Lunch ideas

[EvilYoda]

So my big push going forward (I'm moving into a house this week, out of the apartment) is going to be my nutrition in addition to being more consistent with my CrossFit schedule.

Usually, my breakfasts and dinners are good (I love me some eggs and meat in the morning), but lunch can be iffy. I've been making sandwiches, but I want to cut down as many grains/carbs as possible (but not to the point of insanity). The idea of just eating lunch meat is weird.

What do you usually eat for lunch? I'm looking for something Zone friendly and ideally Paleo friendly too. I snack pretty well throughout the day and will make a protein shake if I'm going to be a little low on the day or I'm really busy at work.

 

[NGC_604]

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[zebano]

I'm also a big fan of salad (spinach is better than iceburg) w/ sliced carrots, chicken, dried cranberries and a little bit of italian dressing. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.

 

[xboxist]

I have a baby spinach salad about once a week. It's very good, but the thought of having it more often than that never sounds good to me. So I too, struggle with lunch options on most days. It's like... sandwich... or, sandwich?

 

[BeauJangles]

Salads are a great option. You can put fruit, meat, nuts, or veggies on them. They're incredibly healthy, especially one made from a blend of arugula and spinach. Spinach provides much-needed iron and the co-factors necessary to uptake that iron and arugula is just... well... probably the healthiest green you can eat.

Even when you're stuck on zone paleo, there are great options for salad dressings, which can add even more variety to your meals.

If that doesn't sound appealing, pick a paleo meal and cook a whole bunch of it on Sunday night. Refrigerate it in five portions and, bam, you have lunch. A lot of paleo people swear by jerky and nuts for lunch. If you get your own dehydrator, jerky is an easy, healthy thing to eat.

go to www.paleofood.com for recipe ideas.

 

[EvilYoda]

Hmmm, salads for lunch...I usually have a baby spinach salad, dried cranberries, walnuts, feta and dressing with my steaks, but I guess I could switch it up. I agree that having that a few times a week could get pretty boring.

The thing is, I can cook at work, so maybe I'll just start finding more oven-based meals. I made more herb-butter chicken last time, so maybe I'll just cook that for lunch a few times and buy some veggies/frozen veggies.

 

[conorvansmack]

I'm a big fan of tuna salad or chicken salad. You could use half the bread that you would normally use for a sandwich, or crackers, or you could eliminate the carbs altogether and just eat it with a fork.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

My lunch often consists of some precooked ground meat (lean pork/beef), some black or kidney beans, with some peas on the side and a piece of fruit. It's pretty tasty and you can add sauces, cheese, salt, spices, whatever you want to make it better. It's easy and quite healthy and keeps me full for a while, even with a small serving. I could never do the salad for lunch thing.

 

[xboxist]

I do love me a simple ground meat + beans concoction. Good idea. Could make a ton of that on a Sunday and put it into a few bowls for lunches.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: xboxist
I do love me a simple ground meat + beans concoction. Good idea. Could make a ton of that on a Sunday and put it into a few bowls for lunches.

Booya. You could one-up it and make some nice chili for the week. When I do that, my week is honestly wayyyy better diet-wise.

 

[IceBergSLiM]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: xboxist
I do love me a simple ground meat + beans concoction. Good idea. Could make a ton of that on a Sunday and put it into a few bowls for lunches.

Booya. You could one-up it and make some nice chili for the week. When I do that, my week is honestly wayyyy better diet-wise.

beans are pretty high in carbs.

 

[EvilYoda]

Hmmm...not supposed to eat too many beans. I'm not sure what Zone/Paleo has to say about Quinoa, but I'm sure Paleo doesn't like it. I guess I'll have to figure out my happy medium for these "diets".

 

[xboxist]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: xboxist
I do love me a simple ground meat + beans concoction. Good idea. Could make a ton of that on a Sunday and put it into a few bowls for lunches.

Booya. You could one-up it and make some nice chili for the week. When I do that, my week is honestly wayyyy better diet-wise.

beans are pretty high in carbs.

And exploding with protein. I'll take that trade off.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: IcebergSlim

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged

Originally posted by: xboxist
I do love me a simple ground meat + beans concoction. Good idea. Could make a ton of that on a Sunday and put it into a few bowls for lunches.

Booya. You could one-up it and make some nice chili for the week. When I do that, my week is honestly wayyyy better diet-wise.

beans are pretty high in carbs.

Who said there was anything wrong with healthy, complex carbs coming from a natural resource? If I'm on a 40% carbs/30% protein/30% fat split, beans are pretty perfect to throw into a meal.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

Originally posted by: EvilYoda
Hmmm...not supposed to eat too many beans. I'm not sure what Zone/Paleo has to say about Quinoa, but I'm sure Paleo doesn't like it. I guess I'll have to figure out my happy medium for these "diets".

To be perfectly honest, limiting your carbs to a low percentage is not really all that sound and which is where I disagree with some of the CF kool-aid drinking nutrition info. I mean, natural sources are great if they're integrated in a moderate manner. Beans are a natural source, eaten by humans for thousands of years. I love how Paleo likes to talk about how you should eat what your ancestors ate and then exclude beans...

 

[EvilYoda]

I know, I know, I don't agree with it either, but I do want to limit my carb intake and see how it goes. I've never done it before, so let me try, yeah? I'm also not going to stop with the dairy...that's just impossible.

 

[brikis98]

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
To be perfectly honest, limiting your carbs to a low percentage is not really all that sound and which is where I disagree with some of the CF kool-aid drinking nutrition info.

The CF diet recommendation typically involves Zone proportions, which include 40% carbs. This may be less carbs than the average American eats, but it's definitely not "low carb".

Originally posted by: SociallyChallenged
Beans are a natural source, eaten by humans for thousands of years. I love how Paleo likes to talk about how you should eat what your ancestors ate and then exclude beans...

Actually, the paleo diet is based around what our ancestors ate in paleolithic times before agriculture. Research shows that grains, legumes, dairy, alcohol and other common foods that seem old were NOT part of the paleolithic diet. Grains are easy to understand as you couldn't obtain them in any meaningful quantity before the advent of agriculture some 10,000 years ago. Similarly, before animal domestication (also ~10,000 years ago), there was no way to get any dairy in the diet. Legumes and alcohol both require preparation (ie, many legumes are poisonous if eaten raw) that was not part of the lifestyle of the hunter gatherer paleo man.

 

[spamsk8r]

I like to make wraps instead of sandwiches. I get one whole-wheat tortilla (about 15g of carbs), 4 ounces of turkey, 1 slice of swiss cheese, some lettuce (or salad mix, whatever's lying around) and either some Caesar dressing or 1/2 of an avocado. I roll it up in aluminum foil, and eat it with 2 blocks of fruit. Easy, portable, and half the grains (or less) of a sandwich. Other things I tend to eat would be tuna salad (tuna, mustard, mayo, sweet relish, garlic powder, salt, pepper, red onion) with a fork, or some other canned fish (kippered herring is my favorite) with a few crackers (I know, not paleo, but I can't eat kippers by themselves).

Another thing I'll do is make a large portion of food early in the week for dinner and use that for lunches. I make things like chili, beef casserole, or carnitas, and they usually last me about a week. With these you just put a portion into some tupperware and go.