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.

[Twinkie01]

Poached eggs on toast
Smoked salmon and scrambled egg
Salad with peaches, planchette, halloumi and tasted pine nuts with balsamic dressing
Tinned mackerel in tomato sauce on toast
Omelette with lots of cherry tomatoes in and mushrooms and spinach
Falafel and salad with whole meal pitta and that yogurt and mint and cucumber dip that I keep spelling wrong.
Baked beans on toast

[schmalex]

I have a roast chicken breast with veg typically (salad in summer, hot veg in winter). A decent amount of protein fills me up and stops me bingeing on carbs later.

[workwoes123]

Protein and salad, nearly every time. Endless variations. The protein fills you up, the salad keeps you healthy. Job done.

Cheese / ham omelette with tomato salad.

Cooked Chicken with coleslaw

Green salad with bacon lardons and a poached egg

[Londontown12]

Fast 800 omelette
I large egg beaten with pepper
Heat up oil in pan and rub oil round down whole pan covered pop egg in then flip it over , take it out spread 1 tsp of Mayo over slice of ham 15 grams of cheese grated and some red pepper roll up eat and enjoy less than 300 calories x

[Coldilox]

Aldi do microwaveable pouches of cooked lentils, I often have one of those with one of the tins of flavoured tuna (I like the lemon and thyme or the chilli and garlic)

Or a baked potato with tuna and salad cream or with beans.

Poached eggs on wholemeal toast

[Llamasally]

Place marking for ideas

[SquirrelFan]

Will echo some pps: leftovers! I wait a day, then eat the day before yesterday's dinner leftovers - today was black bean sweet potato chipotle chili, two days ago it was lentil daal. Add a clementine or apple and it's delicious and very filling. Both are things that improve with a day in the fridge, anyway. There's almost always something in the fridge that "needs eating!"

[LubaLuca]

Most days I have a banana and a yogurt. Probably not very healthy, but not unhealthy and it requires zero effort.

[bluechameleon]

I tend to eat leftovers for lunch at work. If it is something healthy like a veg curry I'll have it as it is, if it is a bit less healthy then I'll fill my tub 1/2 or 2/3 with the main and add veg to fill the gap. I don't usually have any carbs at lunch. Then I have some cucumber, cherry tomatoes and fruit.
At home I often have an omelette - a few mushrooms and about 10 cherry tomatoes fried in a little bit of oil, then add a big handful of spinach. Put it inside a 2 egg omelette with a sprinkling of cheese. Substantial and filling and fairly healthy.

[lissie123]

Prawn stir fry
Skinny sausages and salad
Lentils and dusted cod fillet
Dry fried aubergine with halloumi

[hopingforabrighterfuture2021]

During the week, I always, always take a salad to work. Lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes but then add tasty but healthy/low fat/high protein options to it, so sometimes prawns, olives, a little bit of cheese, lean meat eg cooked beef or ham, reduced fat coleslaw etc. Obviously not all at once!!! Different things on rotation so I don’t get bored.

[Cherrysoup]

Salad with protein, but interesting salad, Chinese leaf, cherry tomatoes, gherkins, mangetout. My protein is fishsticks, very low calorie.

[BlueLobelia]

Thanks to the PP who mentioned the Diabestes UK diet plans. I am now down a really fascinating internet rabbit hole!

[prints outDiabetes UK Mediterranean diet plan]

[Rainydays55]

Marking for inspiration!

[lljkk]

If I were thinking healthy, could do worse than bowl of...

stuffed green olives
little tomatoes
pieces of celery & cucumber
grapes
pieces of red pepper
Maybe a few tortilla chips for extra texture

[IncorrigibleTitmouse]

I’m in the same position as you weight wise and really trying to do something about it. WFH at the moment and my go to lunches are baked potato with beans, ham omelette with a few pickles on the side (beetroot or whatever I have), a rocket salad with plenty of chicken and boiled egg in it to fill me up, boiled egg and wholemeal soldiers. It does get difficult to think what to have.

