Lunch ideas

misslt

Hi all,

I'm trying to change my diet with a view to losing weight. I have a lot to lose (6st roughly) and I'm happy for it to take a long time - I'm hoping to lose between 1-2lb per week.

I'm starting back to college on Monday and am struggling for lunch ideas.
I have no access to a microwave.

I'm trying to drastically reduce my bread consumption (I've read all the debates here about bread) and am down to one slice of wholemeal every day/every two days so sandwiches don't really work for me.

I'm not willing to completely cut out pasta/rice just yet as I simply can't afford to only eat meat/veg at the min (student). I am however in the process of switching to wholemeal pasta and rice (once I train myself to stop thinking it tastes like cardboard )

I should also mention that I hate peppers, onions, mushrooms, lettuce and most fish.

So yeah, if anyone can offer me decent ideas for lunch that can be eaten cold/don't need to be heated I would be greatly appreciative.

I'm aware my diet previously was atrocious but I am trying to change it (little by little, so I don't freak out and go back to my old ways) so any advice in general would be fantastic.

misslt

Any suggestions?

dave98

home made soup? You can put anything in, I usually put in:
5 carrots, 2 parsnips, 2 onions and a red pepper and 2 veg stock cubes, when veg is soft blend it, costs about 3 euro and you would get a good few days out of it. Best thing is you can put in any veg, the parsnips have a few calories but the rest are calorie free!! Good luck

RUSTEDCORE

nuts...not ready salted...more along the lines of almonds

If you are eating healthy you probably eat porridge oats for breakfast as tesco does bags of it for 1 euro
you can make healthy bars with oatmeal by adding melted honey and peanutbutter....tastes lke a snickers but is slow digesting carbs.

fruit of course...though I myself dont eat fruit

some sort of tuna or chicken salad in a plastic container (8 lunch box size for 1 euro in dealz on henry street)

drink water, i filter tap water with a jug i got in argos for


Basically just eat stuff thats not processed and you,ll be fine

misslt

Thanks guys.

Going to get a flask for soup hopefully this week, which will be great.

If anyone has any more please keep them coming

doctorwhogirl

COTTAGE CHEESE!

Love the stuff, there was a thread about it during the week and my favourite is the Aldi onion and chive. It would be delicious with some chicken breast and some oat cakes or wholemeal pitta? Could have rice cakes either but there's less nutritional value in them. I like corn cakes myself also! I love mine with lettuce but I see you're not a fan! It's great because it's full of protein and does help keep me full!

Almonds too are great but watch portion sizes, 20/25 almonds is loads.

You could bring hard boiled eggs in a lunchbox? So yum cold!

Zombienosh

+1 on nuts
Rice cakes/ corn cakes with peanut butter are awesome.
maybe make a quinoa salad.

Monife

Is it all type of lettuce you hate? Because a lot can be done with a salad. All different protein (tuna, chicken, turkey, stir fry beef, eggs, ham, salami etc) can be added to an array of salad vegetables/salad leaves. What I found really makes a salad interesting is adding a bit of homemade potatoe salad. I chop up baby potatoes and boil them. When cooked, add a few tbsp of extra light mayo and some chopped up chives or a good dash or paprika. Very yum. Also, grilled rashers/medallions, chopped up on a pasta salad is really nice.

Ryvita crackers are good too. Say 4 crackers with philadelphia and sliced tomatoe or cucumber. Or tuna mayo. Or mashed up avocado.

You could also do an open sandwich. One decent slice of soda bread (or bread of choice) and pile it high with low cal toppings such as a tuna mayo (with extra light mayo), lettuce (if you find one you like), tomatoe, cucumber and scallions.

Team the above with fruit and you have a satisfying lunch

tattykitty

Endless possibilities, even if you don't want to cook much stuff in advance. If you don't have access to a fridge, get yourself a little coolbag-type lunch bag to keep your food fresh. Then fill your lunchbox(es) with any of the following...

• cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, celery
• any raw veg you like (eg. carrot, cauli, broccoli)
• beetroot (I like it pickled, but you can buy them cooked and unadorned and just add a little vinegar to taste)
• boiled eggs/slices of omelette
• cottage cheese
• a couple of blobs of peanut butter
• oatcakes
• cold, sliced chicken or other leftover meat from the night before
• a few unsalted nuts - almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, redskin peanuts, etc.
• chickpeas, sweetcorn (I used canned, which I rinse well and sprinkle into my lunchbox)
• mixed seeds - sesame, sunflower, pumpkin (you can buy huge bags for a couple of euro and sprinkle a tablespoon into your food)
• a couple of dried figs, sultanas, apricots, prunes or fresh grapes for a bit of sweetness

I have this kind of thing most days, and it's like a picnic at my desk. Occasionally I'll include a small morsel of rice or couscous. I'm planning to make some veggie sushi soon too, for a bit of variation.

Pop a little pot of natural/plain/Greek yoghurt in your coolbag for dessert and away you go!

misslt

tattykitty wrote: »

Endless possibilities, even if you don't want to cook much stuff in advance. If you don't have access to a fridge, get yourself a little coolbag-type lunch bag to keep your food fresh. Then fill your lunchbox(es) with any of the following...

