Diet lunch for weight loss: correct and healthy options

There are diets that do not include breakfast or dinner, but not a single nutrition system suggests giving up lunch, despite its satiety. Indeed, it is the richest in calories, so many people have a question about how to properly organize it when losing weight, so as not to harm the figure.

The problem is that it falls during working hours, and most people go to fast food establishments, order fast food, or make do with dry food. All this contributes to weight gain and does not fit into any diet.

Why do you need lunch?

First, it’s worth understanding why you need to eat so thoroughly at lunch and why you should never skip it. It turns out that it is a mistake to think that by not eating during the day, you have thereby reduced your daily caloric intake and this will go towards the lost kilograms. This will only force the body to send all the food into reserve at the next meal, and not to produce the necessary energy. And all because you made him starve at a time when he needed fuel so much.

Lunch performs important functions not only for weight loss, but also for general health:

disables the need for energy saving mode in the body, ensuring that fats are not stored in reserve;
eliminates attacks of hunger and the accompanying side effects: stomach turmoil, headache, decreased performance, deterioration of general condition;
distracts you from work, allowing you to relax;
gives strength and energy to continue the working day;
is the main meal of the day in a healthy diet.

Athletes should not skip it at all, otherwise they will not have the strength to train. Endurance and performance close to zero will not allow you to spend a lot of energy, and this is important for losing weight.

Through the pages of history. The royal dinners cannot exactly be called dietary: from 200 to 500 high-calorie dishes were put on the table every day.

What should he be like?

First, decide what kind of nutrition system you will organize for your weight loss in order to fit lunch dishes into it.

A proper lunch with proper nutrition should be:

healthy - contains all the necessary nutrients;
nutritious - make up at least 35% of the total daily calorie content (we have already told you how to calculate it);
complete - include proteins, fats, and carbohydrates (approximate ratio - 25/50/25).

Diet lunch should be lighter. It needs to reduce the percentage of carbohydrates to 20%, and fats to 10-15%. Accordingly, the proportion of proteins will increase. Calorie content will be reduced due to this.

It should include:

hot first course (soup);
the second can vary: either meat (fish) with a side dish, or vegetable salad.

In a proper nutrition system, lunch may include a meat dish with a side dish and a salad. But don’t forget that your goal is to lose weight. If you want to include both, you need to reduce portion sizes or choose the lowest calorie foods to prepare them.

Interesting fact. In Rome, it was forbidden to sit during lunch—they ate exclusively while reclining.

What should lunch be like for weight loss?

Nutritionists explain: the right lunch for weight loss should be hearty, but light. As a result, a person does not feel hungry, but there is also no burden from overeating, and energy remains.

In the middle of the day, our digestive capabilities are at their best, and food has time to digest. Therefore, for lunch you can eat a little more than usual: the calorie content of the dish should be about 400-500 kcal or 35% of the daily requirement. This is a plate filled 1/4 with meat or fish, another 1/4 with a side dish, and another 1/2 with vegetables.

A healthy lunch for weight loss is a complete meal and includes all groups of nutrients: proteins, healthy fats and slow carbohydrates. Protein should make up the lion's share in BJU, the amount of carbohydrates is recommended to be reduced to 20%, fats to 10%.

Another secret of proper nutrition is that food should be tasty. There are a lot of lunch recipes for weight loss; you can experiment, prepare delicious and varied dishes that will appeal not only to the person losing weight, but also to the rest of the family. And if you eat foods you don’t like, literally forcing yourself, you will soon be finished with proper nutrition.

Recommendations

The main mistakes most people make during lunch are talking with colleagues and rushing. The result is that food is not chewed, it is swallowed hastily, in large pieces that are difficult to digest. Need I say that in the end you will have to pay with heartburn and heaviness in the stomach, which will negatively affect the process of losing weight? So, if you want to have a healthy lunch, you need to not talk to anyone and take your time, and also follow a number of other tips from nutritionists.

The soup is best eaten warm, but not hot.
All sweets are strictly prohibited - they will be used to store fat, awaken hunger ahead of time and reduce performance.
Lunch breaks have to be taken in the middle of working hours. If a nearby cafe or government canteen cannot offer you complete dietary meals, you will have to bring them with you in containers from home.
You need to get up from the table slightly hungry, so make sure that the portions are small and the calorie content is low.
Drinks can be drunk only half an hour after eating.
You need to rest for about 20 minutes after lunch: just sit or take a walk.

A nice bonus for anyone losing weight: if you can’t imagine life without sweets, half an hour after lunch you can eat a slice of dark chocolate or 1 tsp. honey, but no more. This will improve your mood and increase your performance.

