Cold/Packed Lunches - Healthy, Cheap Options?

[GTO Scott]

Because of a few changes upcoming in my life I'm starting to make a serious effort to shift the excess stones and get properly fit and healthy. I'm not aiming for muscle-rippling, six-packed perfection, but excess weight/fat needs to go.

I have most of my eating sorted, except lunchtimes. I work from an outstation that has no running water, no electricity and no gas (yes, i'm in Cornwall, no the locals haven't moved out of the dark ages yet). This means I need to take a packed lunch every day, which until recently has consisted of:

Sandwiches (4 slices white, usually hard cheese and sauce or meat and salad filling)
Crisps (1 or 2 packs depending on shift length, can be between 9 and 13 hrs)
Chocolate (couple of small - 10p/15p - bars, and a normal size bar of something)
Fruit - one item of.
Cake
Yoghurt
Drink - 2 bottles of Pepsi Max

I've altered this now to:
Sandwiches (4 slices wholemeal, meat and salad, or low fat Dairylea)
Crisps (one pack only)
Chocolate (one bar only)
Fruit - 2-3 items, usually apples/oranges/pears/plums/etc
Yoghurt (low fat)
Drink - Sparkling flavoured water

What else can I do? The sandwiches are the biggest problem that I can see - bread not good for being on a diet. I'm not keen on fish or spicy (hot) food.

All advice appreciated!

[obob]

I think your chocolate bars and crisps are a bigger problem. Replace these with fruit, replace the bread for wraps - 2 wraps would be about 230cals and 4 slices of bread about 420cals. Or just have salads - chicken salad with loads of salad to bulk it up and a low fat dressing.

[condor]

Buy a camping gaz stove and use that to cook simple things on - bring your own water ...so you can make cups of coffee etc.

[Dave200]

Bread is just fine for a diet, and wholemeal is exactly what you should choose. Don't get into this 'carb cutting' nonsense, as it's not a healthy way to try and lose weight.
Carbohydrate (preferably high fibre) gives you nice slow-releasing energy source, so it's perfect to help keep you active and stop you from getting peckish.

New diet content looks OK, but it seems a lot for 9hrs. 2 rounds of sandwiches, plus crisps, plus fruit, plus chocolate, plus yoghurt is a lot of calories for what is effectively one meal. Add them up and post them here, then post your height and target weight - you might be surprised.

Edited by Dave200 on Wednesday 16th March 20:44

[Shaw Tarse]

Have a look here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... though not all of it is healthy.

[EarlOfHazard]

Incorporate more protein in your diet - protein makes you feel full for longer, so you don't snack. How about some roasted chicken drumsticks?

[B3njamin]

Grated carrots work well I find - 2 carrots makes a decent amount of salad and a large bag of them costs a pound, unless you go organic etc... Good thing is that it seems filling due to the bulk of it and yet they aren't too callory dense.

Obviously it's going to get boring eventually but you can make salad out of plenty of things and you'll be surprised how nice they can be

[grumbledoak]

Wholemeal is a definite improvement. Make the sandwiches tasty, even if that means Mayo. Try fresh herbs.
Bin the crisps.
Chocolate isn't that bad, but have it less often than that.


Don't put yourself on a diet so soul destroying that you cannot stick to it.

[The Nur]

Get a little camping stove and start cooking. Great fun if you have the time

[ambuletz]

make some cold pasta salads using wholemeal pasta. have nuts or a fruit if you get peckish in the afternoon

[calibrax]

If you don't want to get a stove, get a flask and you can do nice hot soup.

I have one of these and it keeps soup REALLY hot for over 24 hours! holds 1.2 litres as well so you won't go short.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0001MQ8NA/ref=asc_df_B...

[CypherP]

ambuletz said:

make some cold pasta salads using wholemeal pasta. have nuts or a fruit if you get peckish in the afternoon

This. Either make extra when making pasta for an evening meal and once cold, mix with chopped ham/cheese/corned beef etc, or just start buying extra salad items and making salads for the day.

This means you won't be using bread every day, and have more of a variety and can also add to your fruit & veg intake as part of your main lunch.

Or, if you don't fancy having bread all the time, I buy wholemeal pittas from Sainsburys that work a treat. Normally fill mine with ham and mustard with cucumber, or cheese, tomato and lettuce. Failing that, potato salad is always a good alternative if you boil up some extra salad potatoes for the week.

[illmonkey]

Feck a dog!

I have 2 slices of bread (or a roll) with either cheese or something in it. Half a packet of crips and maybe a small chocolate bar.

That fills me up till dinner, although I sit at a desk.

[GTO Scott]

Thanks for the advice folks, I have to admit I was worried about getting any variety but it seems there's plenty of ways to vary what I have each day.

I have a stove, but nowhere to put it - I'm trying to convince the boss that an old caravan would be a good idea as an office/lunch break room as currently we use our cars as shelter.

[pugwash4x4]

Currently on a diet aiming to lose 2lb/week (for quite a lot of weeks).

The science is quite simple! To lose 2lbs you need to create a 7000cal differential in your favour- this can be achieved through either diet or exercise- or a combination.

I am using a combination to do both- have been losing between 2.5-3lb/week for 8 weeks now and have lost 22lbs so far.

Am using www.sparkpeople.com to calculate every single calory i eat, including every gram of oil i cook in, and every scrape of marge! (in my first week of tracking with no diet i was eating 3600 cals per day- my lunch looked much like yours!)