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

I'm WFH now so not concerned about stinky fish stinking the office out but my favourite currently is a tin of salmon with a side salad dressed with vinagrette dressing. Sometimes just lettuce but at the moment I have cucumber, tomato and baby spinach. It's actually baby cucumbers that I have as I clicked on the wrong thing, but they're really nice.
Alternatively, boiled egg (dressed with mayo and paprika for colour), ham, beetroot from a jar pickled, coleslaw (I get the creamy coleslaw).
Tuna sandwich with mayo. Again stick some spinach leaves or similar in.
Ham with mustard sandwich
Toasted ham and cheese.
A white wrap with chicken pieces, chopped green peppers (other colours are available, they're just my favourite flavour) and there's a sort of chilli sauce you can get. Stick some spinach or rocket in there too.
Other days it can be a bowl of soup and I buy the half baked white rolls which you finish off in the oven so they're fresh when you spread butter on them. I like chicken soup mainly. The best chicken soup is from Lidl and I can't find an equivalent elsewhere in a tin. I think it's called Chicken Broth or something. Alternatively the Covent Garden brand which comes in a carton is nice but I rarely buy it as I can never predict when I will fancy soup so it will be out of date by the time I use it.
If I've cooked a big dinner over the weekend I will freeze some portions of that, so that could be lunch some other days. Current favourite is gammon, kale and potatoes. I would not eat a massive portion at lunch.

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

Tinned fish is very low calorie but both nutritious and filling. If you've a large appetite, of course you could include something carb, like bread. You can buy home baking kits. I bought one recently which was nice.
groceries.morrisons.com/products/the-box-bakery-wheat-rye-bread-mix-547078011
Other things to try are chicken fillets or turkey steaks. Just fry and have with salad.

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

And this is a weird one but I don't eat breakfast, so now have breakfast at lunch sometimes. Grilled bacon, tinned tomatoes and the big round mushrooms grilled (I think they have a name, but I don't know what it is). You can fry them in with the bacon either as you'll get a nice flavour. If you want to avoid carbs, just add an extra slice of bacon. And a lovely cup of tea!

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

Omelettes are gorgeous too and really filling (just don't eat a whole one lol).
A grilled pork chop with side salad?
Everything that I really like is out of stock currently at Morrisons which is rather annoying, but I would happily eat a full tin of these groceries.morrisons.com/products/morrisons-petits-pois-carrots-400g-110545011 with maybe a grilled pork chop or something.

I'm not sure whether you have any dietary restrictions or whether you need to bring your lunch to the office or are you WFH?

[Januaryissodull]

Some ideas, sorry if they've already been mentioned.

Salmon/tuna sandwich on wholemeal bread, chicken salad sandwich.

Poached eggs and avocado on wholemeal muffin/toast.

Jacket potato with salad or cottage cheese/beans.

Omelette with salad.

Chicken salad.

Pasta with veg.

Humous and veg pitta.

Wraps with whatever filling.

Greek yoghurt with fruit/nuts for dessert.

My advice would be to include a good portion of protein to fill you up, eggs are great for this, include salad or veg and whole grains. Don't go overboard with the dressing and spreads.

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

7am A typical day for me would be a powdered sachet of caffe latte (I have a basic coffee machine but not one that can do the milk frothing). They're basically a sweetened coffee which you just put boiling water in and then milk to your taste.
10am Satsuma
11am Banana
1pm Lunch (usually a sandwich if at work, or I will bring a wrap. I don't like bringing fish into the office as the smell is offensive to everyone) I work beside an M&S and they do lovely tubs of mini sausage rolls or cocktail sausages.
3pm Yoghurt
4pm Biscuit as my colleagues are assholes and want me to be fat haha
Sometimes I wouldn't get time to eat at all if I'm very busy, but I make sure to eat my lunch, even if it's later than usual.

[WalkingDownTheStreet]

If you boil 2 eggs the night before and let them cool and then put them in the fridge, it's so easy. You can have an egg ready for two days running. Pickled beetroot really compliments ham. Coleslaw does too, but as it's a bit calorific if you pick the nice one, then you might need to forego the bread. Olives are lovely too.
Some days I just want what I get in a shop called Eat. It's a half a white baguette with ham and cheese. I don't think that it's cheddar, I think it might be emmental. Yum.

[FrenchBoule]

Eggs
Lean meat ( chicken breast) and salad

Salad doesn’t have to be just veg

Mixture of avocado,chicken(or prawns) with hard boiled eggs binded by spoon of philadelphia cheese

Shakshuka is great.

Keep away from carbs like bread,wraps,pasta,chips (and all processed crap)

[FrenchBoule]

Coleslaw- homemade one

Cabbage shredded with veg peeler,finely chopped onion,grated apple and carrot.
Mixed with just enough mayo and natural yoghurt to bind it together.

Shredded cabbage with leek and sweetcorn with mayo/yoghurt sauce.

Eggs-omlette, hard boiled,fried,poached,scrambled...

Nuts for snacking