What is a healthy lunch? What do you have?

[SpringSunshineandTulips]

I’m not keen on soup. Was about to have a ham and salad sandwich but watching the calories at the moment - although the bread is the 50 50 bread so could be worse.

I really get stuck with lunches and then want crisps too. I need something low cal but filling.

[Zealois]

I have leftovers a lot of the time, such as curry, spag bol, tacos. Other times I'll make a dish like a pasta bake to have for lunch over a few days.

Today we're having brown soda bread with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

I calorie count but don't really look for low cal meals. I just use a lot of calories on lunch and dinner and don't snack much, so I don't need to limit what I eat for my main meals.

[4PawsGood]

I sometimes make a bean salad which isn’t too awful.

Usually have soup though, which doesn’t help.

Watch the bread though, 50 50 isn’t low calorie/carb (unless you mean a different one to the one we get).

[RosesAndHellebores]

Salad with:
Eggs
Ham
Tuna
Cottage cheese

Add some beetroot if you like it; perhaps a tbs cous cousin

Pitta bread and houmous or tzatsiki

Cut down the cards.
I'm far less hungry at lunch if I have yoghurt or eggs at breakfast

[MyNameForToday1980]

You know what, their nutritional value isn't great - but a calorie counted microwave meal is always a bit of a treat, and so easy.

Aside from that, I have:

Miso soup, noodles, veg (usually I fry the veg in some 1 cal spray + soy + fresh ginger + bit of mirin).

Shop bought soup (e.g. the green one from Yorkshire Provender) and poach an egg in it as I heat it in a saucepan.

Brown rice and teriyaki/yakisoba salmon, or mushrooms (brown rice takes an age to cook, so I sometimes use a pouch) - I buy the teriyaki or yakisoba sauce from the supermarket for ease.

Pastrami on rye - with some low fat leerdammer, plenty of mustard and saurkraut (if I'm calorie counting I have one slice of rye).

[marriednotdead]

Work lunch is prawns, salad and a bag of crisps followed by chopped fruit/berries and yoghurt.
At home (burning far less calories!) I tend to just have a bag of crisps with a small chunk of cheese and some fruit.

[nonevernotever]

The only thing that helps me lose weight is lowcarb eating. I'm following the Second Nature programme (which to be fair is much more than just low carb ). I've lost two stone in the last year, which doesn't sound a lot, but it's stayed off which is a miracle for me. Favourite lunches for me include soup, cheese omelette with salad, a big greek salad, satay salad, or leftovers from the night before.

[Candycane57]

Today I had sourdough toasted with a garlic clove rubbed on it, some ground turkey patties and plenty of lettuce and peppers cooked with some bbq sauce. Some grapes as well. It's healthy but filling and quite balanced.

I like big beefy salads with lots of veg and chicken/potatoes/eggs. Peppers filled with low fat cream cheese with chili flakes on is nice if you're trying to be low carb.

If you're really feeling hungry after eating a healthy lunch just add some more low cal fruit and veg.

[QwertyGirly]

Diabetes UK has a fab meal plan with loads of ideas for healthy lunches (and many recipes). www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/eating-with-diabetes/meal-plans . It's a bit of lower carb, low sugar, lots of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, etc. Great if you are pre-diabetic or within the obese category.

[SandysMam]

Microwave sweet potato, squeeze out the skin and mash with a knob of butter and black pepper. Feels very indulgent but full of goodness and a knob of butter isn’t enough to hurt!

[DIshedUp]

So you actually want low calories not healthy? Because there's nothing massively unhealthy about a sandwich

Omelette or scrambled egg, can mix is spinach and smoked salmon or avocado. Or poached eggs.
Rivitias with cream cheese or fish paté or cottage cheese mixed with spring onion
Soup
Jacket potato
Salads
Roasted veg with chicken/salmon etc or feta or goats cheese
One of the lentil/grains puches you can buy - half that then add a small amount of chorizo or chicken, cheese or quorn or whatever you like really, or 1/4 of a packet mixed in with some roast veg and protein. Try and make it around 400kcal.
Open sandwiches with rye bread
Stirfrys or pastas - can make with mostly veg and some prawns if you like and add half portions of either wholewheat noodles rice or pasta. Just make sure to weight the carbs

[gwenneh]

Massive chopped salad -- lettuce, tomato, cucumber, peppers, onions, shredded pulled chicken, a very small handful of candied pecans and about 20g or so crumbled goat cheese. Drizzled with the slightest bit of balsamic reduction.
Perfect.