Wow! One of the most famous French kings, Louis XIV (nicknamed the Sun) ate all his lunch dishes exclusively with his hands. You will be surprised, but he was so successful in this that he did not spill a drop of soup.

Product Lists

When losing weight for lunch you can eat:

soups in low-fat broth with chicken or beef, but give preference to vegetable ones (you will find the lowest-calorie recipes here);
boiled, baked, steamed meat (chicken, veal, beef);
lean fish - boiled, baked, steamed;
eggs;
durum wheat pasta;
mushrooms;
whole grain or rye bread;
vegetables (see lists with calorie content and GI on this page);
olive oil for salad dressing;
compotes, juices, tea.

It is not recommended to eat:

dairy products;
fruits (with the exception of lemon, the juice of which is used to dress salads, and avocado, from which you can make a fat-burning salad);
mayonnaise, ketchup, sauces;
coffee, alcohol, carbonated drinks;
baked goods, confectionery products;
any sweets;
potatoes;
porridge;
fast food, snacks.

"Test meals" They used to happen quite often. They tried dishes on them, but evaluated and chose for purchase the cook who prepared them. Previously, they were serfs and were not cheap.

Lunch menu with proper nutrition

A healthy diet at noon should be balanced. Examples of a weekly lunch menu:

Days	Dishes, g/ml	Total energy value, kcal
Mon	Green borscht – 200, steamed cutlet – 100, baked zucchini – 100, rye bread -30, dried fruit compote – 200	300
W	Rassolnik – 150, boiled hake with broccoli – 250, bran bread – 20, tomato juice – 200	400
Wed	Mushroom puree soup – 200, boiled turkey – 100, baked pumpkin – 100, bread – 30, rose hip decoction	380
Thu	Fish soup without potatoes – 200, veal chop – 100, Greek salad – 100, crackers – 30, green tea – 200	350
Fri	Pea soup – 200, baked pike perch – 100, vitamin salad – 100, bread – 30, grapefruit juice – 200	310
Sat	Lenten borscht – 200, chicken tenders – 100, seaweed – 100, toast – 30, cranberry juice – 200	350
Sun	Lentil soup – 200, boiled hake – 100, “Brush” salad – 100, bread – 30, tea – 200	280

Top best lunch dishes

Salads

Brush (13 recipes).
Vitamin.
From avocado.
From celery.
From seaweed.
Beetroot.
With Chiken.
Carrot.
Greek classic.
Green.

First

An ideal lunch for weight loss must include a light and at the same time nutritious soup. It improves digestion, saturates quickly and for a long time. The most famous of them:

Bonn.
Cabbage.
Tomato.
Onion.
Mushroom.
Vegetable.
Celery.
Mayo.
Chicken.
Kefir.

Second courses

Boiled chicken breast (turkey, beef, veal).
Low-fat steamed fish.
Cutlets, meatballs from the listed varieties of meat and fish.
Stuffed cabbage rolls, zrazy, goulash - from lean meat.
Stewed or baked vegetables.
Garnish: pasta, buckwheat, brown rice.
Ratatouille.
Vegetable kebabs.
Risotto.
Lasagna.

Marvelous! Do you know whose lunch is the highest in calories? A sumo wrestler who doesn’t need to lose weight, but gain weight. It usually lasts 2 hours and is washed down with liters of beer.

Healthy lunch for weight loss: recipes

When you have already figured out what is best to eat for lunch when losing weight, study several examples of tasty and healthy recipes that can be used for a diet menu and proper nutrition. If you have the opportunity to dine at home, you can pay attention to the following dish options.

Fish in a pot

Meat and fish cooked in pots is a simple method to make dietary food both tasty and nutritious. Cut the fish, place the pieces in a pot and cover with several layers of vegetables, for example, it could be onions, carrots, zucchini and cauliflower. Sprinkle each layer with any seasoning without salt. After this, pour low-fat kefir into the pot so that it does not reach 1-1.5 cm from the edge. You need to bake the dish for an hour at a temperature of 180 degrees.

Cheese soup

Many people love creamy puree soups, but when losing weight they are forced to deny themselves them. But this is not at all necessary, because you can prepare dietary versions of soups. Take any vegetables and stew them in a small amount of oil. Chop the low-fat processed cheese and add it to the vegetable broth, heat until the cheese is completely dissolved. Then place the vegetables in the container.

This soup will ideally complement a light salad of fresh or boiled vegetables.

Lazy dumplings

Stir in a pack of low-fat cottage cheese, one egg, a couple of tablespoons of whole wheat flour and a pinch of salt. Form balls from the resulting mixture. Boil it in boiling water. You can serve these dumplings with kefir or natural yogurt. Boiled or stewed vegetables can be an addition.

