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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what you eat for lunch

177 replies

LemonSherbetFancies · 17/03/2021 12:20

I need some inspiration as I eat the same boring sandwiches every day and always fill up on crisps, biscuits and chocolate alongside it which is making me pile on the pounds. Any ideas welcomed Smile

OP posts:
SwedishK · 17/03/2021 15:40

I go through stages of having the same lunch for a few weeks, and then I switch for something else.

At the moment I have coconut yogurt with musli, nuts, raisins, sliced banana, sliced berries and grapes. It keeps me full for about 3 hours, after that I have an orange and some chocolate usually. Or a piece of toast.

changi · 17/03/2021 15:43

During the week my husband only eats once a day unless he is working at home.

I think he would be surprised to be told he has an eating disorder. You wouldn't know to look at him.

MrsJBaptiste · 17/03/2021 15:53

2 scrambled eggs, apple, cheese
Tuna & sweetcorn, grapes, cheese

Boring but low carb/calorie for me. Then I'll have a snack of nuts mid-afternoon.

JustDespair · 17/03/2021 15:55

@changi

During the week my husband only eats once a day unless he is working at home.

I think he would be surprised to be told he has an eating disorder. You wouldn't know to look at him.

Okay, great. I sometimes eat food once or even just a 200 kcal nut bar before bed because I literally haven't a moment with work and toddler and all the other stuff that life sometimes throws at you. That's because of a busy life and I guess, a choice I stupidly make when I feel a presentation is more important than my health. Your husband makes a choice to eat once.

Someons saying they "don't understand" how you can eat 3 times a day and has said they don't understand how anyone could possibly eat some pancakes on pancake day clearly has food issues. It's not normal.

CateTown · 17/03/2021 16:02

@LucilleTheVampireBat

Today i'm having a pot noodle. With home-made water.
Smile

Did you make the pot noodle from scratch?

MrsJBaptiste · 17/03/2021 16:07

I don't even have dinner tbh. Usually just stick my head in the fridge 3 times a day and take a deep breath 🤷‍♀️ occasionally I'll inhale a crumb and that tends to keep me going

@BabyBooDueNov21 That really made me laugh!!!

I have a feeling that happymummy poster crops up on threads like this to tell us all how little she eats (not sure she can really be that happy then TBH)

underneaththeash · 17/03/2021 16:09

This last week we’ve had:
Friday, egg roll and beef and horseradish roll. Saturday - bacon sanwiches, 𝕊𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 - 𝕖𝕘𝕘𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕥, Monday - soup, tuesday avocado, smoked salmon, today we had leek, spunach and compte quiche.

MrsBerthaRochester · 17/03/2021 16:10

I never eat breakfast as I find it makes me more hungry. I make big lots of soup intending for them to last days then eat the whole lot. I love soup!
Today had a huge bowl of leftover spaghetti and meatballs.

Hagqueen · 17/03/2021 16:12

My current obsession is wraps - i prefer two mini ones. I fill mine with anything, but my current fave is chicken mixed with a bit of hoisin sauce, mixed leaves, grated carrot and thin cuke slices, and edamame, bung a bit of coleslaw if i have any. So crunchy and tangy!

Wantocrawlintoadarkcave · 17/03/2021 16:12

A soup maker has been a life saver for lockdown lunches.

And more salads now the weather is improving.

AlwaysLatte · 17/03/2021 16:13

Usually something with leftovers - yesterday it was leftover roasted vegetables with pasta and a spoonful of the hidden veg sauce I make vats of. Today there were leftover roast potatoes so I cooked some onions, chorizo and the potatoes and we had it with a fried egg.

SapphosRock · 17/03/2021 16:18

Today was sweet potato with leftover bolognese and salad.

Usually have a hearty salad with something + avocado (salmon, prawns, chicken) and aim for about 450 calories.

MotherofPearl · 17/03/2021 16:22

Soup
Sardines on toast
Egg on toast (boiled or scrambled)
Slice of quiche with salad
Omelette
Crackers and cheese

Usually have one of these plus a piece of fruit.

CateTown · 17/03/2021 16:28

Am I the only one who had 2 3 choc chip cookies for lunch, then? They were from M&S and had hazelnuts in them if that redeems me at all ...

elizabethdraper · 17/03/2021 16:34

Soup
Baked beans
Scrambled eggs, avocado, tomato
Egg wrap with cheese and salad
Ryvita cream cheese tomato

JaninaDuszejko · 17/03/2021 16:39

Always leftovers. Unless the DC like tea so much they eat it all. Then I get a microwaveable meal from the supermarket. Sandwiches don't fill me up enough!

IsAnybodyListening · 17/03/2021 16:47

I'm a bit of a carb dodger at the moment.

Today was a 2 egg omelette, with 2 x bacon medallions and veg mixed in.

littleloopylou · 17/03/2021 16:53

I like warm food and usually I eat leftovers. Today I had a leftover (heated) herbed chicken breast chopped up in a green salad with little leftover bits thrown in - some brie pecans, ripe pear, some random steamed broccoli stems.

Tomorrow I will have the leftovers of a barley, bean, and squash stew thing. Already excited.

merryhouse · 17/03/2021 16:56

I have salad for lunch. Just salad vegetables, no dressing cos I don't like it. I eat a piece of fruit mid-afternoon. (I'm a person who doesn't mind breakfast and lunch being the same every day.)

If you're overindulging on the snacking the only way to stop is simply to stop. Just don't eat the biscuits. Don't eat the chocolate. Don't eat the crisps. Decide what is a good thing to eat for lunch and then prepare and eat that. You don't need to be full up.

