Healthy Lunches

[Reephdweller]

I'm really working on getting back into the mindset of changing my eating habits to be more healthy. and one of the things I want to do is plan out my lunches. Some people say salads, some say veggie burgers, etc. type things and I would love to have suggestions for healthy lunch ideas if anyone has any that I could try as I really want to make this a success and to stay motivated.

If you have any suggestions for meals and or snacks that would help with this please post them here. If you have salad suggestions, sandwiches, wraps, whatever, that helps you or you know are really good please share them.

[Fez4PrezN2008]

Little can of tuna or canned salmon - the single serve size, Wasa crackers, yoghurt, and baby carrots. Maybe a banana too for later in the day. Protein, fiber, milk, veggies. What more could a body want?

And never, ever, ever, (well maybe once every two months) fries with that...

[Hottub]

Chicken salad on whole wheat with lettuce. My girl Sandra adds a little mayo, a little celery, and a little love.
My go to lunch.

[Devo37]

here's a few things to avoid: healthy-sounding foods that really aren't (http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/6-diet-busters-healthy-sounding-foods-that-really-aren-t-171837/).

i've always been one of those people who can eat anything i want and not gain weight, so i guess i can't give any specific ideas based on my own experience. i don't think i've ever looked at the calorie count on anything i eat.

i'm sure one day it's all gonna catch up to me, and i'll wake up one morning weighing 500 lbs...

[jauble]

Take the gun leave the cannoli.

In all seriousness skip salt use pepper make a wrap instead of a sammich but some of the best advice is to always eat at or around the same time so your body gets used to it.

[TheGameHHH]

sandwiches on whole weat are always fine.......stay away from those heavy breads and you'll be golden.

my lunches usually consist of turkey and cheese on whole weat with a little light mayo, ceasar salad wraps with whole wear tortillas, tuna and cheese on wheat, tuna melts, or grilled chicken wraps

[Soupy_Dreck]

try to get a bread that doesn't use high fructose corn syrup. i usually have 2 hard boiled egg whites on toasted all natural wheat bread for breakfast, a yogurt and a banana midmorning, salad with canned chicken breast (hormel tastes best in my opinion) another yogurt and banana midday and controlled portions at dinner. i'm down 25 lbs and have kept it off for about 8 months

[Thebazile78]

There are a lot of menu plans available at the National Body Challenge website from Discovery Health.

Basically, you choose a "style" of menu and they help you plan your meals.

Visit http://health.discovery.com/national-body-challenge/national-body-challenge.html to access the tools. (Registration required, but it's FREE, so why not?)

I've found a couple of interesting recipes there and have made my own modifications based on my available ingredients and facilities ... for example, if it says oatmeal with fruit, since I can't make "real" oatmeal, I'll find a good-quality instant brand and add dried fruit to it at work. (Or I will bring a portion of frozen fruit with me in a cooler; it thaws enough to add to my oatmeal by the time I get to the office.)

Lately, I have been on a peanut butter and preserves kick. I get the natural, no salt added chunky style peanut butter (which, admittedly, is not everyone's idea of good eats) and pair it with fruit preserves ... this week, it's blueberry. (Preserves tend to have less added sugar than jams or jellies.) And I don't bother with reduced-fat peanut butter ... they replace the fat with corn syrup. (Ewww.)

I'm also big on non-perishable foods that I can keep in my desk drawer at work. This means I have a stockpile of cereal, instant oatmeal, Instant Breakfast (which works great as an afternoon snack, BTW) and "fruit leather." I keep a cereal bowl, spoon, fork, measuring cups, shaker bottle and coffee mug at work so I can be "green" in my meals too.

[JPMNICK]

it's not so much what you eat as the portion size. veggie burgers are great unless you eat 3, then who cares cause you just had so many calories it does not matter.

even a turkey sandwhich on wheat bread is fine. bring some fruit to eat at 10am and 3pm to keep you metobolism going through the day, and you will be fine. i am sure you will be a little hungry, but that is the only way to lose weight

[foodcourtdruide]

I changed my lifestyle and have been losing weight like crazy. My lunches are usually some type of grilled chicken with vegetables or a salad. I usually have a smaller, low-carb/low-fat (but NOT no-carb/no-fat) lunch at around 12 and a serving or two of fruit/veggies at around 3.

If I have to eat out, I usually get a turkey sub from Subway or a salad from Pax or Pret. What you should do to eat healthy is easy, execution is hard.

I look at ingrediants and stay away from any ingrediant that is really unhealthy.

No Mayonaise. Less sugar. Low carbs. Low Cholestoral. Low Sodium. If you have to go with carbs, be smart about it. Go with whole wheat instead of white bread.

I think the important thing to realize is that if you violate one of your rules one day, you're not damned to live an unhealthy life. You just have to get back on the wagon again the next day.

