Quick and Healthy Lunch Ideas Needed - pleasseeeee

I am trying to change my diet and eat better/lose weight, but after a week of chopping and chopping and chopping vegetables, to the point of thinking it has become a second job, I really need some good ideas for healthy and filling and quick lunches.  I don't want to have to revisit the grocery store five times during the week to get more vegetables and also would love variety in my lunches.  Any good ideas?  I would be so grateful!

Thanks!

Hi there, I usually eat salads everyday for work. I dont go to the grocery store only 1 time a week. I will buy my heads of lettuce and when I get home I put them in big gallon zip lock bags. It seems to keep the lettuce fresher and it lasts alot longer! I will use diffrent things to spice it up. I dont always put on the same things everyday. One day I will put in chicken breast that I cooked the night before. Throw in some black beans, onions, and croutons, and wonton strips. Maybe other days I will put some cheese in it, and I also have these crunchy onions that I put on. Other days I will make a taco salad. I buy a bag of baby carrots and cut a few up each day and add them. There are so many diffrent things to do with a salad. I have been doing that all summer long. Good Luck!

Each day for work I take:  cottage cheese, cantaloupe/peach/or pear, yogurt, fiber one to mix in yogurt, a sandwich of lean ham on light whole grain bun with mustard.  That is my go to lunch.  I eat a bowl of cereal and fruit before work.  Since I work very early in the morning I usually come home and make a protien based snack, such as an egg white omlet or egg sandwich on light english muffin, before or after I work out depending on which workout I do.

http://caloriecount.about.com/anybody-good-sa lad-recipes-ft108397

just found this page for you

I get bored easy...and I often eat 6-7 meals a day.

A couple of days ideas might be...

A baked potato (cut holes and pop it in the microwave at work) with low cal sour cream/cottage cheese...some veggies...or even a little low cal cheese

Some lentil soup and crackers.  They come in all kinds of styles-dried(just add water), boxed just heat up, or if you have to-canned

I like to throw a bunch of chunks of veggies (squash, celery, cherry tomatoes, chunks of corn on the cob, onion, garlic, chickpeas, mushrooms, red potato, asparagus...etc) in a pot with double the amount of water, season...cook for about 20 min = yummy low cal soup (sometimes I add some meat) (can last a couple of days...and if you make it spicy, will taste better the second day)

Whole grain bread grilled with turkey breast and a slice of good cheese...reheat in the toaster oven at work

Dont forget to get some good fat in...like avocado.  I sometimes like to make an avocado sandwich (1/2 avocado, low fat mayo, seasoned on wholegrain bread)  Its higher in calories...but sometimes good on a day you have some extra left over

Sometimes, for lunch, I like to eat cereal.  Its easy to throw some Kashi GoLean granola into a baggie, put some milk in a tupperware...yum!

I like to grill veggies (asparagus, garlic, onion, zucchini, red potato, etc) on the stove and throw them in some low cal tortillas

You can make some spring rolls using rice paper (most grocers carry).  I personnally do not like cold noodles...but I like them with veggies

I often leave one serving from dinner the night before that I can take into work.  Sometimes for dinner I might use whole wheat spaghetti grill some vegetables, black olives, capers and shrimp in a little olive oil for a topping.  If you get good at it, you will come up with all kinds of concoctions.  My friends laugh at me because I often stare into my fridge asking "hmm, what looks good over spaghetti"  and they always love what I come up with.

And believe it or not, there are some terrific low cal frozen meals out there...Lean Cuizine, Smart Choice etc.  I like to switch up my days occasionally with them.

Anyways, I look forward to seeing what some other CC'ers ideas are. 

Good luck, and have fun!  It doesnt have to be so intense and monotonous.  If you come up with some great ideas, I look forward to reading them...

LOL, I don't know how much this will help, but I have this strange belief that if I put anything on a bed of fresh spinach, it's a salad. I will put egg whites, tuna, leftovers from last nights dinner, whatever. I eat what seems to be a million times a day because I can't do three big meals. Over the course of a day, I'll have at least a few different kinds of 'salads.' Last night I tried scallops. It would have been much better if I knew how to cook them, LOL. But you get the idea. And if you're looking for carbs, as long as you use some form of bread, it's a sandwich.

