Tweet 91 in my book Success Tweets says, “The better you feel, the better you’ll perform. Live a healthy lifestyle. Est well. Exercise regularly. Get regular checkups.”
Great advice, but easier said than done — especially the eating well part. Lunch provides a big challenge for many folks. I’m too quick to grab a burger or sandwich. But with a little planning, you can eat healthy, nutritious lunches. My friend, Hannah Whittenly, has some great suggestions on how to eat healthy at lunch…
Finding time to pack a healthy lunch in the morning when you are trying to get out the door in time can be next to impossible, which is why a fair share of working adults wind up with fast food for lunch. If you are tired of fast food and are looking to make a life change, try these options for healthy lunches!
Salad in a Jar
Grabbing salad ingredients at the store and then throwing them together the night before is a great way to have a healthy, filling lunch at work. Filling up a mason jar with lettuce, black beans, corn, chicken and avocado will provide you a with a great lunch while making you look chic and trendy. You can choose to put the dressing in a separate container as to keep your salad fresh or, if it is a vinaigrette, let a bit of it sit at the bottom to kind of marinade the vegetables. Just make sure not to put too much in there! At lunch time, just add the dressing if you haven’t already, shake it up and presto! You have a delicious and healthy lunch.
Yogurt and Granola
Although it is light, this is another great lunch that will keep you full and fueled for your work day. This can be done in your trusty mason jar or in a regular Tupperware container. Empty your yogurt into the bottom of your jar and then dump granola in and fill it to the brim. This will keep your yogurt and granola fairly separated so you don’t end up with a soggy lunch. You can either find a recipe for homemade granola or do it the easy way and grab a bag of the already made stuff at the grocery store. Mix it together at lunch and you have a lunch with protein, probiotics and whole grains! Also, you can add fruits like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries (so pretty much any type of berry), and kiwi to the mix to make it have more flavor.
Chicken Salad
Chicken salad is one of those recipes that you can make a surplus of at home and eat it for lunch for days. Make sure that you don’t mix in any ingredients that will get soggy, though, like cashews or other nuts. If you feel like your salad needs that, then just take a bag of cashews or whatever you are using to work with you to add to your salad. If you don’t want to eat this just as a salad, though, you don’t have to. You can put some of the salad in between two slices of bread and have it be a sandwich instead. Some people may prefer to make their sandwiches at home and bring it in a bag, but that might get soggy. Try putting two slices of plain bread in a plastic baggy and bring it along with your salad. This will help make the bread stay fresh for when you go to eat your meal.
Leftovers
Taking leftovers for lunch the next day is the easiest way to eat healthy and avoid going out. When you cook your dinner at night, just set aside a little bit in a container. You can then heat it up in the company microwave and have it for lunch the next day. This is especially easy for you to do if you are making dishes like pasta alfredo, or spaghetti. That way, everything can be mixed together and you don’t have to worry about having separate containers. Also, you might want to try this delicious fried chicken recipe.
Meal Service
If making your own meal isn’t really your forte, then you should know that there are businesses, like the Healthy Chef in Florida, that will actually deliver fresh, prepared meals right to your doorstep. If you order your meals ahead of time, then all you have to do is put them in the fridge or freezer and they’ll be good to grab and go. You could probably even leave a few of them at work so that you don’t have to worry about bringing your lunch with you. This way, you don’t have to worry about any preparation at all. In fact, all you would have to worry about would be storing and eating the food.
Eating a healthy lunch every day is as easy as planning meal ideas and doing a little bit of prep work. In fact, some of the ideas above even prove that it can be much easier than that!
Your career mentor,
Bud
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