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| Breakfast: oatmeal w/brown sugar, blueberries, and almonds, Lunch: tofu & quinoa salad plus two cuties, Snacks: yogurt & cheese and crackers |
I made this post about a year ago about eating healthy at work. I thought I’d throw
out a few more ideas for lunches (with pictures throughout!), for a standard
workweek (i.e. 5 days), just for those peeps who are getting bored with eating
the same old junk, day after day. Oh the monotony! (I can't talk because I have 'cuties' in 4 of my 5 lunches for the week. Ha!)
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| Breakfast: yogurt & a banana (not pictured- because I ate them! Take that!), Lunch: Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake frozen dinner & a cutie, Snacks: grapes & watermelon |
I don’t know about the rest of you busy bees out there, but
5 days a week I spend time away from home for a total of 10-11 hours per day
(which is a combination of commuting to and physically being at work). A few
years ago I readjusted my body to eating 6 small meals per day because the
usual 3 meals left me starving and feeling lethargic and blah (yes, ‘blah’ is a
feeling). Because of this change in diet, I had to start packing more food for
work because I would be eating 4 of my 6 meals there (i.e. those four meals
being breakfast, lunch, and two snacks). I also get that blah feeling when I order food
to be delivered to work (usually because my taste buds are like ,”Eh,” to the ordered food- and let’s face it, who
wants to eat so-so food?) I only get a half hour for lunch, so going out to eat
is not an option.
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| Breakfast: cereal & milk, Lunch: FLT (fake bacon, lettuce & tomato) sandwich & two cuties cuties, Snacks: veggies with hummus and a Naked Blue Machine smoothie |
To reiterate my 2012
post, here’s some lunch-packing advice:
Change up your lunch. Eating a PB&J and a fruit cup everyday can get boring fast. Plus, it doesn't give you the variety of vitamins and minerals your body needs.
It is OKAY to purchase prepackaged food. Read the labels for salt, fat, sugar, calorie content, and so on. Who isn't lazy sometimes and wants something super quick to prepare? The key is to just make healthier choices. For example, purchase applesauce cups that do not have any added sugars, or buy a Healthy Choice frozen meal over Banquet (which has more fat, calories, sodium, etc.) You can also get bags of prechopped veggies like broccoli and cauliflower which are perfect for dips, a wide variety of fresh fruits, and bags of mixed nuts.Change up your lunch. Eating a PB&J and a fruit cup everyday can get boring fast. Plus, it doesn't give you the variety of vitamins and minerals your body needs.
Seriously, do make a grocery list. This will help prevent you from buying junk, and you'll have a plan, man!
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| Breakfast: egg & cheese on a multigrain English muffin (not pictured), Lunch: Asian style wrap & two cuties cuties, Snacks: Pink Lady apple, yogurt, & almonds |
The tofu and quinoa salad (the recipe is below) makes enough for several work lunches. It’s also great for picnics, potlucks, or as a lunch/dinner side (or heck, a main course). Quinoa can be pretty pricey. If you don’t want to fork over the dough for it, couscous is a pretty good stand in. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is full of protein and fiber, is gluten-free, and full of calcium. With the quinoa, almonds, and tofu, this salad really packs a protein punch (i.e. it will be very filling). If you usually like some kind of cheese in your salad, feta works wonderfully in this recipe.
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| Breakfast: yogurt, Lunch: warm lentil salad with toasted walnuts and roasted red peppers with a grilled cheese sandwich, Snacks: an apple & banana |
