Lunch is the easiest meal to get wrong when you are trying to lose weight and stay healthy, because it requires the most planning. When you are at work or out and about, you are often in a rush and can end up making bad choices for the sake of convenience. If you want to lose weight, you must change the way you eat, the way you shop and the way you prepare lunch.
Habits
Most people eat breakfast and dinner at home, so it is easy to prepare healthy foods. Lunch is often a different matter. At home or out, the best way to ensure you eat a healthy lunch is to prepare it in advance. If you do not have time in your morning schedule, make it the night before. Plan a week of lunches in advance when you go to the supermarket, so that you have all the necessary ingredients. Make sure you never skip lunch, as this can slow your metabolism and promote weight gain. If you end up in a deli or sandwich store, there are usually options that have fewer calories.
Function
Your lunch should be high in nutrients that will provide you with enough energy and alertness to last throughout the day. It should fill you up enough to stop you from constantly snacking until dinner; if you eat too much you can become drowsy. Lunch should make up around a quarter of your daily calorie intake, around 400 to 600 calories.
Foods
Simple tips can make your lunches lighter and healthier. Avoid mayonnaise and butter. Choose light vegetable spread or extra virgin olive oil, which is high in monounsaturated fat and lowers cholesterol. Carbohydrates are necessary to give you energy, but choose whole grains like brown bread or wild rice instead of white bread, which is refined and has more calories and fewer nutrients. Fill your sandwiches with low-fat meats like chicken or lean beef. Nutritionist Christine Avanti recommends a turkey sandwich, because they are sold almost everywhere and can shave 300 calories from your lunch if you typically eat burgers. Instead of French fries, opt for nuts, gherkins or raisins. Instead of eating a sandwich every day, eat a salad or soup occasionally. Drink plenty of water instead of soda, and try to eat fresh fruit every lunchtime.
Lunch Ideas
A chicken-and-grilled-vegetable wrap, couscous with vegetables and herbs, salmon with a green salad, a beef sandwich on wheat bread, mushroom soup, or a baked potato with tuna and salad are healthy lunch options.
Benefits
If you eat lunches high in saturated fat --- found in burgers, fries, potato chips and other junk food --- you are more likely to get coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes, the National Institutes of Health warn. Eating healthy lunches helps you lose weight, combats killer diseases, and improves your skin, hair, teeth, bones and nails by putting the right minerals and vitamins into your body.
Considerations
It is important that you eat a healthy, nourishing breakfast that keeps you full and energized until lunch, otherwise you may overeat at lunch or fill up on junk food. You will not lose weight or stay healthy unless you also eat healthy dinners, breakfasts and snacks, and exercise regularly.
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