why can't i get it together to make my own lunch

[Anonymous]

i just can't seem to manage it. or manage it consistently. and then i spend money on lunch that i shouldn't be. i don't know why i can't seem to do this one simple thing. makes me feel like i am incompetent or something.

[Anonymous]

Make/pack your lunch the night before.

[Anonymous]

I make it part of my morning routine. If you do it everyday, it becomes a habit.

[Anonymous]

How about some great lunch suggestions from those of you who regularly make your own? I just can't stand to look at another turkey sandwich and would love other ideas!

[Anonymous]

how do people avoid eating it by 10:30? I do this even if I eat breakfast.

[Anonymous]

Make a huge dinner and eat leftovers for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:how do people avoid eating it by 10:30? I do this even if I eat breakfast.

Have a small mid-morning snack--eg, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner.

[Anonymous]

i pack a 1030 snack and a 330 snack plus my lunch.


i hate frozen lunches/dinners. often its leftovers from dinner (i pack them up before we sit to eat). lunch can be a cup of lentil soup, some carrots, crackers and a piece of fruit. or cup of cottage cheese with strawberries or grapes, ww wrap with hummus, spinach and cucumber. i make lots of combinations. i try to make sure i have a couple of food groups in there. today is a BLT, banana and glass of milk (i keep milk in the fridge at work). rice an beans with a plum....chicken breast and broccoli with a slice of lowfat cheese on top.

snacks are fruit, string cheese, yogurt, keep condiments for your snacks/lunches at work (say lowfat cream cheese for your crackers etc...)

[Anonymous]

You could make your own frozen meals. Every other weekend make a big batch of something--lasagna, bean soup, beef and vegetable stew, etc. Freeze them in individual plastic containers. Once they're frozen, you can pop them out of the container and put it back in the freezer in a freezer bag. Then on the morning you want to eat it, take it out of the freezer bag and into the same container you froze it in (or one that's bigger is fine) and microwave it at work. After awhile, you'll have a variety of lunches to pick from so you're not eating bean soup all week.

[Anonymous]

I know some people hate going the frozen route, but it's so easy. Or if you eat Indian food, there are boxed (not frozen) meals that you just pop in the microwave. These things are more expensive than dinner leftovers or making your own sandwiches, but less expensive than eating out. Plus they're just sooooo easy to grab and go in the morning.

[Anonymous]

I have this problem too but I've started to go to the store on Sunday and buy all my fixins for sandwiches or a salad and basically take everything in on Monday morning and each day I make my lunch at work. This probably only works because I have my own refrigerator and we have a pantry with a sink. Or each night when you are putting your leftovers up, make your lunch for work the next day, just be sure to make extras each night so you will have enough to pack.

[Anonymous]

OP have you seen these laptop lunchboxes?

http://www.laptoplunches.com/LaptopLunchPhotos.html

They are like little Bento boxes that you can put leftovers into. True, you can just pack everything up in little ziplock bags. But it just seems more like a grownup meal when you put it into these cool containers. At least that's what it feels like to me -- I'd get one of these if I was working right now.

[Anonymous]

Wegmans sells those laptop lunch boxes. I've been thinking about getting one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make a huge dinner and eat leftovers for lunch.

Me too. Almost always. I just pack up my lunch as I'm cleaning up after dinner.

[Anonymous]

I have a big salad every day for lunch.

It's pretty easy to get it together; since I do almost the same thing every day, I have a routine. I keep a bottle of dressing in the fridge at work. I buy prewashed lettuce and put some in a plastic bag. In a plastic container, I put whatever veggies I want (I usually do this in the morning, but you could do it the night before; it takes me about 5 min). If I have leftovers like grilled chicken or salmon, I'll add that also for protein. I also have a few single-serve cans of tuna in my desk that I can add if I don't have any other protein, or some days I bring a yogurt or cheese stick or nuts to eat for snack to get some protein that way. I keep a big bowl at work, so at lunchtime, I take my bowl to the kitchen, I toss the veggies, lettuce and dressing and voila! I also keep a box of whole wheat crackers in my office to eat with it.

The thing that keeps me from eating it early is that I have to assemble it. I've tried bringing a sandwich, but like the PPs, I will end up eating it by 10:30. My salad isn't "ready" until I put it together, so that keeps me from digging in too early.

I have to balance the convenience of keeping stuff in my desk with the need for portion control. I like nuts for a snack, but I don't keep them at work or I would eat the whole container in one day. So it's better for me to bring a small serving from home so I don't overindulge!