Any healthy lunch suggestions(from tesco!)?

IvoryTower

I work next door to tesco, have access to a microwave. I generally just have a microwavable meal or I sneak off to mcdonalds etc which I want to cut out

Any suggestions for something healthy I could pick up in tesco. I'm thinking I could make scrambled eggs but I imagine that will get old pretty quick if I don't have other ideas to fill the week

for breakfast I have a smoothie and weetabix around 11

Alf Veedersane

Are you trying to improve your diet in general?

Lunch options need a bit of context, such as what you have the rest of the day.

Also, you should think about preparing lunches for the guts of the week on a Sunday to mix up with the like of scrambled eggs. Having something prepared saves you from going for sh*tty options like a McD meal

mejulie805

You could make baked potatoes in the microwave, then buy toppings in tesco- tuna, salads, beans?

Personally I'd recommend using the microwave to warm up pre=prepared meals from home, if you have time!

IvoryTower

Yes I'm trying to improve my diet in general. I'm quite fit but I eat badly so I've been trying to fix one meal at a time, replacing current feed with something I like that's healthier option.

My biggest problem is I hate cooking, so I don't really want to be spending an hour or two of my sunday preparing the weeks dinners, but I understand that it should be my ultimate goal.

The baked potato idea is good , thanks

Alf an example of diet

Morning - smoothie, strawberries, banana, spinach, flax seeds, protein if ive been training night before or that morning. (when im eating badly this would be replaced by some sugary cereal, thankfully this is one routine ive managed to keep going)

mid morning - currently weetabix (which replaced a bar of chocolate! not having it with sugar which i normally do)

Lunch - Ready meal, fast food or soup & sambo from local cafe(prob healthiest of bunch)

Dinner - lasagne, steak, burger & chips, spag bol, chicken kiev, pizza, anything like that really, some nights a take away instead. My oh does most of cooking but neither of us particularly like having to do it, hence the take aways and easily cooked dinners!

Snacks: I eat TONS of chocolate, like horrendous amounts. I could sit there and eat through a whole packet of biscuits no problem. I try to go cold turkey on it now and again and normally last between a week or two. id say i average a few bars a day easily. Trying to stop again today.

Alf Veedersane

Yeah, while a decent lunch will help, your whole diet probably needs working on.

There are a lot of easily cooked dinners that can be done in the same time it takes to make a pizza or cook chicken kievs. I'm guessing that veg doesn't feature much either?

IvoryTower

Normally when we have a meat, like steak, chicken etc, there would be some veg with it (we buy frozen veg)

Then there's the spinach in smoothie to help get some more in

Alf Veedersane

Your best bet is to prepare something at the weekend. You'll get as far as Wednesdays with most stuff you cook on a Sunday. Doesn't have to be fancy.

i have scrambled eggs most days for lunch. It doesn't get old because I enjoy them.

IvoryTower

do you eat anything with scrambled eggs? I quite like them myself, Id say I could alternate them with the soup/sambo and id be at least doing a lot better than alternating with fast food

Alf Veedersane

IvoryTower wrote: »

do you eat anything with scrambled eggs? I quite like them myself, Id say I could alternate them with the soup/sambo and id be at least doing a lot better than alternating with fast food

I've often just had them on their own and I feel satisfied. You could try them with avodaco, tomatoes, cheese...anything

Mars Bar

Egg and avocado are a match made in heaven.

MrWalsh

IvoryTower wrote: »

do you eat anything with scrambled eggs? I quite like them myself, Id say I could alternate them with the soup/sambo and id be at least doing a lot better than alternating with fast food

I sometimes chop a couple of scallions, small bit of hot pepper, a few mushrooms and tear up a slice of ham or turkey into a container and then scramble them with eggs in the work microwave.

My staple lunch is cheese and ham or turkey on Ryvita (with tomato for variety!). Its simple, its filling, its tasty and crucially - it takes 5 minutes to put together in the mornings and I dont have to think about it.

I was in Tesco last week and I noticed they had a lot more stodgy lunch ready meals than healthy ones. Its a shame, the Tescos in the UK are stuffed full of exciting salads (ie, not just ham, lettuce and coleslaw) - but they dont seem as popular here. But they have a self service counter where you could put together a healthy salad.

smeal

Cooking at home and prepping on Sunday is really your best bet. The main advantage of doing this is that you know exactly what you're putting in to your lunch box every day. A lot of "healthy" ready to go lunches advertised in supermarkets are packed with hidden calories, sugars and other additive and I find that some of the salad bar options are heaped in mayonnaise covered options.

Every Sunday i pop three chicken fillets into the oven, spice them up with cayenne pepper, paprika, sea salt, black pepper and basil and roast some vegetables (peppers & mushrooms) along side them. Then I throw together some veg (sweet potato, brocolli and spinach) in a saucepan which takes max 15 mins. The chicken and veg in the oven are done in no longer than 45 mins and it serves up as a tasty, cheap, healthy lunch that does me until Wednesday. I do this while I'm cooking my Sunday dinner or watching tv and by know means does it take any extensive culinary expertise. I usually chop and change the spices (last week I simply just let the chicken cook in lemon wedges and garlic with a dash of left over white wine and threw a bit of thyme over it) or I mix up the vegetables so that I don't get sick of it. Then on a Wednesday night I'll either throw in another two chicken fillets and do the same thing or else make a big healthy stir fry or something for dinner and box up 2 portions for lunch for Thurs & Friday.

