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healthy body

BRING YOUR

Work
LUNCH TO

You have the power to By Liz McGehee
change your life so
don’t put your health
off any longer.

cholesterol levels and see if
anything improves.
Health benefits aside,
kay, not to brag, Then there are the home also allows you to bringing your lunch to work is
but I’ve been self-deprecating thoughts that control your calorie intake and extremely cost effective. Even
pretty good inevitably follow our poor diet tailor your diet around your making your own coffee can
about bringing choices. Why did I eat that nutritional needs. Cafeterias, save you $20-30 a week.
Omy lunch slice of pizza? No wonder I’ve sit-down restaurants and fast If you know you need to
from home lately, and it feels gained so much weight. If this food joints often serve massive make a change, try to figure
great! Like me, you may have sounds familiar, it’s time to think portions, sometimes an entire out the steps to your personal
struggled in the past to bring about bringing your lunch from day’s worth of recommended success. Once I realized what
your lunch from home, giving home. You have the power to calories and then some! On my diet was doing to my mind,
up within the first week or two, change your life so don’t put top of that, “healthy” choices like body and spirit, I knew I had
and that’s not uncommon. your health off any longer. sautéed veggies are slathered in to make a change, but I was
What really motivated Bringing your lunch from butter or flash fried. Unless you also afraid of failing again. So,
me to try again though was a are the one making the food, I asked, “Why did I give up last
sudden and sharp decline in my you have no way of knowing time?” The answer:
overall health. I began tracking just how healthy the menu is.
the moments I felt bad and Struggling with gluten • Unrealistic food choices
eventually realized that, midday intolerance, dairy allergies, • Going cold turkey
directly after eating lunch, I Start by bringing fatigue, high cholesterol, diabe- • Sticking to a strict diet
lost focus, became extremely tes or something else? Follow • Not enough variety
fatigued and transformed into a food two days a your gut and try phasing the • Giving in to stress binges
grump. The side effects of my week and move up perpetrator out of your diet
diet were even more intense to four days in your and adding foods that boost Believe it or not, bringing
after eating refined carbohy- energy, cognitive function, your lunch from home doesn’t
 Toss in slaw vegetables and pumpkin seeds. drates and sugars. own time weight loss as well as healthy have to feel like a punishment.
Try easing into your new diet
so you don’t shock your sys-
Say goodbye to soggy tem. Start by bringing food
sandwiches! Veggies two days a week and move up
should be packed separately to four days in your own time.
and added at mealtime. Use
cold or room temperature Allow cheat days, and change
ingredients only to up your meals.
prevent condensation If you’re the kind of per-
once the sandwich is son that gets sick of leftovers,
wrapped. Condiments like make two meals for the week.
mayonnaise and mustard This will give you options and
should not be applied help you stay on the right
directly to the bread but
rather between the meat track. Above all, food should
and the cheese. be fun, delicious, nutritious and
make you feel great!

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