Lunch ideas and calories

What does everyone usually eat for lunch and about how many calories do you spend on it? I don't think I am getting enough calories at lunch.

Thanks,

jenn

Well I pretty much do what everyone tells me not to do. Almost every day during the weak I have a lean cuisine. They all average about 330 calories, well the ones I eat do. I love all of the paninis, flatbreads and pizzas. Sometimes I do make something at home. One of my favorites is a tuna sandwich. I use 2 slices of multi-grain bread (120 cals) a serving of shredded 2% cheese (90 cals) an entire can of tuna (100 cals) with lettuce and onions. I toast the bread and then put most of the cheese and tuna on top- pop it in the microwave to melt the cheese. I always leave a little tuna in the can. When I'm done with my sammich I add the rest of the cheese to it and finish it up! It really fills me up. So that totals a little more than 300 calories as well. I enjoy a large dinner- I can't do small meals throughout the day.

Most of the time I make my own food for lunch and eat it at work. Most of the time it's sallad which is around 400-500kcal.

For example today's sallad looked like this:
~120g of roasted turkey breast (skinless);
few leaves of Iceberg lettuce (love it, it's really crispy and really tasty and best thing about it is reaaally low in kcal);
1 medium red bell pepper;
2 pieces of rye bread.
and a big apple for dessert

another idea for salad would be:
lightly smoked low fat beef sliced into long thin strips;
~30g parmesan cheese;
around half of cup sliced cucumber (best the big long kind)
1-2 stalks of celery
few leaves of Iceberg lettuce
and a pice or two of dark bread (I like rye best and well it's healthy :))

just remembered another salad I really love:
roasted chicken breast cubed;
mozzarella cheese cubed
and cherry tomatos, that's it
I often eat it with a piece of chiabbata (I know it's not exactly best bread, but it just goes really well with this salad)

My lunch usually consists of a veggie soup, and some main dish similar to the kind of dinner you guys eat in the US (I`m from Romania btw, and this is the way we eat, dinner is a lot lighter). I normally aim for jane`s advice: 1/4 plate lean protein source + 1/4 plate whole grain + 1/2 plate veggies + 1tbsp olive oil. And for dessert either a lot of fruit or some yogurt/home made healthy muffin.

Out of 2000 cals I`d say about 6-800ish comes from lunch for me, depending on the day.

I usually eat some sort of wrap for lunch, with fruit and yogurt.  I usually have two small wraps.  One with turkey pepperoni and laughing cow cheese sprinkled w/ oregano.  That one is around 135 calories.  My second wrap is either portabella mushroom w/ tomato and a laughing cow cheese again sprinkled w/oragano, or a wrap w/ a little miracle whip, lettuce and tomato, or a slice of turkey w/salsa.  Those are around 95 calories each.  The possibilities with a good wrap are endless.  I highly recommend La Tortilla factory.  

With my wraps I usually have either 1/2 or 1 cup of yogurt (Blue Bunny so it's not as much sugar)  That is either 50 cals for 1/2 cup or 100 cals for 1 cup with a cup of grapes (60 calories).  

That brings a lunch total to 340-390 calories.  A couple of hours after lunch I like to have a snack of either an apple or if I've worked out hard for the day, I'll have some crackers w/hummus.  My crackers are either All Bran or Wheat Thins w/fiber.  I make my carbs count:)

Lunch for me is often two cups of homemade soup, stew or stir fry (lots of veggies and beans), raw veggies (sometimes with hummus), fresh fruit, occasionally a serving of whole grain. Averages 300-400 calories.

Lunch is usually around 300 calories -

Home -made bean and barley soup (lots of protein!) 158 cals/cup REALLY good!

salad - Raw spinach, goat cheese (in moderation here), mandarin oranges, plum tomatoes, diced red peppers with balsamic spritzer dressing.  Sometimes I'll slice up a baked chicken breast - like those perdue perfect portions - roughly 110 calories each. I skipped that today in lieu of the soup.

Usually a piece of fruit too.