Healthy Food Choices for Lunch

Lunch is a dish best served healthy, and there are many foods great for a flavorful and healthy lunch meal. Try these tips for buying lunch foods in this healthy shopping video.

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Many grocery stores have salad bars
Try lean meats or bacon bits
Use low fat or oil based dressing
Dried fruits make a great salad topper

About this Author

Michelle Cooper has been a registered dietician for more than 10 years. She currently works for the state of North Carolina for the New Hanover County School District in the Child Nutrition Department as the supervising registered dietician on staff. She specializes in child nutrition, child fitness and overall child health. She enjoys her job because it allows her to be a pivotal piece of child development.

MICHELLE COOPER: Next, we are going to talk about lunch. It's 12 o'clock. Your stomach is growling. You have 30 minutes, maybe an hour to eat and get back to work. What are you to do? Most grocery stores today have incorporated salad bars as part of their products. This is a great way to stock up on some healthy, light fare. You can simply load up your plate and take it to go with you. What you want to do is focus on having a mixed meal. The last thing you want to do is have a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal that is going to make you want to go home and go to sleep rather than go back to work. So as you are perusing the salad bar, look for, number one, your leafy greens, add some vegetables, but also add a lean source of protein, maybe some chopped-up turkey or ham or some garbanzo beans if those are available. Steer clear of those fat-laden toppings like bacon bits, croutons, and watch out for the dressings. You want to make sure you are using the lighter versions rather than the heavy, fat-laden versions. Remember, there is cream-based and oil-based. The oil-based tends to be lighter than the cream-based. However, you can get the cream-based as long as it is low fat or light. Also, you might want to add a little fruit in there as well. If there is fresh fruit in the salad bar, great; if not, top it off a little bit of dried fruit like raisins. There you go. A meal to go in a box, it's quick, convenient and healthy.

Healthy Food Choices for Lunch Video

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