What do you do for lunch?
Do you know where all the good restaurants are near your work?
How often do you eat out? All 5 days a work week?
If you answered yes to the last one, think about this:
First off, think about how much you spend a day on your lunch and then multiple it times 5 for a weekly total. Now multiply that times 4 for a rough monthly total. Still not motivated to change your habits, then multiply that last total times 12 for a yearly total. Most folks spend between $1500 and $2500 a year just to eat during the work week.
Secondly, most lunches will put you easily up close to 1000 calories (if not more). FYI, lunch should be around 500 calories!
How would you like to cut your cost – and your calorie intake – in well-over half? The answer is to go “old school,” and pack your lunch. The downside to this is the missed networking with coworkers you would normally have over a lunch table, but the benefits are amazing. Here are some tips to get started with the lunch packing.
Tip #1: Find a staple sandwich or two and make ’em healthy. Think turkey or chicken and liven it up with freebies such as mustard, ground pepper, or fresh peppers.
Tip #2: Avoid adding flavor with high calorie dressings like mayonaise.
Tip #3: Spoil yourself with good cheese. Cheese has protein and if you can’t handle a sandwich without it, then make sure you do real deli cheese and not the proceesed American cheese.
Tip #4: Pack 2 sandwiches, and think of your lunch as two small lunches if possible in your work setting. For example, I eat half my lunch at 10:00 or 10:30 and the other half at the end of my lunch hour.
Tip #5: Have fruit, cottage cheese, or yogurt to go with your sandwich and eat a helping with each sandwich to balance out eat mini-meal
Tip #6: Tossing in 6 almonds with one of the mini-meals is a great treat (almonds = healthy fats)
Tip #7: You might need a protein bar or yogurt for the 3:00 hunger pangs to help you avoid snacks or pop before you leave work.
Going “old school,” for people used to eating out each day is a large change, however, if you only change this one thing, you are light years ahead of where you would be in the weight loss/nutrition battle. Instead of changing your whole world with a drastic diet, try this one small trick for a while and note your progress. Once it becomes a habit (6 months or so) I bet you will never go back.