How to Make the Best Packed Lunch Ever
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There are all kinds of excuses for why we can’t be bothered to pack a lunch. It takes too long to make lunch. I don’t want to carry a bunch of food to work. It’s boring.
Lunch is an important meal. It fuels us during the day to keep our productivity levels on an even keel. It keeps our blood sugar levels from spiking or dropping, thus preventing us from being fatigued or from snapping at co-workers. We can all use a little burst of energy midday, and vital nutrients (plus some exercise, if you can wiggle it in!) are essential for that energy.
I like to eat most of my calories earlier in the day, so I always pack a really big “lunch” to take to work, which I nibble and munch on as the day goes on. We don’t actually take a lunch break at the vet clinic I currently work at; the doctor (a.k.a the mother dear) works all day long without taking a proper break (feel free to chime in to tell the mother dear that she ought to give herself a break once in a while! 🙂). This works just fine for me, because there are slower parts to the day so I can take it easy with mini-breaks between appointments.
“Supper” doesn’t really exist for me because I just have a snack in the evening when I get home from work- that’s all I really need, after eating much more for lunch. Because I have taken a lunch with me to work every day for as long as I can remember, I have really mastered the art of building an awesome lunch. Today, I’m going to show how you can do it too!
1. Make it nutrient-rich. Include veggies, and make sure you have plenty of greens in there (starchy vegetables like carrots are yummy, but it’s really important to have plenty of leafy greens in our diet too. As my vegan raw food friend Amanda says, leafy greens should be an entire food group all on their own. Fill up! You can do this by making salads, green smoothies, steaming vegetables, or mixing them up with pasta or rice. You can also smoosh some veggies between two slices of bread or roll them up in a wrap. Whatever you do, make sure you always have plenty of vegetables!
Top your salads with beans, grilled tofu, or a crumbled homemade bean burger to bulk it up. You can also add a little chopped fruit, homemade salad dressing, and different kinds of vegetables to vary the flavour and texture.
2. Feed your sweet (or salty) tooth. I crave sweet things (mostly baked goods) all the time. Rather than ignore my craving, I think it’s better to make a compromise: I like bringing oatmeal (mixed with a ripe banana and chocolate protein powder to give it an extra sweetness), a peanut butter and jam sandwich, or a homemade baked good with me for a morning snack. My homemade apple banana bread recipe doesn’t include any added fats or added sugars; it is deliciously healthy and the perfect sweet treat (add kamut or spelt flour for some extra protein, too!). If you love salty foods, bring some salted nuts or seeds, or crackers and other savoury items.
3. Fill up on fibre and protein. You’ve already got the vegetables and the whole grains; you’re well on your way to having a fibre-ific lunch! But fruit is an excellent addition to fill you up, particularly apples: they are sweet, filling, and travel well. They are also excellent vessels for peanut butter or cheese so that you can have some added protein and fat in your diet. Make sure that you have some kind of protein with your lunch, too; protein is easily found naturally in many foods so you shouldn’t have to add too much extra protein (in the form of powders, for example) to your meal.
4. Pack it well. Making a lunch at home and bringing it to work can be tricky just in terms of transporting it. When I ride my bicycle Harriette to work, my lunch easily fits in her basket. But when I walk to work, I have to carry a bag which typically has a couple apples, a large salad, and a bunch of other tasty goodies in it. At least it’s a good workout for my shoulders!
I’ve learned to freeze some of my meals (if I bring pasta or rice, I make it the day or two before and then freeze it; that way, it doesn’t spill in my bag). I also like to make up baggies with dry oats and then bring them all to work at the same time (my baggies include oats, soy milk powder, cinnamon, chocolate protein powder, and sometimes the banana slices and a spoonful of peanut butter in there too). If I have room in my bag I’ll take a couple extra apples so that I have spare ones at work. Salads, unfortunately, cannot be condensed very easily. Steamed veggies or soup are more portable ways to ensure you get your daily veggies into your lunch.
If you are able to bring a salad to work, always pack the dressing in a separate small container. This prevents the dressing from making your salad go soggy. Try also to make up a larger quantity of dressing at home and then bring it to work for the entire week; it will easily last throughout the week and it will be one less thing for you to have to bring each day.
5. Work with your environment. I work across the street from a 7-11 convenience store. They sell fruit cups, vegetable cups, apples, oranges, and bananas. The fruit and vegetable cups are typically expensive and come with added dips, which I find unnecessary, but the whole fruit is perfect on days when I don’t bring enough for lunch. The store also sells cheese strings and small packets of nuts, which can be good options if you need more protein and/or fat to jazz up your meal.
6. Treat yourself. You want to make sure that you enjoy your lunch. Bring a couple of (hopefully homemade ;)) cookies, a container of chocolate milk, or a bag of microwave popcorn (choose the organic kind that only lists popcorn, oil, and salt as the ingredients!). If you’re not looking forward to your lunch, that will only lead to poor eating habits later on.
You can also treat yourself by allowing yourself to buy lunch from a nearby restaurant once a week or once every other week or occasionally participating in office lunches if your workplace does that. At the first vet clinic I ever worked at, we would sometimes get lunch from the Snack Shack down the street; after working hard on weeding and mowing the lawn all morning, it was a delight to know that I had the best French fries ever to look forward to for lunch on a Saturday in the summer! If someone brings muffins or bagels to your office one morning each week and you truly love one of those items, allow yourself to have it in exchange for your usual treat at lunch. Small treats will make it more likely that you’ll stick with eating healthy in the long run.
