as I get bored.

Grilled/baked chicken. I grill/bake chicken for dinner one night a week and do enough for leftovers for my lunches.

Steamed veggies. I take them frozen in a contained and steam them with a little water in the microwave.

Salad with the above mentioned grilled/baked chicken.

Dinner's left overs. Today it's taco salad.

[WildThings]

I'm another big fan of soup. I don't mind eating the same thing everyday so will often make up a soup on Sunday to eat the rest of the week. Made right, they are full of healthy stuff and very filling.

[krampus]

My favorite lunch to make:

Sweet potato, chicken, spinach, pepper, onion, whatever veggies on hand stir fried and seasoned w/olive oil and dill. Just toss it all in a frying pan (boil the sweet potato)!

[astrophe]

Take leftovers in a Mr or Ms Bento lunch jar.

http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-SL-N...8725685&sr=8-2

A.

[ames]

Check out this link - it might give you some good lunch ideas.

Healthy Lunches

[vicki1]

Great lunch ideas here! I have been making notes and realize I need to get some containers to have on hand.

Keep the lunch ideas coming - I would guess others will benefit from these too!

[andrew80k]

Originally Posted by sontaikle

Wraps! Wraps are good too, like sandwiches. I love my wraps You can pretty much throw anything in there (and they're good if they're with messy things like tuna or something) and they're quick and easy to make and store.

Same here. I love wraps. I throw some turkey or ham, some reduced fat cheese, lettuce, spinach, some lite or ff/sf sauce in, roll it up and magical lunch! Takes minutes. Also sliced apples, walnuts, spinach, some ff/sf blue cheese dressing along with some deli chicken in a wrap is hard to beat.

[evilwomaniamshe]

Another rapper here, I mean wrapper! My latest fave is a whole wheat wrapped nuked for 20 seconds, then douced with peanut butter, then I put a whole banana on top of the peanut butter in the middle of the wrap, then I toss on a large handful of raisins, a generous portion of sliced almonds, a sprinkle of cinnamon & a bam of ground flax & sometimes some coconut if I am feeling a bit tropical'! I roll this up and eat this ooey gooey sweet delight for lunch many a days