[foodcourtdruide]

it's not so much what you eat as the portion size. veggie burgers are great unless you eat 3, then who cares cause you just had so many calories it does not matter.

even a turkey sandwhich on wheat bread is fine. bring some fruit to eat at 10am and 3pm to keep you metobolism going through the day, and you will be fine. i am sure you will be a little hungry, but that is the only way to lose weight

You will be hungry initially. The first week will be difficult, but your body will adjust quickly.

[EliSnow]

My healthy lunch is usually a turkey (or grilled chicken) sandwich on whole wheat with mustard.

Depending on what I'm feeling like, I'll have a healthy soup, a salad (with low cal honey mustard dressing), or a yogurt with it.

That's my healthy lunch. But it's made easier by having small healthy snacks throughout the day. Yogurt, almonds, 2-3 M&Ms once a day, and lots of water.

[ANC]

I've been doing well with the following:

Breakfast: Instant Plain Oatmeal with a little honey and cinnamon mixed in. Coffee with no sugar.

Lunch: Turkey or Ham with Low-Fat Cheese and Mustard on Whole Grain Bread.

Snacks: Avocado, Carrots, an Orange

Plus drinking about 3-4, 20oz. bottles of water.

Most days after this, Im not that hungry for dinner, but I usually grill a chicken breast or some small amount of lean meat along with some vegetables.

[EliSnow]

I've been doing well with the following:

Breakfast: Instant Plain Oatmeal with a little honey and cinnamon mixed in. Coffee with no sugar.

Lunch: Turkey or Ham with Low-Fat Cheese and Mustard on Whole Grain Bread.

Snacks: Avocado, Carrots, an Orange

Plus drinking about 3-4, 20oz. bottles of water.

Most days after this, Im not that hungry for dinner, but I usually grill a chicken breast or some small amount of lean meat along with some vegetables.

My breakfast is either (a) honey nut cheerios and a piece of whole wheat toast with a little honey (4 days out of the week) or (b) one egg fried using PAM on two pieces of whole wheat (3 days out of the week).

[Jennitalia]

i've been going with either a mixed green salad with cucumbers, red onion, roasted peppers, grilled chicken, fresh mozz, and sundried tomatoes. sometimes when i'm feeling crazy i'll have it on a whole grain pita.

[ANC]

Also for a healthy snack you could have some hummus with your vegetables.. Alton Brown has a great quick hummus recipe. I've made it many times.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_13888,00.html

[Thebazile78]

Also for a healthy snack you could have some hummus with your vegetables.. Alton Brown has a great quick hummus recipe. I've made it many times.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_13888,00.html

Hummus is super-easy to make, but if you're not so great in the kitchen, a good brand to try is Sabra. Also, if you have a Stop and Shop nearby, their "simply enjoy" store-brand "gourmet" line is good too.

Get the Ziploc or GladWare containers in the 1/2-cup and 1-cup sizes (extra small and small) and use the smaller container for the hummus (spoon out 2 or 3 Tbsp into the 1/2-cup container) and the larger one for your veggies (I like "baby" carrots, but you could also do carrot "chips" or celery sticks) ... bring it to work in a cooler and you're set for an afternoon snack.

I also like the "100-calorie packs" of pretty much anything, although they are pricey. It saves me the work of measuring out my portions and makes snacking a lot easier ... and less tempting to overindulge!

[JPMNICK]

Hummus is super-easy to make, but if you're not so great in the kitchen, a good brand to try is Sabra. Also, if you have a Stop and Shop nearby, their "simply enjoy" store-brand "gourmet" line is good too.

Get the Ziploc or GladWare containers in the 1/2-cup and 1-cup sizes (extra small and small) and use the smaller container for the hummus (spoon out 2 or 3 Tbsp into the 1/2-cup container) and the larger one for your veggies (I like "baby" carrots, but you could also do carrot "chips" or celery sticks) ... bring it to work in a cooler and you're set for an afternoon snack.

I also like the "100-calorie packs" of pretty much anything, although they are pricey. It saves me the work of measuring out my portions and makes snacking a lot easier ... and less tempting to overindulge!

this is good advice, they are really good

[grlNIN]

I was on a Progresso kick for a long while in the winter but i would always feel ridiculously bloated from all the sodium.

I found that eating lunch between 12-1pm was not good for me because i wouldn't be hungry for dinner until 7-8pm, which IMO is too late to be eating dinner.

Now i eat salads for lunch. They fit right into a regular square glad container so the serving size isn't huge but it's enough and i've changed my lunch time to 11:30 which is so much better because now when i get home from work i can eat dinner around 6pm.

I typically chop up 1 low fat string cheese and add it in along with some carrots and the occasional snap pea. I also keep a bag of Bite Sized Tostitos in my work desk that i have with the salad as long as it's to a minimum. Salad spritzers keep the calorie count low on the dressing and a bottle of water tops it off.

[FunkyDrummer]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/story?id=2023777