Packed lunches for weight loss - no ability to heat

[secondhoneymoon]

Getting no responses on diet thread so posting here - please help - love my food and best chance of succeeding is if I don't feel hungry
'Yet another attempt at losing weight. Need to take a packed lunch to avoid temptation of calorific lunch options in the canteen. Apart from sandwiches, salads, flasks of soup, what else could i take to work? No heating facilities so has to be good and satisfying cold'

Frittata is great cold and easy to make. Interesting salads (try tossed in a jar types). Tossed pasta/courgetti. Leftover salmon/chicken. Hummus and crackers (although small portion hummus!). Tuna dishes. Hard boiled eggs. Vegetarian chilli in lettuce wraps is nice cold.

Thank you, these are the kind of practical suggestions I need! If I could reheat, would just take a portion of previous night's meal but can't

I like cous cous with chicken & vegetables chopped through it. You can add a little low fat dressing if you like or a low fat / sugar chilli sauce.

Potato salad with baby new potatoes, bacon with all fat cut off, lowest mayo, spring onion & herbs. Have it with a chicken breast or thigh with the skin removed.

I take veggie packed stews or pasta in a flask, even lasagne in a wide necked one with a pot of salad. Baked potato wrapped in foil stays hot with some tuna orsalad types toppings.

Obviously I put the baked potato in the flask

Salads based on grains (bulgar wheat) or pulses are satisfying and you can endlessly ring the changes. Or noodle salad with soy and lime dressing, spring onion, smoked mackerel and cucumber.

I have a wide neck flask I use for hot stews, lots of protein from meat and pulses and a ton of veg. Would also work with curries and last nights dinner.

I make a quinoa and herby/veggie salad with grilled Halloumi from Fearne Cotton's recipe book and have it cold for lunch, it's delicious either warm or cold.

Also I make lentil salads with cold chicken or couscous with toasted nuts and stuff.

What kind of meals do you like in the evening? I try to incorporate leftovers into my lunches, so may be able to help!

I have 11ses of oats mixed with yoghurt & fruits ... that gives me time to go for a lovely brisk walk at lunchtime followed by some fruits or veg like carrots cucumber and peppers with humus.

Thank you all, appreciate there are endless salad ideas. Evenings we eat stews, roasts, pasta dishes, all sorts really. If I had access to a microwave would just take a portion and reheat. Have heard mixed reviews of wide flasks - would they keep soup/stew hot from 7:30am til 1?

I bought bowl type from halfords and yes they keep food at a nice temp. But do invest dc have cheaper ones that are not as good.

Do you know what make Canyoi?

Soup in a flask! Preheat your flask and your hot soup will stay hot all day.

The two good ones Ihave are called Pioneer and Thermos. The DC have Polar ones which are of for cold foods but will not keep hot for 4 hrs plus.
I get up boil kettle make coffee fill the flask with hot water and keave while I get ready and yhen put the hot food in just before I leave.

A good wide thermos (go for the brand Thermos imo) would keep stuff hot for 10-12 hours. Most pasta dishes are quite nice cold (though not always low calorie!). If you do roasts I would take either a sandwich or a salad with the leftover meat- lentils/pulses are really filling. I made a lovely roast cauliflower salad with tahini yoghurt dressing for lunch today which would be really nice with any leftover meat.

I have the thermos stainless king flask 470ml, it is perfect and food is always piping hot. You should warm the flask with boiling water for ten mins, heat the food you are going to put in it, then empty the flask and get the hot food straight in. Once I did not have time for lunch and the food was still hot 11 hours later, I had it for supper there and then.
It changed my lunchtime life, I'm a big fan!

I like the sound of roast cauliflower salad sugar

Thanks all, I saw a wide Thermos today in TK Max but it was £17.99 - is that the normal price for a good flask?

All of the above sound great. I like a noodle salad with some tasty dressing and grated veg and cooked chicken or something.

contentedcat the recipe I use is from a book, there's a link to it here.

OP that's about right for a decent thermos. I have the 470ml one mentioned above.

I liked the salad love book. Lots of ideas.

We got the kids a wide neck Thermos from Asda for a tenner. They are allowed to take to school for packed lunch. Brill when it's cold instead of sandwiches and keeps the food warm. Just make sure to put boiling water in it fir a while before your food.