Cauliflower Casserole

You need to boil 200 grams of cauliflower (this is about half a medium-sized head of cabbage) in slightly salted water. Mix two raw egg whites, a couple of tablespoons of semolina and seasoning to taste. Place the vegetable in a mold and cover with the egg mixture. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

These recipes can be used both at home and at work. To save time, you can prepare healthy lunches on the weekend and freeze them, and then heat them up and eat them at work.

But what about those who do not have the opportunity to heat up food or put it in the refrigerator at work or school? Initially, you can pay attention to tasty and healthy salads . You can pay attention to the following combinations for them:

Pieces of boiled chicken fillet, lettuce, grapes, a small amount of walnuts.
Boiled beets, shrimp, cucumber and carrots.
Boiled breast, egg white, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, a little grated Parmesan.
Boiled lentils, grainy cottage cheese, cucumber and tomato.
Canned tuna, green beans, egg whites, red pepper.

These salads will not lose their freshness, even if you do not store them in the refrigerator until lunch. As a dressing, you can use soy sauce, lemon juice, natural yogurt or low-fat sour cream, vinegar, and ground pepper. To keep the dish fresh, it is better to season it immediately before eating.

And a few more recipes :

Cottage cheese casserole

Mix a pack of low-fat cottage cheese, one egg, a couple of tablespoons of oatmeal and a tablespoon of milk. Line the pan with parchment. Place the fruits and fill them with cottage cheese. Bake at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.

Vegetable pancakes

You can make healthy pancakes from grated carrots, beets or zucchini. To give them shape, use egg and semolina. Fry in a dry frying pan or bake in the oven. Another great source of protein for lunch is canned beans, which you can take with you to work.

Lavash rolls

Thin sheets of pita bread should be stuffed with a mixture of low-fat cottage cheese, lettuce, chopped celery, tomatoes and herbs. Make rolls. You can vary the filling, for example, use canned tuna or boiled chicken.

There are many options for delicious and healthy diet lunches that can be used on a healthy diet. Find out the daily menu for proper nutrition here. You can safely experiment with dishes, their contents and combinations, creating for yourself the most suitable diet for weight loss. Recipes for dietary cottage cheese casseroles can be found in a separate article.

Lunch options

For a low calorie diet

If you need to create the most low-calorie lunch, the following are suitable:

green soups: spinach, celery, sorrel;
vegetable soups: cabbage, tomato, Bonn, onion;
stewed or baked vegetables;
vegetable salads seasoned with lemon juice or vinegar.

For a protein diet

Those who care about their muscles while dieting need a protein lunch:

soups: chicken, egg, protein okroshka, fish soup made from low-fat fish;
boiled chicken breast;
Steamed fish;
hard-boiled eggs;
salads with seafood and chicken.

Principles of a protein diet...

For a drinking diet

Chicken broth and all dietary cream soups are suitable:

celery;
spinach;
green;
mushroom;
cheese;
tomato;
from broccoli;
pumpkin;
from zucchini.

Usually, there are no problems organizing lunches for weight loss on any diet, since they are described in detail in the sample menus.

Principles of a drinking diet...

Recipes

Salads

Brush

Promotes weight loss thanks to its cleansing properties. Mix cabbage in equal quantities (it needs to be chopped and mashed to release as much juice as possible), fresh carrots and beets (they are grated on a regular grater). Neither salting nor seasoning is recommended. But if your diet is not strict, you can sprinkle lemon juice for taste.

Protein

Recommended for weight loss against the backdrop of intense sports to form a sculpted and slender figure. Boil chicken fillet (200 g) without salt and skin. After cooling, cut into strips along the grain. Fresh cucumbers (100 g), peeled, either grate them or put them on sticks. Grind 150 g of thoroughly washed prunes. Cut a small onion into half rings, 3 boiled egg whites into cubes. Boil 100 g of whole champignons. After cooling, cut each mushroom into 4 pieces. All ingredients are mixed, sprinkled with pepper (any) and seasoned with sour cream (no more than 10%).

Layered tuna salad

Cut 4 medium-sized tomatoes into small slices, 2 onions into half rings. Mix them. This will be the first layer of lettuce. Tamp it down and sprinkle with red pepper.

Lightly mash 100 g of boiled beans to make a kind of puree. Chop half an onion. Mix and add a second layer. Press down and sprinkle with black pepper.

Mash 100 g of canned tuna as well as beans. Add just a little low-fat sour cream. Mix. Place the top layer of lettuce.

The highlight is the original dressing. To prepare it, mix mustard, apple cider vinegar and olive oil (30 g each). Whisk the mixture and pour it over the salad.