• cherry tomatoes, radishes, cucumber, celery
• any raw veg you like (eg. carrot, cauli, broccoli)
• beetroot (I like it pickled, but you can buy them cooked and unadorned and just add a little vinegar to taste)
• boiled eggs/slices of omelette
• cottage cheese
• a couple of blobs of peanut butter
• oatcakes
• cold, sliced chicken or other leftover meat from the night before
• a few unsalted nuts - almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, redskin peanuts, etc.
• chickpeas, sweetcorn (I used canned, which I rinse well and sprinkle into my lunchbox)
• mixed seeds - sesame, sunflower, pumpkin (you can buy huge bags for a couple of euro and sprinkle a tablespoon into your food)
• a couple of dried figs, sultanas, apricots, prunes or fresh grapes for a bit of sweetness

I have this kind of thing most days, and it's like a picnic at my desk. Occasionally I'll include a small morsel of rice or couscous. I'm planning to make some veggie sushi soon too, for a bit of variation.

Pop a little pot of natural/plain/Greek yoghurt in your coolbag for dessert and away you go!

That's great, thank you!

I guess when I think about it there are heaps of possibilities!

Today I have a wholewheat pasta chicken salad and I have to say I can't wait, it was difficult not to eat it last night as I was making it :P

homemadecider

Lunchbox filled with meat/ fish + veg/ salad.

For example today I have smoked salmon, raw carrot, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and feta cheese.

Yesterday I had hard boiled eggs with mayo, lettuce, cucumber and onion.

Takes 5 mins in the morning to chuck it all together and you'll be satisfied after eating.

BlueIsland

misslt wrote: »

That's great, thank you!

I guess when I think about it there are heaps of possibilities!

Today I have a wholewheat pasta chicken salad and I have to say I can't wait, it was difficult not to eat it last night as I was making it :P

Get rid of this and you are onto a winner!

misslt

BlueIsland wrote: »

Get rid of this and you are onto a winner!

Yeah I'm trying, I'm a full time student so I can't afford to eat only meat and veg all the time I've already switched from white so it's a step in the right direction!

homemadecider

misslt wrote: »

Yeah I'm trying, I'm a full time student so I can't afford to eat only meat and veg all the time I've already switched from white so it's a step in the right direction!

Go to Lidl, all of these things can go in your lunchbox and are dirt cheap:

Eggs
Carrots
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Onion
Beans - kidney beans are only 17 cents a tin, they also have chickpeas, mixed beans etc
All sorts of veg - can be made into soup or stew
They also have lots of fish and meat for very reasonable prices, as well as cheese now that I think of it.

What's your budget per week and we can try to help.

BlueIsland

misslt wrote: »

Yeah I'm trying, I'm a full time student so I can't afford to eat only meat and veg all the time I've already switched from white so it's a step in the right direction!

Its not really better at all TBH. Get rid of it all together. You said you had a wholegrain pasta salad. im saying toss the crappy pasta thats causes all sorts of problems and add more salads to your chicken. it not a money thing at all.

BlueIsland

homemadecider wrote: »

Go to Lidl, all of these things can go in your lunchbox and are dirt cheap:

Eggs
Carrots
Cucumber
Tomatoes
Onion
Beans - kidney beans are only 17 cents a tin, they also have chickpeas, mixed beans etc
All sorts of veg - can be made into soup or stew
They also have lots of fish and meat for very reasonable prices, as well as cheese now that I think of it.

What's your budget per week and we can try to help.

couldnt agree more. im pretty sure 15- 20 euro a week would get you nutritious lunches all week. In aldi the other day- butternut squash 79c, sweet potato 79c.....make a soup....eat a couple off eggs alongside for protein and a few nuts for fats and you have a healthy cheap lunch!

misslt

BlueIsland wrote: »

couldnt agree more. im pretty sure 15- 20 euro a week would get you nutritious lunches all week. In aldi the other day- butternut squash 79c, sweet potato 79c.....make a soup....eat a couple off eggs alongside for protein and a few nuts for fats and you have a healthy cheap lunch!

Ya that's the long term plan, need to get a flask for my soup though cos I don't have access to a microwave, hopefully get sorted with one at the weekend.

Re the pasta, I've already said I'm trying to make small changes one at a time so that they stick rather than radically changing absolutely everything about m diet in one go and then getting bored with it (which will happen, it has before). If making this work long term means eating 60g of pasta once or twice a week for a few weeks I'm happy enough with that!

What about cous cous, would that be any good?

misslt

misslt wrote: »

What about cous cous, would that be any good?

Steps to knowing what to eat;

1 find out what it is.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Nutritional+Data+cous+cous&oq=Nutritional+Data+cous+cous&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

leads to

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5699/2

2. Check if those macros fit into what you are looking for.
Cous Cous has a split of approx 4/23/0 {per 100g} (protein / carbohydrate / fat(lipids) )

3. Check how much calories it has per 100g, adjust your portion sizing to ensure you're not over-eating or under-eating.

4. Check if that fits into your daily budget/plan for each of the macros and the Daily calorific intake that your goals apply to.

5. If it passes all these tests, commit to memory and enjoy!

misslt

Ellie Scarce Frown wrote: »

Steps to knowing what to eat;

1 find out what it is.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Nutritional+Data+cous+cous&oq=Nutritional+Data+cous+cous&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

leads to

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5699/2

2. Check if those macros fit into what you are looking for.
Cous Cous has a split of approx 4/23/0 {per 100g} (protein / carbohydrate / fat(lipids) )

3. Check how much calories it has per 100g, adjust your portion sizing to ensure you're not over-eating or under-eating.

4. Check if that fits into your daily budget/plan for each of the macros and the Daily calorific intake that your goals apply to.

5. If it passes all these tests, commit to memory and enjoy!

That's great, thanks so much!

I think I said this on another thread, I am trying to learn how to eat properly, educating myself a bit more each day!