CallMeCleo · 17/03/2021 17:13

Bouncebacker wrote: "I avoid sugar and carbs mostly, so lunch’s are usually a vat of homemade soup (today is creamy spinach and cauliflower)"

Spinach is a carb.
Cauliflower is a carb.
Cream is a carb.

You're welcome.

Graphista · 17/03/2021 17:14

I had a salad yesterday, then toast today with cream cheese.

I am always home too, I'm also veggie but there will be meat versions of much of what I have

Sandwiches do feature regularly but I try to vary fillings so as not to get bored because as you say that leads to eating other food to satisfy

Also wraps, soup (I tend to batch cook my own and freeze what I don't eat the day of making in portions that are perfect for my assigned soup mug), a small portion of pasta, quorn sliced fillets with a splash of hendos relish is nice, crisp breads or crackers with cheese or veggie pate, quorn mini savoury eggs are yum as are the cocktail sausages.

Also salads sometimes "basic" just salad veg with maybe some cheese or boiled egg wedges, I can quite happily have this undressed with just some garlic grinder to season, or a splash of white vinegar but sometimes I'll fancy a dressing of some kind, Mayo or salad cream or in the summer I might buy in a dressing as I'll have salads more, or I'll make a batch home made and keep in the fridge (I save and wash my jars for this kind of thing or home made pickles)

Also Cous Cous/pasta/rice salads - again I'll make a batch usually although it's quite easy to make up a small portion of Cous cous to use in a salad.

Eggs - tons of ways to do eggs quickly, light tasty and nutritious and low cal too. Omelette, scrambled, tortilla, boiled (I love cold boiled eggs with a little sat for each bite or Chucky eggs - hot boiled eggs mashed in a cup with butter and salt), or baked. Fried on occasion too.

Things on toast - the usual beans, tinned spaghetti but also I love creamed mushrooms, tomatoes sliced with a little garlic grinder, sliced hard boiled eggs with a little salt, avocado with a dash of lemon juice and a pinch of basil, or even mashed banana on toast LOVE that

If I'm hungry I might also have a small portion of yogurt and some fruit, I'm trying to eat healthier myself. Sometimes I'll have a tunnocks teacake (fewer calories than you might thing given how rich they are) or a small ice treat - the joys of ageing - I've been overindulging in magnums of late but they're sooo calorific and after a wake up call I switched to ice poles and mini milks instead.

Water or milk to drink - milk isn't as high cal as people think and makes you feel fuller for longer as it's high in protein. Love a glass of cold milk! Admittedly skimmed, not because I'm saintly I've just never liked the creamier milks.

Today i'm having a pot noodle. With home-made water. 

Yea I like a pot noodle/pot pasta sometimes too

I think if you want to avoid the same boring sandwiches or snacking, you need to include lunch in your meal planning and prepare some things in advance, at least for some of the week.

I'd agree with that

@VictoriaLudorum - ohh is there a recipe for the mushrooms bourguignon?

@OohImBlindedByTheLights are you having the same exact thing every day?

If I have a big lunch I'll have a light dinner and if I'm planning a big dinner I'll have a light lunch - yes you need a balance but being too restrictive can make you feel deprived and more likely to go "fuck it" and reach for the family bag of crisps!

@misslomi you're clearly a cheese fiend like me! Grin

Or souped up baked beans (fry an onion with some garlic and chilli and add the beans)

I've been debating starting a thread about this, I add to almost everything to make them better. I like the sound of yours though I'd omit the chilli.

I've added to beans at times - marmite, hendos relish, sour cream, herbs...

If having on toast I'll add one or more of the following - grated cheddar, sweet pickle, gherkins, salad cream, pesto sauce (this one works really well - use it instead of butter on the toast)

Tesco do a lovely 3 bean chili soup, in the fresh section. It's really tasty and very filling too, and only about 150 calories a portion. That's become a WFH staple during the winter, often with a piece of cheese on toast on the side.

That reminded me - there are some less well known tinned things that mean knocking up a quick and filling lunch are much easier, eg tinned mixed beans in a vinegar dressing for a salad, tinned lentils - Dahl or ragu, tinned ratatouille is a great topper for baked potatoes, toast, pasta

ZaraW · 17/03/2021 17:17

Falafel salad, apple and small handful of almonds and cashews.

ginsparkles · 17/03/2021 17:18

I avoid bread. So my lunches are usually salads made more interesting with salad, cous cous, noodles, fruits or a warm soft boiled.

DaphneBridgerton · 17/03/2021 17:28

I have sandwiches, always with too much mayo and a pack of crisps on the side.
I've realised the key to me losing weight is specifically choosing meals that I won't eat ketchup, mayo or cheese with... which is harder than you think. At the moment my go to is egg fried rice, salmon and eggs or soup. Don't want to hijack the thread but if anyone can think of more examples for me that would be great.

VictoriaLudorum · 17/03/2021 17:38

@Graphista
I just sautéed some finely chopped shallots and garlic in olive oil and butter, added the chopped mushrooms and cooked them until all their moisture was gone. Then I added some flour, red wine, stock and seasoning and cooked gently until it was all done.
If I had been making beef bourguignon I would have added some bacon lardons and possibly some carrot and fresh thyme.
Essentially I suppose I made a mushroom sauce with red wine. Still lots left over! So guess what I will be having tomorrow?
Mind you, I suppose I could poach an egg and have oeuf meurette tomorrow.