Packing A Healthy Lunch

Most people today find themselves extremely busy. If they are juggling a schedule between work and home, children and other responsibilities, the truth of the matter is, most often people neglect themselves with regard to their eating habits. The whole idea of "healthy eating" goes out the window. Eating a nutritionally balanced meal does not have to become an issue with regard to time nor does it have to be difficult.

The following will give simple guidelines to aid a person in achieving at least one meal per day that can be nutritious. This meal is lunch. It is the "Work" meal where most individuals end up ordering out during their day, buying a non healthy snack from a snack stand, or simply skipping lunch all together.

To begin let us discuss the definition of a healthy work lunch. From a very general perspective, a healthy work lunch may simply be one that does not contain saturated fats, salt, sugar, and additionally processed foods. Examples of these kinds of foods can be found in any fast food restaurant in America and are the main reason for our growing waistlines. One can easily prepare a tasty and nutritious meal each evening before their next work day that does not have the aforementioned culprits that cause high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, forms of metabolic disorders (such as adult onset diabetes), and obesity.

The best foods to incorporate in one's diet for a healthy work lunch can include flourless breads and tortilla's that contain no wheat, no gluten (gluten is the cause of many allergic reactions in the body), non- processed lunch meats that contain no nitrates and additional sodium, quality condiments(such as grape seed oil, mayonnaise, mustard), and low sodium ketchup. Let us not forget nature's greatest snack that comes in its own wrapper for our healthy work lunch. This snack can be any organic fruit;that would be apples, banana's, oranges, plums, peaches, nectarines, and dried fruit that has no sulfites added. to it.

Try a healthy delicious turkey sandwich with the recipe below. It adds to a healthy and an easy lunch to prepare for work. All ingredients can be found at the neighborhood health food store. Healthy turkey Sandwich recipe:

Two pieces of Ezekiel Bread

Three pieces of romaine lettuce from the heart of the head

¼ tomatos thinly sliced

One ring of a purple onion

One slice of an orange or red bell pepper

Two tsp. of prepared mustard that is gluten free

One TBS. grape seed oil mayonnaise by a company called Veggienase

Season to taste with any of the MRS. Dash line of salt free seasonings

Add one piece of fruit to this six minute sandwich (total preparation time), a bottle of water (not tap water), and the result is a healthy, quality, satisfying, and nutrient dense lunch made especially for work and conveniently ready to eat at anytime during the work day.

Article by Deana Sicari BS CCN

Clinical Nutritionist and Functional Athletic Trainer

C/O The "Nutri-Fit"

My name is Deana Sicari-Rodgers and I am a certified Clinical Nutritionist and Athletic Trainer. I have 18 years experience in the field of chemistry-applied nutrition and over 22 years experience in personal training.  My experience in helping others achieve their health and fitness goals includes weight loss, sport nutrition, metabolic disorders (such as insulin resistance and forms of diabetes), menopause, inflammatory condition, chronic illness and disease.  My personally designed programs include the latest in clinical diagnostics and incorporate, menu planning, individual accountability, accurate measure of ones progress, suggested vitamin profiles, exercise routines and behavioral tools for success. If you are interested in the cutting edge to accomplish your health goals, NUTRI-FIT is your home for personalized nutrition and fitness.