Smart lunching

Having a satisfying lunch can really help keep our work-boredom appetites from ruining our attempts at living a healthier lifestyle. Consider the following strategies for eating healthy at work:

+ Invest in success. If you’re not currently bringing your lunch to work, investing in a food container system can help simplify things for you and cut down on packaging waste associated with plastic sandwich bags.
+ Fill ‘er up. Make sure you are packing foods with protein and fiber to help you attain that feeling of fullness. While a baggie of potato chips might be appealing to go along with your sandwich, they’re sure to leave you wanting. Drink some water or unsweetened coffee or tea to help sate your appetite.
+ Don’t trust the process. Processed foods, while seemingly more convenient than fresh ones, have a lot of hidden calories and sodium that add up fast. Instead of grabbing some cold cuts, buy and cook some chicken breast at home to use for your sandwich. Make a simple vinaigrette instead of grabbing a bottle of shelf-stable ranch dressing.
+ Attack with a snack. Avoid the vending machine by packing a healthy snack with your lunch. A handful of unsweetened
almonds can help curb the desire to grab a Snickers bar. But don’t start packing yourself a snack if you don’t usually have one, unless you find that you’re gorging yourself at dinner; a healthy snack in the late afternoon and a tall glass of water can help curb the desire to go back for seconds at dinnertime.
+ Listen to your taste buds. A home-packed lunch won’t do you much good if it’s not something to which you’re looking forward to eat. Make sure you include something that you really enjoy eating, not just stuff you think you should eat in the name of health!