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beingwell magazine Summer 2007
The best brown-bag lunches should always carry more than your lunch.
How often have you dipped into your lunch at mid-morning, only to find yourself at the vending machine by mid-afternoon because you’re hungry? Planning for these extras will ensure you have enough of the right kind of food to get you through the day.Ideally, the noontime meal will have a good balance of nutrients, with protein, grain and two vegetables. Lighter protein sources, such as tuna or legumes, are easier to digest and a better choice than red meat, which may make you feel tired in the afternoon.
A pasta dish — either leftover or specially prepared — is a good mid-day meal, especially if it is made with whole grain noodles in a Prima Vera, Florentine or vegetarian style.If opting for salad, remember darker greens, such as spinach, provide more nutritional punch that lighter ones. A garden salad, with a variety of veggies, provides plenty of flavours to enjoy, as well as a mix of nutrients.
Chick peas are a terrific way to include fibre and protein. If you can’t resist creamy salad dressings, use a smaller portion, opt for a low-fat brand or make your own with yogurt.
A sandwich should always have a whole-grain component; bread, bun, wrap or pita. White or brown breads, which are over-refined, should be avoided: likewise, pre-packed lunch kits. These have too many preservatives, chemicals and fillers and too few nutrients to fuel your body through the day.When shopping for sandwich meat, lean toward turkey or tuna. Ham and roast beef are much higher in those bad-fats, while salamis, bolognas and anything with ‘loaf’ in its name are loaded with fillers. If available at your local grocery store, you might also want to consider a soya or tofu-based alternative.Use a modest amount of meat for your sandwich; you don’t need to get all your protein at once and avoid processed cheese which is made of oil. And don’t forget the veggies: some lettuce or tomato, some sliced pepper or radish, or red cabbage or fresh cucumber enhance flavour and provide a nutritional bonus.In case you were wondering, ketchup doesn’t count as a vegetable. Peanut butter and banana, especially if made with organic peanut butter (which has no added starch or hydrogenated oils) is a lunchtime classic for good reason; nutritious, delicious and unfailingly simple to prepare. When packing children’s lunches, however, it’s a pass.
Most schools have adopted a nut-free policy because of allergy concerns.For your mid-morning and mid-afternoon break have snacks at the ready. For morning, think fibre: nuts, raw veggies, dried chick peas — and keep a piece of fruit for an afternoon treat when your body will appreciate the carbohydrate and glucose boost. Add a little yogurt, and you’ll make it to dinner without trouble or regret.While on the fibre front, a whole grain bagel is popular morning snack, but half is plenty — and pass on the cream cheese unless you’ve earned a treat. Yogurt is a better way to get your dairy and, mixed with an unsweetened bran cereal or granola, delivers more viable fibre than eating the whole bagel — and with fewer calories.When in doubt about what’s best to eat, opt for raw veggies. With a great array of vitamins and minerals, as well as containing fibre and carbohydrates, veggies should be the biggest part of your daily food intake and precious few of us are in any danger of eating too many. Water is almost always the beverage of choice, though this should be sipped through the day rather than exclusively with meals.
And if fruit juice is a fav, consider eating the fruit instead. A few grapes, an apple or orange are more flavourful than the juice, have fewer calories and still have the fibre the juicing process takes out of them. If you want an extra bit of goodness, red and purple grapes offer the same health benefits of red wine.