7. Preparation, preparation, preparation. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; preparation is key to living healthy. Make your lunch the night before and you’ll be all set. In fact, make lunch for tomorrow and the day after and you’ll have even less work to do! If your cutting board is already out and you’re cooking something for tomorrow’s lunch, you might as well just double (or triple) it so that it will last for another couple days. And just in case something comes up and you find yourself running out the door without any lunch at all, make sure to have a back-up plan: keep a few things at work (such as some carrot sticks, a baggie of dry oatmeal, an apple, a container of milk, or a bag of microwave popcorn) in case of emergencies. It won’t be very filling, but at least it will be something to put in your stomach when it starts growling. Also scout out healthier options close to your workplace; if a place nearby sells healthy homemade fare, you can always buy your lunch there and know that you have made a good choice, even if you weren’t able to bring your own lunch.
Do you bring your own lunch to work? Have any stories to share? Leave them in the comments!
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!
nothing more to add than that.
homepacked does NOT mean boring.
I need my husband to read this post 🙂
These are wonderful tips, Sagan! I especially agree about fibre and protein. I always TRY to include that in my breakfasts and lunches, and I’ve found this is the key to keeping me full!
I pack my breakfast and lunch everyday, and sometimes dinner. For me, the key is to plan ahead and have simple things on hand if you’re in a pinch. I always keep wraps, avocados and Laughing Cow cheese for a quick lunch or dinner on the go, and my go-to is (obviously!) oats with a banana and almond butter every morning. It takes time to plan ahead, but in my eyes – it pays off!
I love packing my lunch, and Nick’s, because I know that’s the only way to prevent us both from eating other unhealthy foods! And like you said, it’s important to make sure your lunch is filled with a variety of foods, and especially foods that you like. Great tips. I will add, however, carrots aren’t a starchy vegetable. They are on the list of “unstarchy veggies” actually! I love them.
Miz- I’ll convert your Renaissance Man to bagged lunches in no time 😉
Holly- Mmmm Laughing Cow cheese. That stuff is fantastic. I really love having oatmeal in the morning too, but I like eating it once I get to work- I always have some time in the morning to enjoy it once I get to work, so it’s a nice treat to have at 9:30am after I’ve already been to the gym.
Gina- Aha, thanks for catching that mistake of mine! I suppose I shouldn’t throw around terms like that- and they ARE fantastic vegetables; I just think we should also eat our greens, too 🙂
I have been packing work lunches for years. My preferred method is to cook something on the weekend that I can freeze in individual portions. People are always fascinated with my ‘interesting’ lunches, but I just bring what I like to eat. Buying lunch every day is an unnecessary expense, and it can be difficult to be consistent in making healthy choices. The only down side is that sometimes it means I don’t leave my desk all day because there is no reason I have to leave the office. Getting out to stretch my legs and take in some fresh air does me a world of good, but it can be all to easy to put it off and put it off until the day is over.
There’s a lot to be said for packing one’s own lunch. I think one thing that contributed to my weight gain was eating out all the time for lunch; combined with a sedentary profession, it was my personal recipe for disaster. Sure, I’ve always eaten a lot of healthy foods…but the “a lot” part got me. It seems to me that frequent dining out really messed with my perception of proper portions.
I work about a 3 minute walk from Whole Foods, which is a good thing AND a bad thing! 🙂 I’d go broke if I ate there every day, so my frugal husband tends to make sure I have some leftovers to pack in my lunch the next day. (He even measures out the amount he knows I like to have for lunch, which is so helpful!) The gym is right next door and I have a good, 2-mile walking route, so fitting in a little lunch hour fitness helps a lot, too.
I am an expert lunch packer! I pack well, but every now and then I lose my brains cell and don’t pack. That’s when I get all flustered with dreams of “If I had pack my lunch”.
I absolutely hate buying lunch. No matter where you go, the selections don’t measure up to the healthy-ness I can pack on my own. Not packing causes me to overeat and deflates the cash in my wallet. Boo!
I routinely freeze part of what I’m having for supper. (If I’m really enthusiastic I won’t freeze it, but take it in the morning.) I seldom have fewer than four lunches in the freezer to choose from. I am lucky enough to love my own cooking.
During my brief working stint I started off packing my lunch, but when the exhaustion took over, I stopped and started eating in the free staff canteen. Bad move! Next time I’ll be more organized!
JavaChick- I like making my lunches on the weekend, too. Makes the weekdays that much less stressful!
Pubsgal- UGH I hear you on the portion sizes! Sounds like your work location is awesome, though- Whole Foods AND a gym nearby? Sweet.
Yum Yucky- Boo indeed!
Mary Anne- It is definitely good if we like our own cooking 🙂
Hanlie- Hehehe, it really IS all about organization.
You’ve got some really good tips, Sagan…but I still find myself “starving” during class so that I can come HOME and eat. I love curling up and relaxing with my meal, not uptight and bored during lectures. I’ve just never seen the appeal of eating a packed lunch. When I work, I probably will take turns packing lunch or eating out, but hoping there’s a microwave or something since I like my food hot!