healthy lunch options?

cactusgal · 19-07-2015 6:14pm #1

Hi everyone,

Any suggestions on healthy lunch options? I need to lose weight, but am having a hard time eating the right foods. In particular, I find myself eating a lot of pasta salad for lunch and stir fries for dinner. Although I'm using whole wheat pasta and rice, it's still a lot of carbs.

I'm allergic to nuts, so that's not an option. Bread doesn't agree with me, so sandwiches are out. Whenever I've tried to go totally low carb in the past, it's left me feeling weak and ill

Any tips? Thanks!

feelgoodinc27 · 19-07-2015 6:50pm

start logging what you eat with myfitnesspal, it will give you an idea of the portions you need to be eating to lose weight.

strelok · 19-07-2015 6:55pm

carbs are fine, just pay attention to your calories to lose weight.

use myfitnesspal to get a general idea of your tdee (calories you burn in a day) and then subtract 3-500 from that.

fussyonion · 20-07-2015 12:52pm

I'm doing low-carb at the moment and for the first few days I felt rubbish; headaches, feeling so tired and irritable.
Then that feeling passed and I felt so good...I don't think I've ever felt so well in my life.

I love having different things each day for lunch, so one day it might be cajun chicken breast, shredded and tossed in a salad of lettuce, mixed leaves, cherry tomatoes, red onions, peppers and cucumbers.
(Salads have to be varied, otherwise they're boring).

Or what about home-made soup?

Today I had sliced hard-boiled eggs, ham, tomatoes and spinach for lunch.

Yesterday it was salmon with carrots and broccoli.

UnknownSpecies · 20-07-2015 4:00pm

A stripped back 'eggs in purgatory' is my go-to at the minute. Only takes a few minutes to cook too.

Here's a recipe online if you're interested.

Like I said, I strip mine back. Heat up the tinned tomatoes with some chili infused oil for Aldi. Then plop in 2-3 eggs when the tomatoes are hot and let them poach. If I can afford the calories, I'll also add in some Parmesan or mozzarella.

Simple to make and pretty healthy, especially if you're staying low carb.

Disclaimer: Work out your own calorie requirements before trying any meals suggested here. Eg. 500 calories might possibly be a much lower % of my daily total than yours.

Tiddlypeeps · 20-07-2015 4:43pm

My favourite healthy lunch at the moment is chilli con carne and a baked potato, works out at about 450/500 calories. If I had a light breakfast I might have a glass of full fat milk with it pushing it up to around 600 calories. The chilli has loads of kidney beans so keeps me full for ages.

PennyWren · 20-07-2015 9:11pm

Homemade vegetable soup! Never fails me. I make a big pot on Sunday's and have it for lunch every day the following week. Very healthy and I like that it's done in advance and I don't have to worry about going out and buying something on my break because that's where I let temptation get the better of me!
I bring different fruit every day just so it's not too monotonous.

Lia_lia · 20-07-2015 11:45pm

Salads with meat/fish and veg. No bread and can be low carb!

roisin.browne · 17-08-2015 11:01am

I've just started prepping meals for lunch and it's working out really well. I cook a roast chicken on Sunday and have it with salads/sweet potato during the week. I also make Slimming World spaghetti bolognese and have it with just a little brown pasta.
If you're not in to prepping and have a Subway near you, I've found their salad bowls to be really good and filling.

threebagsfull · 17-08-2015 11:03am

I eat sushi and soup (normally with meat) every weekday. I normally am quite full on this.
I heard sushi isn't great for weight loss but I don't know what they're comparing it to and this might be more to do with what's around the sushi, mixed in with the rice, so you could go for simple stuff instead of California rolls.

Marty McFly · 26-08-2015 5:19am

For me generally what I do for lunch is make a healthy dinner and make enough for next days lunch keeps it simple with less hassle of organising two meals on the evening time.

syklops · 26-08-2015 5:31am

For a year 2 years ago my lunch was a simple chicken salad. Chicken pieces(actual chicken not breaded goujons), lettuce, spring onion, onion, red/yellow peppers, jalapeños, and one or two boiled eggs, with either light mayo or balsamic vinaigrette.

On that lunch diet, my 3 o'clock slump disappeared, and I lost an inch on my waist.

Im hoping to go back into a similar routine in a couple weeks time.

Tar.Aldarion · 28-08-2015 4:35pm

Generally have a veg + bean/lentil soup. Can make quite nice salads. A lot of places deliver them to my work too, chopped etc.

healthy lunch options?

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