What to have for lunch?

[tubby2]

Well here I am at the end of Week 3 and so far my progresss has been Week 1 lost 5lbs, Week 2 lost 3Lbs, Week 3 lost 1lb.

I am really pleased especially as I did slip a little over the Bank Holiday Weekend but I got straight back on the plan on Tuesday (normally I would say "oh well, I've blown it, I will start again on Monday").

I'm now into dangereous territory because it's about now I usually get bored eating more or less the same things so I wondered if anyone had any advice on what to have for lunch at work. I am getting a bit sick of home made soup or salad.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Hope you are all doing well this week. x

[legs2013]

Hi Tubby2,

Well done you sound like you are really foucused. Lovely to hear that you haven't been to hard on yourself.

The Food Doctor Pitta's are really nice there priced 99p for six in Sainsburys. I stuff them with tuna, mixed with low calorie, Mayo and salad cream, chopped cucumber, celery and onion.

We find them very filling and tasty.

Good luck with the rest of the week.

[tubby2]

Thanks legs2013

I will give the Pitta's a try. I have bought some Cous Cous today with some chicken Tikka, I will let you know how that goes down as I've never had Cous Cous before.

Good luck to you too.

[Hidden]

Hi tubby2,

Now this is where it gets to be interesting and fun!

It was around this point that I realised that I hadn't died from not eating fatty and creamy and sweet and chocolate-covered rubbish, nor from having human-sized, rather than super-sized, portions.

No - whilst I would bow to superior medical knowledge on the fact - despite all my fears, I was actually still alive and indeed even thriving.

So - using the paralel of giving up smoking - I began to see through the idea of 'I "need" something to eat' / 'I "need" a bar of chocolate' / 'I "need" a sugary drink'

I didn't "need" any of them, anymore than a smoker claims to "need" a cigarette!

Busting that myth allowed me to focus on eating sensibly, in terms of calorie intake and nutritiion and portion size, but also gave me free reign to try new things to eat, or new ways to do old favourites.

Some thoughts. Firstly the web has low-calories recipes in loads of places, but do watch carefully because low-fat does not necessarily mean low-calorie.

Secondly, explore better ways to cook things, for example, eggs and bacon can be done as scrambled or poached eggs with trimmed bacon fried with one of those 'one-calorie' type sprays, or perhaps substitute turkey rashers for the bacon.

Thirdly, you can eat high-calorie foods, but only occasionally and in very moderate amounts - e.g. whilst the 100g bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk is well 'out the door', a little grated dark chocolate over some fruit (raspberries, perhaps) with zero-fat youghurt works nicely You could even use a pinch or two of nice organic cocoa powder instead.

Also, whatever you eat or don't eat, remember that especially when you're eating less, you DO need to ensure you are getting the full range of nutrients.

Finally, instead of sugaring, creaming or oiling it up - spice it up! Spice is the friend of the dieter.

You'll probably start to notice that as you do less and less sugary and fatty stuff, you actually want that sort of food less. If you change what you eat, your tastes will change to adapt.

Good luck with your weight loss journey.

[tubby2]

Hi Doikosp

I too gave up smoking 5 years ago so I know I have some willpower in there somewhere. What you say about wanting less sugary food has happened to me already, I always have a Kit Kat with my last cup of tea each night (107 calories counted) but during the last few days I did not seem to be bothered about it,

The same thing has happened with alcohol, I used to arrive home from work and pour myself a drink (home measures) just to unwind, I now have a cuppa and a lite digestive.

I hope I don't sound too saintly because I am certainly not but whilst I am in the right frame of mind I might as well make the most of it.

My next task is to cut down on the salt, my freinds and family are horrified at the amount I throw on my food, again I'm going to use some spicy condiments instead (watch this space).

Good luck to you too x

[Nicolaaaa]

Well done and thankyou everyone for the inspirational tips! X

[Purplemoonjm]

I love cous cous, it's just not got much flavour so I add a stock cube to it . It's nice hot or cold so you could add it to salad to make it more filling or try wholemeal pasta. I think you need a carb at lunch to keep you full for longer. Good luck & happy cooking

[tubby2 in reply to Purplemoonjm]

Hi Purplemoonjm,

I'm going to give it a try at work tomorrow, I do seem to want to snack around 3pm so hopefully the carbs will help. Good luck to you too. X