Healthy Lunch ???

Well, I got on the scales recently and got the shock of my life, I am only a few lbs away, from being a weight I really don't want to be, and I'm already classed as morbidly obese !

Anyway, so I have already started dieting...well eating sensibly. I have started being more active, but I am stuck for lunch ideas...help !

At work, ( I work 6 days a week, 9 hours a day ) I have access to a fridge, a kettle, and a microwave. Food is to be eaten at the desk - usually in front of everyone, and is not to be too strong smelling. There is no canteen, the office is open plan, and the snack cabinet is stuffed to the brim with chocolates and crisps and the like.

In a bid to stop any wish of snacking - and I am very proud at just how restrained I am, I worked out how much money I'd save if I didn't buy the snacks, and was amazed how well that worked. The thing is that, not only do I function solely on diet Cola's, which are very bad ( Aspartame and artificial sweeteners are highly toxic for humans, and diet foods are stuffed with them! ), I now work whole days without eating until I get home at 9pm, and I'm still gaining weight, and I usually feel pretty bad, and weak, at the end of the day too.

One day this week, I had a jacket potato with cottage cheese, which I adore. It's virtually fat free, and it's filling. The problem is that I like it hot, so I zapped it in the microwave and as the cottage cheese has chives in it, it smelled and I got asked politely if I could not eat it at work again, as it stunk the place out. I was sooo embarrassed - I'm self concious anyway, and at work surrounded by the fortunate thin people !

I just can't eat another lunch of a sandwich...or soup...or raw vegetable stick...it's soooo boring, and not very satisfying either. I need help. Diet/eat healthy books are no help, all the foods require baking or cooking or boiling, or are packed with spices I'm allergic too. Dieticians have no skills in the UK - or at least not the dieticians I can afford, and even though I long for a lovely, tasty, healthy, hot lunch, there just isn't the facilities to make them.

So here is the challenge. I need some ideas for simple, cheap, tasty, healthy lunches, that are not too high in calories. What do all you guys do for lunch ???

I NEED HELP !!!!!

Peace, Love, and Happiness, Always
Sonia

Sonia, I'm sure you'll get some great suggestions - seems like a lot of people here are trying to be healthier, me included.

For now I just wanted to say that the potato is a great idea - and you should just bring the potato plain, heat it in the micro, and then add your toppings after it's been heated. Just bring the topping in a small tupperware container. Chives and cottage cheese don't make a strong smell normally, so without heating them I think it'd be fine. And you can go with so many other toppings too - some chopped broccoli, lowfat cheese, salsa, any kind of finely chopped veggies, a little butter, etc. there are many possibilities!

Good luck!

Oh - I can't pass up the chance to suggest hummus and pita bread or veggies either! Heat up the pita and dip in the hummus. Here you can buy lots of flavored hummus too, and it's really yummy and low in fat.

First, don't skip meals. If you stop eating, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows down.

I buy Weight Watchers entrees and sometimes take them to work. They're not too expensive, and they're actually good tasting. I add a yogurt and a piece of fruit, and there's my lunch.

Here in the US, wrap sandwiches are very popular. You take a tortilla or other flat bread, and put your ingredients inside. They are really good, and not the usual boring sandwich. Grilled veggies are good in this kind of sandwich.

What about rice and beans? You can make almost any combo(red beans and rice, black beans and rice), they taste good with a little seasoning or tomato sauce, and it's very healthy. Good luck!

Although I am trying to be more healthy, I don't really have very many healthy lunch ideas for you. However, I did a search for healthy recipes and got this link: http://www.applesforhealth.com/recipes1.html and some of those look really good. I usually end up eating leftovers for lunch, so if you make these for dinner you can set aside a portion for lunch the next day. Usually leftovers don't smell too strongly.

Sonia, we also have a little support group here on the site. We were doing it on Weight Control Support Group which has a lot of good ideas and I think at least a couple recipes in it, but since it was getting so LONG, a new thread was started for the same purpose, Healthy Living!

