What do you eat for lunch?

I work in the city and never know what to get for lunch. There are endless takeout options, but I'm only drawn to the unhealthy ones. Traditional lunch items like a sandwich or salad leave me feeling completely unsatisfied. Carbs are my downfall - I crave starchy foods all the time. I would love some inspiration ideas of healthy options for lunch that won't make me miserable.

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

Is bringing lunch an option?

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

My big thing, especially in the colder seasons is soup. I love it and it's fillig! I made a crockpot full of lentil soup overnight and it was ready for me when I woke up. Basically healthy (other than the lgrated cheese I like to put in it.) I love any kind of bean soup, chicken soup, etc. It's also nice to have a big pot of it to have a few times in the week and freeze the rest.

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

Can you bring food? This is your best option.

If you use frozen vegetables as your base, it will keep the rest cold until you can microwave it.

I generally do mostly vegetables, small starch/carb, and medium protein. So a typical lunch for me would be - cauliflower/broccoli/carrot, 1 cup of quinoa, 1 chicken breast.

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

I work in the city and really try to bring my lunch at least 4 x's per week. It really saves calories and money. Both DH and I do this and when we do go out for lunch, it's more of a treat.

Here's some ideas:
-healthy turkey chili (they serve this in my cafeteria) but I also like to make it at home - lots of veggies/beans/lean turkey and no oils

-Soups as others have mentioned, I like hot lunch in the winter

-Grilled Chicken - I make a few on Sunday and then add to sandwiches, salads, etc

-Healthy Frozen/pre-made meals - Example: I like the Indian meals in a box from Trader Joes - under 300 calories for the whole box and they are $2. I add some fruit and/or veggies as snack and sometimes a few crackers

If you want to buy lunch everyday - I do think the salads are probably the way to go but careful with fattening oils/toppings.

Are there local places with "healthy" style meals - i.e. baked/grilled chicken, fish, etc. Personally, I look to up the veggies and limit the carbs when getting takeout. Get Chipotle salad or a bowl with no rice, etc.

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

I eat a salad almost every day. But not a boring lettucey salad. There are hundreds of fruits and veggies to choose from and I use many many many different ones to make it exciting. I also make dressings galore so Im never bored! Lean proteins are endless too...just never get sick of it when you vary your ingredients! Keeps me nice and slim too!!

What do you eat for lunch?

I bring my lunch but when I get lunch (city also) I get sushi, salads, grilled chicken and veggies.

Occasionally I will splurge and get shake shack, baja fresh or a sandwich.

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

Here are some options I do:

I make a protein shake in the morning with whey protein, 1 banana, 4 almonds, and 1/2 cup 2% milk, and 1/2 cup water. Take it go and I eat an apple about 2 hours later. Very fulfilling.

I make grilled cheese - 2 whole grain slices of bread, 2 THIN slices of turkey (oven gold), 1 slice of cheddar cheese, 1 slice of tomato, baby spinach and chopped red onion, and I heat on a skillet (I use nonstick spray), I heat it for a few seconds on each side. (have a handful of pretzels on the side for your carb craving).

Progressive soups if I don't have time for anything.

1 lean pocket with a small bag of spinach (steamed)

1 slice of pizza w/ a few grapes an hour later

whole wheat bagel scooped out with two egg whites w/ veggies or ham/turkey

caprese salad. I LOVE THIS!! Tomato, fresh mozz, basil - I do this small and take a leftover chicken cutlet from dinner.

What do you eat for lunch?

Guy & Gallard and Gigi cafe - both are all over the city - have great "create your own" options for salad and for Gigi for pasta as well... it's easy to order online, really not super expensive, and the salads are always really yummy... They deliver easily - also Hale & Hearty delivers & you can order online... there's also Oxford Cafe (I just don't know how many there are in the city - I worked in midtown east so there was one right there).

Re: What do you eat for lunch?

What do you eat for lunch?

I tend to find something easy and stick with it. I generally either make an egg white and cheddar omelet with hot sauce or pick up a chopped salad on the way to the office. Today I just picked up a rotisserie chicken and stuff to make lettuce wraps for something different.

What do you eat for lunch?

I'm loving all these suggestions. Thanks guys!

Unfortunately I'm not near Pret-a-Manger, so I've never tried it. I just found out that Guy and Gallard makes eggs through the afternoon, and if you order on their site its 10% off, so I've gotten their egg white omelettes a few times.

I'm intrigued at using frozen veggies to keep lunch cold all morning - its so simple but I would've never thought of that. I should start bringing lunch more often, its just hard to find time to put it together. I just started back on WW so that is also helping me find inspiration.