Last updated
17 October 2009

Making healthier choices - Lunch

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How to make the healthier choice for lunch

Whether you make your lunch or buy your lunch from a sandwich shop, cafe, supermarket or work canteen, you should find that there are a whole host of low calorie options available.

Salads and Sushi

Salads are certainly not boring and tasteless, as there are so many different types to choose from.

They are often very filling, particularly if they include some starchy foods such as rice, pasta, potatoes or couscous. Grilled skinless chicken, prawns, sardines, cottage cheese, mozzarella, or lean ham are all excellent low calorie additions to any salad.

The key with salad dishes is to avoid those with a lot of mayonnaise or similar dressings that are high in fat and calories. Classic examples of these include coleslaw, potato salads and creamy pasta salads. The same rules apply to Sushi.

Pre-packed salads and Sushi often have a nutrition information panel on the label so you can check how many calories are in the serving.

Purple Weight Loss recommended good salad and Sushi choices:

Sandwiches or similar

With sandwiches, bagels, tortillas, and pitta breads, whether you are making or buying, try to do the following:

Choose brown or wholemeal bread;
Choose lower fat / lower calorie sandwich fillings such as lean meats such as ham, turkey, chicken tuna or low-fat cream cheese;
Pack your sandwich out with salad to fill you up;
If the sandwich is home-made or made to order, try not to have butter, margarine or mayonnaise particularly if the filling is already moist - you will probably find that you do not notice the difference, but you will be consuming fewer calories as a result. If you cannot do without butter, margarine or mayonnaise, in the case of the former, try and reduce the amount that you have and with the latter, as well as reducing the amount, try choosing a low-fat / low calorie variety.

Again, when buying pre-packed sandwiches, most food retailers display calorie and nutritional information on the packaging. Make use of this information to choose a low calorie option.

Purple Weight Loss recommended good sandwich choices:

Hot food

Popular hot food options at lunch include soups, pasta dishes and baked potatoes.

Soups are often very filling and because they are hot, you tend to drink them quite slowly giving your brain sufficient time for it to realise that your stomach is full in a timely manner. The healthier soups tend to be those with chunky vegetables or lean meats with tomatoes forming the base of the soup. Avoid creamy soups as these are much higher in calories.

In terms of pasta, try to avoid dishes served with a creamy or cheesy sauce, or mixed with lots of oil, because these tend to be high in calories. Tomato or vegetable-based sauces are the healthier choice.

Most supermarkets and food retailers display calorie information about their products on the side of the soup and pasta containers. Make use of this to choose the low calorie option.

Finally, baked potatoes are a good choice, particularly on a cold winter's day. It is best to have a baked potato without butter or margarine, or if you can't do without this, try reducing the amount you have over time. To moisten the potato, try adding healthy fillings such as baked beans or cottage cheese. Try to resist adding cheese or mayonnaise as both of these are high in calories.

Purple Weight Loss recommended good hot food choices:

Healthier Desserts

One of the hardest things about dieting is craving sweets, chocolates and desserts. This becomes easier over time, but nevertheless, it is good to know that there are some good options available to you.

If you want something sweet, there are lots of low calorie options you can choose, fruit being the best choice. To keep fruit exciting you could try:

Seasonal or exotic fresh fruit salad with or without a low fat natural yoghurt;
Every-day fruit such as apples or oranges - the fresher the better!
Baked fruit such as a baked apples;
Tinned fruit - remember to go for fruit in natural unsweetened fruit juice rather than syrup;

Alternatives to fruit include:

Cereals such as maple and peacan crisp - this particular cereal really helps with sweetness cravings. Remember to use semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, not full fat, or simply eat it dry!
Low-fat yoghurts - toffee and chocolate flavours are very nice.

If you have to have chocolate there are some lower fat options available which are listed below. Try to resist chocolate if possible and restrict yourself to eating it only on special occasions or weekends, not every day!

Purple Weight Loss recommended good healthier dessert choices:

Learning point: Remember, from time to time, such as when you eat out with friends, do not feel guilty for opting for your preferred food choice. The key is to only have treats once in a while and not make treats a feature of your everyday menu!