Pam, that was the question for me, wasn't it???
I struggle with bringing my lunch with me. I should do it more often. I don't because I love the social aspect of lunch. I am lucky that some of my friends are also colleagues and it is nice to see them over lunch. And then there is also the networking aspect of lunch. You kind of need to show your face at lunch now and then in order that people don't forget you exist at my workplace.
My compromise is that I should bring my own lunch at least twice a week. This coming week I am set for that as I have a meal plan and went shopping for it on Saturday. And tomorrow is actually a bring my own lunch day.
As to any standards. I am afraid that I am not too good at being inventive. I also want something that can be prepared the evening before. If I have to do it int he morning, the chances are that it won't get done unless it is very easy. Two of my standards are: grilled chicken breast with potato salad (I usually add a can of carrots and peas to that and just one tablespoon of sour cream, so it is not heavy at all) and cheese sandwich with dark rye bread and low fat camembert or soft goat cheese with some cut up veggies (carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, whatever I can find in my fridge). This week I have a packet of multigrain pita bread open (was used for lunch yesterday and today, it is very delicious!) and I will certainly use that for one of the lunches, most likely fill it with low fat ham.
I know that eating only meals that I have made myself and am able to actually count points on very accurately really helps me. I find it so difficult to count points when I eat stuff I cannot put on a scale. I find it so hard to estimate portion sizes.
It sounds like you have a handle on the brown-bag lunch situation.... your standards sound delicious!
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Hope you all did better this weekend than I did! I had a migraine attack yesterday and that induced a crazy snack attack. I am starting to realize that these two things are in correlation (at least sometimes). I tracked everything and I ate soooo much!
And the worst thing is that while most of the stuff was not really bad food, it was neither food that I really enjoyed. I had planned of being good with my points and indulge in a piece of strawberry cake today as it is a holiday here in Germany as well (Whitsun Monday). But I really don't have enough points for that now after yesterday. And then today I was on call for my work and had to go in and that took longer than I thought and I had to have an additional snack to tide me over until lunch. So, I am points poor again before dinner...
So, with that I am better off and grill my chicken for tomorrow and get the potatoes boiling to make them into a salad!
