If you're not going in a specific diet but want to eat healthier, what are you taking for work lunches next week?

[NorthernGirlie]

I usually cook a chicken then make white bread sandwiches with it for the week (and another, family meal)

I want to eat healthier but without the pressure.

I've seen chopped filling bagels etc online and fancy trying that. I need to try a better alternative to white bread.

Not much time at work to heat soup etc up.

Flask of consommé or homemade vegetable soup
A small roll with cheese or ham and salad
An apple, pear, tangerine etc
Filling and nutritious.

Good thread - making an effort to do this too as I was spending too much on shop bought sandwiches and salads. Great ideas here.
Usually have leftovers (if I can eat them cold e.g pasta). Otherwise falafel and salad is a staple as are pitta breads (Warburtons are good) stuffed with salad and tuna and/ or hard boiled eggs. I also take in dark chocolate and apples.

Either overnight oats with berries added on top in the morning or brown rice with roasted veg and a dollop of houmous.
If you look at Chelsea May Lean with Plants on instagram or YouTube she always has 'components' ready in her fridge for assembly - so cooked potatoes, salad leaves, air fryed tofu plus some houmous or similar.

I boiled some eggs and had egg mayo with tonnes of pepper and a bit of salt on a seeded bloomer. Absolutely amazing

I had also been spending way too much on buying lunch so I’m determined to change.

I do a layered salad to take to work. Lettuce, couscous, mango/lime chicken from M&S, new potatoes, beetroot and boiled eggs... sometimes red onions if I'm not in any meetings in the afternoon 🤣

I have a bottle of Slimfast for lunch and have lost 5 stone in the last 3 years. I eat fruit and veg for breakfast and dinner but cannot be bothered faffing about at lunchtime in work. Fills me up perfectly.

@Frosty boiled eggs would have been lovely in my chopped sandwich but I'm a bit weirdly squeamish about having chicken and egg together 🙈🤣

Swap your white bread for wholemeal, with seeds is even better.

My plan for this week is

M Smoked mackerel and (a ready cooked pouch of) Puy lentils in a salad - salad leaves, tomato, red onion, roast veg if it's around
T Chicken, avocado and salad sandwich in wholemeal seeded bread
W Houmous salad sandwich with pepper, grated carrot, etc. Prob cherry tomatoes on the side as they get messy
T Pesto pasta salad with wholewheat pasta, cherry tomatoes, baby spinach, pine nuts, parmesan shavings.
F Egg salad sandwich with tahini instead of mayonnaise.

I usually aim for some oily fish, beans, chickpeas or lentils at least once a week, plenty of protein and veg. Leftovers are always good too.

I looked at the cooked bags of lentils etc (next to the microwave rices) are they any good @Dilk?

@NorthernGirlie yes, I like them, so easy to chuck into a salad with a dressing, protein and fibre packed and taste good too. I've had the black dal one too just microwaved at work with a few handfuls of spinach and some cherry tomatoes when I am really pushed for time. Nice with some sweet potato if you get a chance to bake/roast some.

Cold lunch teacher here too, there's just not time. I try to have in the fridge- spinach leaves, tomatoes etc to make a basic salad, then I throw in whatever protein type thing I had for tea, chicken, fish etc,or at a push just some chopped up cold meat. Some chopped up babybels too maybe. Then I sprinkle on a seed mix. We're not allowed nuts!

I lost 5 stone in a year just walking and being more food conscious but not too strict on myself

Lunch was always
Bagel thin with some sort of meat, lite mayo and whatever salad I had in or tuna sweetcorn lettuce and cucumber.
I'd then have a pot of cucumber and tomato's with that and a bag of lower cal crisp like wotsits

For a snack id have a skinny whip bar and some berries or an apple

Breakfast always fruit and yoghurt

Dinner was always something real simple like chicken and veg or pizza made with a wrap as the base for example

Allowed myself 1 skinny latte in the morning, water all day and then 1 can of pepsi max with dinner

I never felt restricted or like I was on a diet and it was the easiest and most successful way I've ever lost weight. Well I'm 2 stone up now but I'm 32 weeks pregnant with a 96th centile baby so I'll put that down to him😂🤞🏽 all jokes aside I have no doubt I can easily snap back into that routine and lose the wait asap

I make a big pan of soup and have that with hard boiled eggs and cottage cheese

Maybe a bit of fruit after

If I'm really determined I go as low carb as possible

It melts off

I have a few different recipes

recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=910480

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/87678/avocado-feta-salsa/

www.thekitchn.com/recipe-mediterranean-chickpea-and-feta-wraps-228384

www.eatingwell.com/recipe/279562/cucumber-pasta-salad/

www.nigella.com/recipes/vietnamese-chicken-and-mint-salad

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/squash-barley-salad-balsamic-vinaigrette

lifemadesimplebakes.com/copycat-chick-fil-a-chicken-salad-sandwich/

www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/quinoa-tabbouleh-395939

Ooh, that Nigella, Vietnamese chicken salad looks like just the thing to use up the red cabbage I've got in the fridge, and some turkey bits from the freezer, thanks, @Neveragain8102 !

Following with interest as the job I'm about to start is a good couple of miles from the nearest shop so I'll need to bring my lunch and any snacks with me.

The Thermos linked above looks great but a bit pricey (I won't get paid till the 17th and that will be "short"). Does anyone have recommendations for flasks that are a bit cheaper?

I'm not a salad fan, but I could eat this (and every variation I've come across) until the cows come home.

I'd look in a large Tescos. This time of year is perfect dies discounts on things such as food flasks.

I got my thermos food flask a few years ago for a tenner from Tescos

I also struggle with uninterrupted time, so tend to take a collection of things rather than “a lunch”. Marmite ricecakes, cuppa soup, porridge pot, veg sticks & hummus. Basically a meal worth of food but broken down so I can eat bits as and when.

@Neveragain8102 i love the look of those!

So - dh went shopping and I forgot to add my stuff to the list so I've cobbled together:

Overnight oats x5 measured put and potted up. Will add yoghurt / milk and fruit each morning. Maybe some nuts.

2x pitta fillings potted up for Monday and Tuesday (scrambled egg, a huge pile of spinach and - not ideal I know - left over diced sausages)

Not perfect but better than my usual! I also have veg sticks, houmous and fruit to grab.

I get Aldi or Lidl lentil soup cans with ryvita. Absolutely delicious!

Lidl have one this week - about £6/7???

I am taking a thermos of homemade lentil soup and will also take some sliced wholemeal pitta with a small pot hummus.

Taking a thermos means I don't need to heat the soup and it's really easy & healthy

I generally try to eat healthy but nothing specific for January really. Next week for lunch I’m having vegetable soup(s). I made a load after Christmas with veg that needed to be used up and filled the freezer. I have vegetable (carrot, pumpkin, celery, can’t remember what else), parsnip and horseradish and borscht. I will probably have with a cheese scone or some spelt soda bread (both homemade), but you could forego that if you want low carb.