I usually eat a wrap of some sort and yogurt w/fresh fruit.

Lately my two favorite wraps are: La tortilla factory 50 cal wrap with either a slice of ham(40 cals) or turkey (30 cals) with honey mustard, lettuce or spinach, banana peppers and grape tomatoes sliced in half.  

The other wrap that I love is the same 50 cal wrap with turkey pepperoni and a slice of mozzarella cheese and a little oregano.  It's filling and takes away my craving for pizza.

You can do lettuce roll ups.  Put your sandwich filling on a large lettuce leaf and roll it up - it's neat to eat and there are no calories from bread.  Low fat, low sodium deli turkey breast works great, and so do tuna, chicken and egg salad.

Make batch of a 3 or 4 bean salad.   It keeps in the refrigerator for a week and actually is better the second day.  I like a pretty combo of red kidney beans, black eye peas and bright green edamame or baby limas.  For crunch I add celery and grated carrot and bell peppers.  For flavor I add chopped tomato and sweet onion.  I use either a homemade olive oil vinegarette or a fat free bottled dressing.  You can vary it by making it plain for a few days, then adding olives or croutons or crunchy radishes - the possibilites are endless.

I like to stuff a tomato with cottage cheese or tuna salad.

Grilled veggies in a low fat tortialla.

Grilled chicken with a salad.

I also eat a lot of leftovers.

These are great ideas!  Today I had a salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mushrooms, carrots ) with smoked salmon on top and light dressing.  It turned out really good.  I also brought 1/2 cup chickpeas, an apple, and 1/2 cup cottage cheese for three different between-meal snacks, and it's 3pm and not even wanting my second snack yet (I think because of all the good protein - yea!).  Usually by this time I've eaten all my snacks and then some.  I guess along with the change in mind-set of healthier eating is also just making the time to prepare the food needed to achieve that healthier life.  I have to remember when I'm doing that extra food prep work, that this is "me" time - this is the time in the day when I am doing something really good for myself with positive life-long benefits as the result.

I really appreciate all the support and encouragement of fellow cc'ers.  Thanks again!

My lunch every day takes about 5-10 minutes to make.

1 hardboiled egg (I boil about a dozen at a time so I have them on hand!)

Turkey wrap (whole wheat tortilla with either ff cream cheese or hummus, lettuce, turkey breast, sometimes tomatoes and peppers, whatever you like really!)

1 apple

Cucumber slices/carrots

Very fast and easy and filling =)

I love posts like this!  I usually make my lunches for the week on Sunday -

its something like....veggie soup or brown rice and veggies, non fat yogurt w/fresh fruit and 1 serving of raw almonds.   I space it out throughout the day.  Also - I keep a variety of gum and sugarfree hard candy in my desk just in case!

SO I just found my second love.....A grilled veggie pita...ok so there are these whole wheat pitas with only 60 calories for the WHOLE THING!! So I take onions, mushrooms, peppers in a skillet with some pam and let it all cook. Then I split it down the middle and make two piles. THen I place a slice of fat free cheese on each. Let it melt a bit then load it into the pita. ( i usually cut the pita in half so I have two pockets....This is SOOO filling and flavorful and it only has around 250 calories!!!! SERIOUSLY!!

Lentils with roasted veg and goats cheese - Cook a portion (or however many porions you need) in some vegetable or chicken stock. Make sure the lentils still have some bite (20 min does it for me on a low simmer).

Roughly chop some vegetables of your choice, such as courgette, peppers, onion, and season with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and put in a preheated oven for about 15-29 min, the veg still need to have some bite.

When all is cooked, throw it all together and add some more balsamic venegar and olive oil to season - a very little will do. Let it sit for a while so the juices mix.

Serve with some grated goats cheese and add some pinenuts if you like. It can be eaten hot or cold so fantastic lunch option, low in calories and high in flavor!

I'm not  a big lentil fan but I loved thi