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Does anyone have any suggestions for lunch at work each day?

To keep it in context, I am a school teacher and only have 25 minutes for lunch. As soon as my lunch ends my next class begins. I need something that I can eat in that time frame that doesn't make me feel too full. My NUT suggests a Protein Shake but I can't stand them. Feels like drinking pudding.

What are you guys eating at work?

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I am not sure where you are in your journey, but i am 3.5 months out. I take my lunch every day and try to keep it as simple as possible. I hope these may give you some ideas.

Here are a few of my favorites that don't require any heat up or prep-

Starkist tuna pouches. They come plain, flavored and Tuna salad. Mediterranean is my favorite.

Salmon pouches

Tyson 3oz cans of premium white chicken*

*Sometimes I get the large pouch answer divide into 3 equal portions that are around 3oz each.

If a microwave is handy-

Gordon selects Tilapia or Salmon (they microwave in 2 min and are great Protein in a small serving.

Tyson frozen fully cooked chicken strips.

My snacks-

Apple slices without peel and Peanut Butter

Carrots and humus

Dry roasted soybeans

Mozzarella sticks

Cottage cheese

Good luck!

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My desk drawer is filled with packs of tuna and salmon.....every different flavor I can find.

Beef Jerky, Quest bars and premixed Protein shakes, too.

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I cannot tolerate meat, so I tend to eat the same thing(s) every day. For lunch I either have a greek yogurt, babybel cheese, 1/2C cottage cheese, 1/4C cashews, Protein bar (Quest, Atkins, etc.) or some type of Soup.

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I make chicken salad with canned chicken, dill pickle, chopped celery and a little lite mayo. You can use cucumber slices like crackers or eat it just the way it is.

Caprese salad - 1 oz. fresh mozerella cheese (I buy the little snack ones that are already portioned), sliced Tomato, sliced cucumber, dried basil, dribble of olive oil, good balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper

Cottage cheese if I don't feel like messing with salad

Homemade Soups

lunch meat and small salad

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I agree with the tuna pouches! I even found a pack at costco that has a pouch of tuna, low fat mayo and relish and has 6 whole wheat crackers. It was too much for me to finish but I can get through about 2/3.

I also use to buy the cottage cheese with fruit as it was already pre-packaged, but I got sick of it pretty quickly.

Have you tried to mix the Protein shakes with anything/do you drink coffee? I bough some instant Decaf packets and mix it with a tiny bit of Water and then will add either a vanilla or chocolate pre made Protein Drink to it, you could add more Water to make it less think.

I also really like the Protein packs to go, usually has a combo of lunch meat, cheese and nuts. Sargentos also makes a version called balanced breaks.

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I'm five months out. I either cook or stop by the Whole Foods hot bar on weekends for food for the week. I take some kind of Protein (turkey burger, fish, chicken) and a few bites of veggies in individual tupperware containers that I can heat in the microwave. I also keep Quest bars and Morningstar farms black bean burgers at work for emergencies.

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Thank you for the ideas. I am also 3 months out.

I have tried tuna. Did you have a problem with the flavored tuna in oil? I have avoided it because of the oil.

I usually eat it in Water unless it is the Mediterranean version that has olive oil or the premade tuna salad.. It doesn't bother me in terms of reflux or stomach issues either.

I also like the beef and cheddar sticks if I am out and about without any choices. You can even grab then at the gas station if you need to. Same with Jerky.< /p>

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      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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