Soups

Bonn

Cut 200 g of broccoli and white cabbage, 50 g of carrots, 100 g of tomato and lettuce pepper into medium-sized pieces. Crush 5 garlic cloves. Grind 50 g of greens: leeks, asparagus, celery (stems). All these ingredients are blended in a blender for at least 2 minutes. After this, pour 450 ml of chilled boiling water and beat for another 2 minutes. Add a little Tabasco sauce and olive oil. Mix. Before serving, garnish with chopped dill and cilantro.

More recipes + recommendations...

Onion

Place 250 g of onions into half rings, and 150 g of cabbage and bell pepper into strips. Grate 100 g carrots. Roughly chop 50 g of celery (stems). Blanch 200 g of tomatoes and puree them in a blender. All vegetables are poured into 3 liters of chilled boiling water and after boiling, cook over low heat for no more than 10 minutes. 3 minutes before the end of cooking, add spices to taste. Before serving, garnish with chopped parsley.

More recipes + recommendations...

Celery

Shred 300 g of cabbage. Squeeze with your hands to form juice. Set aside to saturate for 15 minutes. Roughly chop the same amount of celery (stems), 100 g of green salad pepper, chop a couple of onions. Mix the ingredients, add 50 g of tomato sauce. Pour 2 liters of chilled boiling water. Keep on low heat after boiling for 10 minutes. Before serving, garnish with green celery.

More recipes + recommendations...

Second courses

Stewed peppers

Cut 3 bell peppers in half (it’s better to take different colors), peel them. Blanch 200 g of cherry tomatoes and, without cutting them, place them in the pepper halves. Seasonings (to taste) and chopped basil also go there. Grease a baking sheet with oil and place stuffed peppers on it. Wrap in foil. Bake for half an hour at 200°C. Remove the foil and bake until golden brown for another 10 minutes.

Chicken stewed in cabbage

Cut 400 g chicken fillet into small pieces. Pepper, grate with garlic and coat with mustard. Leave for 40 minutes covered. Pour a little olive oil into the bottom of 4 pots and add a couple of black peppercorns. On top are pieces of chicken. 400 g of white cabbage is chopped, squeezed until the juice is released and distributed into pots in a second layer. Next come tomatoes cut into slices (100 g) and onion rings (also 100 g). To the very top - 1 tsp. low-fat sour cream and bay leaves. Bake for 40 minutes at 200°C.

Hake in a slow cooker

Clean the hake (3 fish), cut into portions, add salt, sprinkle with black pepper, sprinkle with lemon juice. First place 2 onions cut into rings into the multicooker bowl, then 2 grated carrots. Place fish on them. Top with 2 more grated carrots. Add 30 ml olive oil. Fill half the bowl with water. Close. Start the “Fish” mode for 10 minutes.

Without a properly organized lunch, losing weight is impossible. Only if you carefully work out the menu can you get good results, without any loss to your health. Absolutely everyone can make this meal both nutritious and low-calorie at the same time.

We recommend: “The right breakfast for weight loss.”

Healthy recipes

Lunch with proper nutrition for weight loss should consist of tasty and healthy dishes. Dietary recipes are varied and fun to prepare. It is important to present the dish correctly - the dishes should be beautiful, the serving should be aesthetically pleasing.

Shawarma dietary

Ingredients:

lettuce leaves – 6-8 pcs;
chicken breast – 200 g;
cucumber – 1 piece;
bell pepper – 1 piece;
cherry tomatoes – 100 g.
low-fat cottage cheese – 80 g;
kefir 1% – 30 g:
salt, Provencal herbs - to taste.

Cooking method:

Boil the breast, cool, remove the skin and cut into small cubes.
Remove seeds from pepper and chop into strips.
Wash the cucumber and tomatoes and chop finely.
Combine cottage cheese with kefir, salt and herbs. Mix thoroughly.
Wash the lettuce leaves and dry them.
Place 3-4 sheets on top of each other, brushing with dressing.
Place the filling and add more dressing on top.
Roll the leaves into a roll or envelope.

Celery soup

Ingredients:

white cabbage – 300 g;
salad pepper – 100 g;
celery stalks – 300 g;
purple onion – 1 piece;
tomato sauce – 50 g;
water – 2 l;
salt - to taste.

Cooking method:

To boil water. Leave to cool.
Chop the cabbage and celery stalks finely, mash with your hands and add a pinch of salt.
Peel onions and peppers from peels and seeds, cut as desired. Add to vegetables.
Mix the prepared mass with tomato sauce.
Pour cooled boiled water over everything.
Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
Garnish the dish with green celery before serving.