I got kind of burned out on healthy eating (too much chicken, turkey, tuna), as many of us do, and decided to try something different so, I started slim-fast. I never figured I'd like it but it really isn't that bad. My day usually consists of a shake for breakfast, a mid-morning snack of a bannana and grapes, a shake for lunch, mid-afternoon snack of some fruit or veggies, and just whatever I'm in the mood for for dinner.

This may seem a bit boring, but I love rice and salsa. You can heat the rice at work and add the salsa later. There are many different types of salsa available (tomato, green tomato, spicy, mild). Also, bean dips may be a good addition. If you choose carefully, you can find very low-fat but high-taste bean dips.

The rice and salsa would also be good in a wrap, as bren.1 suggested. I'd add lo-fat cheese and veggies to rice, salsa and bean dip in a wrap (you can also find flavored tortillas for wraps).

I eat things like microwavable soup, fresh veggies and fruit, yogurt, oatmeal, nutrition bars, dry cereal in a ziplock bag, baked potato chips and soy crisps.

and of course sandwiches. those are a few things that I have that I can think of off the top of my head.

A resource to check out is www.cookinglight.com. There are a lot of good ideas for healthy meals there. You can search the website, using the keyword lunch. One of the meals I like is a curried tofu egg salad sandwich. It's tasty and filling, but not strong smelling.

Not much help on suggestions, but you try the new Slim Fast bars. They are so YUMMY! They are the granola ones and one bar is considered a meal. I believe they are 220 calories per bar which is a lot less than eating a greasy meal. My favorite granola Slim Fast bar is the Peanut Butter one. It tastes just like a Rice Krispy Treat! Slim Fast has other kinds too, but I don't find them as tasty as the new ones.

If you're willing to commit to a diet that will work wonders, I recommend the Dr. Atkins diet. I tried it myself and lost 7 pounds in the first week and 15 by the end of the month. The theory is that your body has two energy sources, carbs and fat. Your body's primary energy source is carbs and so the fat just sits there and waits to be used, which will never happen, unless you run and work-out all the time.

So, instead of cutting out fat, the idea is to cut out the carbs. Then, your body has to live on it's fat energy source and so, the fat melts like cream.

Things you need to eat vs things not to eat while on this diet;
YES/NO
Vegetables/Fruit, including all juices
Cream/Milk
cheese/processed cheese
all kinds of meat/all processed meat
nuts/all breads, this includes anything made with flour
sweetener (splenda)/sugar

This is just a base for what the diet/lifestyle is about. It really works, but takes some discipline. you can have vegetables with original dressings (not light - too many carbs) for lunch for example. While I was on it, I ate my home made cheesecake everyday, cause I could, you need to make it yourself in order to avoid the carbs. but you can only have so many carbs the first week, so many the second week, and so on.

I think your best bet at lunch would bring already cooked pasta, then keep the sauce on the side. Hummus, as someone already stated is a good alternative. Bring a variety of foods, instead of focussing on one thing, like a sandwich. Bring some fruit, yoghurt, nuts, spinich salad with stawberries, etc. At least you have some variety, and different tastes.

Originally posted by Tamme
If you're willing to commit to a diet that will work wonders, I recommend the Dr. Atkins diet.

Things you need to eat vs things not to eat while on this diet;
YES/NO
Vegetables/Fruit, including all juices
Cream/Milk
cheese/processed cheese
all kinds of meat/all processed meat
nuts/all breads, this includes anything made with flour
sweetener (splenda)/sugar

Click to expand...

I would absolutely die on this diet. I love fruit, not a big meat eater, and am lactose intolerant. It seems like many people are on this diet. I guess as long as you can make this your normal way of eating, it will get you by. I just could not eat that much meat.



Also, the protein bar/shake idea would not fly with me. I hate all the chemicals in those things. I'd rather eat my natural foods to give me the same amount of calories.

I think alot of people are just looking for a magic pill. I still think the best thing you can do is change your lifestyle. Exercise more, control your intake of processed/packaged foods, limit your intake of white flour and sugar.

In my humble opinion, everything in moderation with exercise is still the best way to go for a long term weight plan. But in the end, you have to do with what works for you and your body.