I've been doing this myself now for about 6 weeks since I've started more exercise trying to tone up. It's definitely paying off and I feel great! I don't feel half as bloated or anything after eating those shi**y convenience soups and it's much more filling and exciting than a salad so I'm not itching to get into the chocolate box after lunch. Also, I've saved a heap of money. You really need to give these things a go

IvoryTower

thanks for the suggestions

smeal that sounds great apart from the fact I don't think id enjoy eating chicken fillets and vegetables for one lunch never mind every lunch for 6 weeks but its certainly the direction i should be going. I'll start with the scrambled eggs today and think about what i could cook in bulk on a sunday(that i like!)

Alf Veedersane

I don't see why this idea that having the same lunch several days in a row is such a problem.

Do you have something different for your breakfast most days?

IvoryTower

Some things i can have everyday(or most days), like a smoothie or cereal. I can just change a fruit, or pick a different cereal after a week or two and I'm good to keep going. That's why my day is okay up until lunch. I don't have anything that I wont get sick of after a few days to fill that gap. I'm thinking eggs for some of it anyway.

Then i'll sort the dinners out.

MrWalsh

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I don't see why this idea that having the same lunch several days in a row is such a problem.

Do you have something different for your breakfast most days?

I have the same food for breakfast and lunch every work day. I have a weekly dinner menu that one item changes on from time to time (pork chops fell out of favour for a while but theyre back on now).

When you work 9-5.30 mon-fri its easier and less time consuming to just have a routine imo.

IvoryTower

Had scambled eggs for lunch there and I'm already starving, even had wholemeal toast with it.

Someone at work mentioned some sort of cup for doing poached eggs in the microwave, must look into it

MrWalsh

IvoryTower wrote: »

Had scambled eggs for lunch there and I'm already starving, even had wholemeal toast with it.

Someone at work mentioned some sort of cup for doing poached eggs in the microwave, must look into it

How many did you have? And what did you scramble with them? If I dont bulk them out with veg/mushrooms I get hungry quickly after as well.

Alf Veedersane

Have you looked into how many calories you should be getting on board?

IvoryTower

Hi Mr Walsh, I just had 2 eggs on their own, if i try 3 i find they dont cook very well, certainly not in this microwave. Veggies or something needed alright


I just logged onto myfitness pal for the first time in a year and put in some rough figures(not exactly sure of my weight)

Net Calories Consumed* / Day 2,240 Calories / Day
Carbs / Day 280.0 g
Fat / Day 75.0 g
Protein / Day 112.0 g


Calories Burned / Week 1,330 Calories / Week
Workouts / Weekends 4 workouts
Minutes / Workout 50 minutes


I would say at my worst there are days where i eat twice that calories in almost all crappy foods(hence why I'm here). I will check my proper weight tonight and start filling in myfitness pal fro a while to see what im like

MrWalsh

IvoryTower wrote: »

Hi Mr Walsh, I just had 2 eggs on their own, if i try 3 i find they dont cook very well, certainly not in this microwave. Veggies or something needed alright

I have a rule of 2's with my egg lunches

2 eggs
2 scallions
2 mushrooms
2 sprinkles grated cheese
2 shakes black pepper
1 hot pepper (2 is too many!!)

IvoryTower

so all of that goes into the microwave with the eggs? sounds yum

MrWalsh

IvoryTower wrote: »

so all of that goes into the microwave with the eggs? sounds yum

Yeah, dash of milk, mix it all around, in for 1 minute, out and stir it, in for 1 minute - the time might vary (my home microwave cooks it faster than the work one) - you'll get used to it.

If you dont take it out and mix it about during the cooking I find you get soggy spots and rubbery spots.

IvoryTower

I'm familiar with making them in microwaves alright. That's great thanks, tomorrows lunch

Alf Veedersane

MrWalsh wrote: »

2 eggs
2 scallions
2 mushrooms
2 sprinkles grated cheese
2 shakes black pepper
1 hot pepper (2 is too many!!)

The anti-Jumbo Breakfast Roll

MrWalsh

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

The anti-Jumbo Breakfast Roll

I forgot to mention a vital ingredient!

Eat the scrambled deliciousness with 3 Ryvita's!

IvoryTower

Got ryvitas last night and had them with cheese, tomato and onion, was lovely. Will pick up some cheese spread on my break to use as a go to snack at work.

Checked my weight and it was exactly as i guessed so myfitnesspal should be correct. Oddly enough it reckoned i need 665 more calories to break even. The chocolate may have been keeping my weight up! I may have missed out on a few details that would make a difference but doubtful 600 calories difference

Alf Veedersane

IvoryTower wrote: »

Got ryvitas last night and had them with cheese, tomato and onion, was lovely. Will pick up some cheese spread on my break to use as a go to snack at work.

Checked my weight and it was exactly as i guessed so myfitnesspal should be correct. Oddly enough it reckoned i need 665 more calories to break even. The chocolate may have been keeping my weight up! I may have missed out on a few details that would make a difference but doubtful 600 calories difference

MFP isn't great for estimating what your calorie target should be.

IvoryTower

Using the calculation in the sticky I got 1596.91. 1000 difference. Both way off id imagine.

Alf Veedersane

Try this one.

strelok

if you don't mind waiting a month to find out

https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/3bx3rl/a_tool_i_made_to_help_find_your_actual_tdee_and/

looks pretty cool