Using sparkpeople (whcih another PHer pinted me towards)i calculated my BMR was 3300 cals per day- i am eating 2400cals per day, and exercising to average another 500 cals per day- this gives a weekly deficit of 9800calories- which means i should be losing 2.5lb/week- guess what? i'm losing 2.5lb per week.

My food yesterday was:

breakfast- 60g of Alpen, 120ml of Semi
snack- 40g of mixed fruit and nuts
lunch- 2 pieces of wholemeal bread, 20g of light cream cheese, 20g of sandwich spread, 2 slices ham/turkey, as much salad as i can cram in
1 apple
During the day- usually 2-4 oranges
evening snack- 2 ryvita, 1 slice leerdammer light, 30g of chutney

dinner- 1 large Baked spud, 40g of light flora, 400g of home made chilli

All this (and its actually quite a lot as you are snacking throughout the day), only came to 2,100 cals.

If i don't eat a minimum of 2,350 cals i go into starvations mode and stop losing weight! hence i had to have some chocolate too (although only 2 squares)

So, go work out your BMR, start to do some exercise (even walking 2 miles a day is a start), and then track every single of gram of food you combine.

[pugwash4x4]

GTO Scott said:

I've altered this now to:
Sandwiches (4 slices wholemeal, meat and salad, or low fat Dairylea)
Crisps (one pack only)
Chocolate (one bar only)
Fruit - 2-3 items, usually apples/oranges/pears/plums/etc
Yoghurt (low fat)
Drink - Sparkling flavoured water

A quick calculation on your lunch:

Sanwiches- 4 slices of bread wil be at least 450 cals- add filling (probably 120 cals)- thats 570 just for sandwiches
Crisps- 130 cals
Chocolate- lucky to be less than 240cals
fruit- usually 50cals/item- 150 cals
yoghurt- evel low fat is 90 cals
drink- flavoured water is sometimes 70 cals-

total of 1,250 calories!!! that's significantly more than fish and chips, large big mac meal, and most other fast food.

or to upt it another way- that will be pretty much half your calories if you just want to maintain weight- so you better be having no breakfast (and skipping breakkie is a relly bad idea, as you eat far more later on), and a small supper with no dessert.

sorry

[pugwash4x4]

pugwash4x4 said:

GTO Scott said:

I've altered this now to:
Sandwiches (4 slices wholemeal, meat and salad, or low fat Dairylea)
Crisps (one pack only)
Chocolate (one bar only)
Fruit - 2-3 items, usually apples/oranges/pears/plums/etc
Yoghurt (low fat)
Drink - Sparkling flavoured water

A quick calculation on your lunch:

Sanwiches- 4 slices of bread wil be at least 450 cals- add filling (probably 120 cals)- thats 570 just for sandwiches
Crisps- 130 cals
Chocolate- lucky to be less than 240cals
fruit- usually 50cals/item- 150 cals
yoghurt- evel low fat is 90 cals
drink- flavoured water is sometimes 70 cals-

total of 1,250 calories!!! that's significantly more than fish and chips, large big mac meal, and most other fast food.

or to upt it another way- that will be pretty much half your calories if you just want to maintain weight- so you better be having no breakfast (and skipping breakkie is a relly bad idea, as you eat far more later on), and a small supper with no dessert.

sorry

Actually got a bit obseesed by this- if you want a worst case!

Sandwiches- if you like mayo or butter in your sarnies- you can easily spread 40g between both (and this will look like a thin scrape)- this adds 330 cals- taking your sarnies to 900 cals.
a bag of monster much is 196 cals
chocolate- a mars bar is 295 cals
fruit- large pears can have 80cals each- this would be 240 cals
yoghurt- a taste the difference sainsburys yog is 190 cals
drink- lets just say you buy a bottle of full fat coke- 210

grand total- 2040calories

(which is why i was putting weight on!)

[I Love Lamp]

Here's what I do, make it in the morning/night before to allow it time to marinade. Literally takes 5 mins to prepare if you've bought pre-cooked.

2 tins of Tuna or 250g cooked chicken breast
1 large tin chopped tomatoes
1 1tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp mixed herbs
1 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
pinch of garlic salt
seasoning

If you're feeling adventurous at home, cook the chicken yourself, add a small onion (diced) and mix in with the other crap

Put in a sealed container.

Take container to work, along with a couple of wholemeal rolls.

Done. £2-3 dependant on your choice of tuna or chicken.

I do this, but eat half at lunch time (with 1 roll) and half at around 4pm, but that's because I'm on a silly protein diet.

I also only found out today, that it's advised you only consume 2 portions of tuna a WEEK, I was doing that per day, oops!

P.S. 3 bits of fruit is more than enough for your lunch break, do NOT substitute the mars bars for MORE fruit. Fruit is sugar, sugar is calories. People don't seem to understand that eating too much fruit WILL put on weight. Just cut out that snacks and replace with something a bit healthier, a little later in the day (if possible?). I'm fortunate to work in an office, so at around 4pm, I'll usually eat the rest of what I had for lunch with a banana and nuts.

Edited by I Love Lamp on Thursday 17th March 10:39

[pugwash4x4]

FWIW you can eat 8 clementines to a bar of dairy milk! that's a lot of orange....

[Mr E]

Ditch the regular bread and use tortilla wraps instead?