Ladies Who Lunch

I always used to have a sandwich for my lunch, and I wasn't very adventurous when it came to the fillings either. Since January when I embarked on my healthy eating plan, I haven't eaten one sandwich at lunch time. Instead, I've been eating a variety of things, most of which are already in the cupboard or fridge, and it's made a real change.

I love tuna and sweetcorn mixed together. If I wasn't trying to lose weight, I would have added mayonaise, but to be honest it really doesn't need it, it's just adding extra calories. A little salad added to the plate made it a tasty lunch.

When I think about trying to lose weight, I imagine living on a diet of crispbreads. This really doesn't have to be the case, though I've found that crispbreads can be rather tasty. I eat the dark rye variety and they taste really good. I usually have three for lunch which are topped with cream cheese. I use The Laughing Cow Light triangles, and there's enough in two to spread on three crispbreads. There are only twenty five calories in each triangle, and again, I add some salad to the plate.

I love eggs so I sometimes have scrambled egg on toast. I don't butter the toast but have it dry and I find that one egg is enough to eat with two slices of toast. I hate sloppy scrambled egg so I always make sure that mine is really well done, though sometimes I change the scrambled egg for a poached egg, but I then make sure that the yolk is lovely and runny. Yum.

We're not really a soup eating family, so I don't make my own soups but I do love Heinz Cream Of Tomato Soup. Half a tin is filling enough when eaten with a slice of dry bread, and it's a lovely warming lunch for the cold days we've been experiencing.

A really filling lunch is jacket potatoes with baked beans and salad. I usually have this if I'm going to be having a not so filling dinner.

I'm sure you'll agree that my lunch repertoire has greatly improved. Not only that but my sandwich was usually consumed on the go, or perched on the sofa in between doing a hundred and one other things. Nowadays. time is put aside for lunch and I eat it sat at the table, it really makes a difference and I feel like I've eaten a proper meal which makes me avoid snacking throughout the afternoon.

I've now lost two stones and six pounds, or thirty four pounds, so I must be doing something right.