Healthy To-Go Meals
One of the challenges of eating healthy tends to be the middle meal of the day: the dreaded lunch.
Lunch is tricky. It needs to be fast - both to make in the morning before you head to work and fast to eat at your desk while at work. It has to be easy, so you can either make it in advance or make it in the morning when you’re not quite awake yet. It also has to be good - because how easy is it to order takeout along with the rest of the office? Especially if the lunch you brought is not exciting or won’t keep you full for the rest of the day.
So how can we make a healthy lunch that will prevent us from caving in to buying takeout or eating the unhealthy snacks in the office break room but also save us time and energy in the morning? Here are our top tips:
1 - When planning your lunch, you want it to include a lean or plant-based protein, and one serving of whole grains, vegetables and/or raw leafy greens, a healthy fat and fruit for dessert. A salad or homemade soup with a slice of wholegrain or sprouted bread is a great way to check all of these boxes.
2 - Meal prep in advance - make all your lunches over the weekend. You can prep all your salads and store them in mason jars - they will stay fresh all week. Just make sure you add your wet ingredients right before you eat -cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, and dressing.
3 - On Sunday, grill three chicken breasts or cook an extra piece of salmon or your favorite fish with your dinner so they are readymade to be added to your lunch. Extra veggies from dinner are great to add to your next day’s lunch as well.
4 - Stick your house keys in the fridge so you don’t forget to grab your lunch in the morning.
5 - You can find a TON of healthy lunch recipes on the internet. Like so many. Here are a few of our favorites:
Quick and healthy: https://www.eatingwell.com/gallery/7919311/healthy-lunch-ideas-in-10-minutes/
Several options with only a few ingredients: https://www.loveandlemons.com/healthy-lunch-ideas/
Prepping all your lunches in advance may seem intimidating at first. But once you get in the habit you will see how much faster your weekday mornings go. You will also start to feel better and have more energy in the afternoons once you add a healthy meal to the middle of your day.