[simona7007]

Hi, I used to track calories, but I'm really sick of it.
Now, I'm just trying to eat more healthy foods. To be honest, counting calories for a year taught me what food what calories has and now I'm more conscious about meals, but I don't spend time counting anything on an app... I'm not much of a cooker, nor do I want to spend so much time on cooking... for a healthy lunch you can try tune salad, or some whole-grain tortilla wrap (it's my favourite). Although I have saved these meals, and I cook them sometimes - fast meals. Hope this helps!

[mama3bears]

I've just had a seeded wrap spread with Moroccan houmous topped with falafel, grated carrot, spinach and sweet chilli sauce. Was filling and tasty.

[DIshedUp]

Also whatever you have Id add some basic green leaves to the plate with cucumber and tomatoes. Very little calories and always bulks out your food. Add fresh herbs as well.

Berries are low calorie and tasty. Things like banana, apples and oranges can work out as a lot of calories if your eating more than one.

Other things are mushrooms on toast or sardines on toast, tomatoes on toast as well. A slice of rye bread I find is more satisfying and filling than multiple slices of even wholemeal bread. With green salad on the side

[ilovebagpuss]

5:2 fast diet lunch I tend to do a chicken breast Pasta salad lots of cucumber and sweet corn lettuce etc with about 10 pasta bits and some light dressing.
You can chuck in salmon or other protein.
It’s quite filling and takes ages to eat if you chop it small

[FatCatThinCat]

I always have a portion of last night's dinner for lunch. Today it was chicken, butternut squash and couscous salad. Tomorrow will be homemade mushroom soup.

[starsinyourpies]

Mackerel and beetroot salad with a piece of bread and butter (I had soup too!)

[GooseFat]

A sandwich is absolutely fine, just be careful of what you add to it. Butter, cheese and sauces are quite calorific so would recommend weighing these if you want them but meat and salad will be pretty low calorie. You could try a bagel thin if you want to cut some more calories. I find lunches the most difficult to plan when I'm on a diet and often just have a ham salad bagel thin, some lower calorie crisps (under 100 cals) and an apple, along with plenty of water or a diet drink.

[Mummyoply]

I have soup and 3 narins fine milled crackers on non work days followed by a handful of fresh berries. I know you said you don't like soup but have you tried making your own? I'm very fussy with soup and never have tinned but some supermarket fresh soups are lovely and a make a lot of my own to my own tastes. A portion is between 90 - 120 Cala so great for calories counting.

On work days I have a green salad (watercress, lettuce, celery, cucumber and one slice of quorn ham with a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce) this is filling and takes a while to eat (i have lots of celery!) it's very low on calories too and so I have a bag of popcorn (44 cals) this may help if you fancy crisp!

Anyway this is just what I do, it might not be your cup of tea

[GraduallyWatermelon]

Agree with PP that a sandwich isn't unhealthy! But if you want to replace the bread then maybe a ham and egg salad?

[CorianderBee]

A ham salad sandwich is fine...

[Rosieandtwinkle]

Just about to have a salmon fishcake on top of a pile of salad. Currently taking a calorie deficit approach which is making a huge difference for me as I don’t feel like I’m depriving myself of anything. This comes in about 320-350.

[sparepantsandtoothbrush]

I've just finished a tortilla pizza (wrap covered in tomato puree, a small amount of cheese and then lots of toppings; today was mushroom, red onion, spinach and tomato then baked in the oven) with a small salad on the side. I've given up trying to diet or calorie count as it gets me down so I'm just trying to eat healthier

[FangsForTheMemory]

beef chilli with yoghurt and cheese cos I'm low carbing

[MinesAPintOfTea]

Today: open sandwich (so just one slice of bread) with a mountain of leaves, some thinly sliced roast beef. Rest of plate taken up with cucumber and hummus, and a few (10?) Crisps.

Other lunches this week are: smoked haddock ommlett (will be served with similar salad to today), half-portion of cottage pie (homemade from previous night), fishfinger sandwich (2 fish fingers, tomatoes roasted in the oven to include, and spinach in the sandwich), jacket potato with previous night's pasta sauce.

If any of these don't fill me up, I have an apple.