Lunches Under 500 Calories

Lunch is a meal where you want to get enough calories to hold you over to dinner, but not too many calories to make you feel stuffed and lethargic for the rest of the day.  You also want to be sure you are eating the correct amount of calories you need per day, and with this tool from the American Cancer Society website you can look it up. Calorie Calculator


Bring Your Lunch


ReadyPac Salads

ReadyPac salads are one of the best options for lunches under 500 calories. There are many different options and they now even have tortilla wrap kits too! Check out all of the options here. ReadyPac Salads You can buy them at almost any supermarket and bring them to lunch or school for a great healthy lunch. They come with a mini fork so you don't have to worry about that either. These ReadyPacs are also a very good way to save money on lunch since they are around $4.00 per salad. They are almost always on sale if you buy 3 or more (which means you can just buy your week's worth of lunch).


If you prefer to go out to lunch:

Starbucks has many lunch options you can choose from that are under 500 calories. Choose from any of the bistro boxes.


Starbucks Protein Box

Or choose from their sandwiches, a favorite and vegetarian option being the roasted tomato mozzarella panini.


Starbucks Tomato Mozzarela Panini

When getting these, just be sure to not add a cookie, pastry, or coffee drink that will add to the calories. A healthier option is to add a non-sweetened iced tea, or a coffee with light sweetener and non-fat milk.





Chipotle has many options under 500 calories, but you will want to start by looking at their Chipotle Nutrition Calculator before you head out.

Wendy's salads are also an option.  You will need to get just a half-size salad, but they are still filling and are also delicious! Just don't order fries and a burger ;-)

If you are headed out to grab a sandwich at a deli, you will probably only want to eat half of it and share the other half with a friend. Sandwiches can get up in calories if you have the big deli roll, mayo, or cheese.

**The most important thing you can do before going out to lunch is look up the place online and find where they have their menu with the nutrition information. This way you can be prepared to order when you get there and you know exactly how many calories you will be eating.**

Enjoy and BE Healthy!

Healthy Version of Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Bacon Club

Last week I went to Cheesecake Factory and had a half of the Shrimp Bacon club (thank God only half)! Later I went home and researched the calories, and found that it has 1,645 calories, 20g of fat!! That is OVER my calories I need for one day, and it is just dinner! Yes, I only ate about 800, but it got me thinking, this tastes amazing, I am sure there is a healthier version I could create! So here is what I created, let me know if you try it and have your own comparison!

Healthier Version of Cheesecake Factory Shrimp Bacon Club
2 slices wheat bread (180 cal)
1 1/2 slices cooked bacon (about 75 cal)
About 3 oz. cooked shrimp (about 100 cal)
Spinach (I'd say 0 cal)
1/2 Tomato (10 cal)
BBQ sauce for spread 2 tbsp. (30 cal) *I used Stubb's, has no high fructose corn syrup!
This total comes to 395 calories for the sandwich.


I also made potatoes to go with it, and I HAVE to share my potato recipe as well:

2 medium potatoes (any kind work)

1. Heat oven to 420 degrees.
2. Slice potatoes into small squares or triangles.
3. Place potatoes onto 13 x 9 or whatever you have (make sure you spray it with cooking spray)
4. Season potatoes with salt, pepper, and anything else (I use garlic salt or paprika)
5. Put in oven for 25 minutes, then flip and reseason.
6. Put back in oven for another 25 minutes or till crisp to your desire!
1 potato is 163 calories (Source: USDA)

All in all, if you make this sandwich and potato for dinner, it will be 558 calories total. That sounds WAY better than that crazy 1648 number, and I'm sure it is less sodium and fat as well!


Enjoy and BE Healthy!!!