Besides being an economical alternative, preparing lunch boxes for the week is a great way to eat healthier and lose a few pounds. By having your meals on hand, you reduce the chances of dipping into a plate of breaded potato chips, which helps you maintain your diet.
However, there are some things to keep in mind when preparing your meals for the week so that they are really healthy and help you achieve your goals. Be alert:
1. Not following the correct ratio between food groups
It may be easier to prepare a giant pan of noodles, but it's not a good idea to eat only carbohydrates every day for your lunch. For your lunchbox to be a healthy option, you need to maintain an adequate ratio of carbohydrate, protein, and fat.
Similarly, preparing just one salad with zero protein will make you hungry in no time? and more likely to jump to the nearest bakery.
2. Use very large containers
Your pots need to be the right size for the amount of food you want to bring. A 700 ml container may be great for carrying your salad, for example, but it may be too big for you to fill with rice and beans. Therefore it is more recommended to have a set of pots of different sizes.
Read also: Healthy lunchbox: 24 meal ideas to take at work
3. Prepare excess food
You can even prepare a whole package of beans even though you will only need five servings for the week's lunchboxes. But instead of wanting to fill your pots with all this extra food, it's best to freeze the excess and use it next week.
Likewise, it may not be a good idea to bring your entire cookie package to the office at once. Even if your plan is to eat only two units a day, having so much food in abundance can make you consume more than you would like just because you couldn't resist it without actually being hungry.
4. Not taking enough food
No more, no less: you need to know exactly how much food you need to avoid getting hungry later. After all, there's no point in bringing a shred of rice to work and then attacking the carrot cake because you were almost fainting.
It may take a while before you figure out the right amount of food, but you need to be aware of this so as not to leave your body malnourished in any way.
5. Be healthy only at lunch time
Your lunch box is perfect: you eat a huge pot of salad, a small portion of beans and brown rice, and a medium piece of grilled salmon. So why can't you lose weight?
Also read: 6 foods you should not reheat in the microwave
Maybe because the other meals are not as balanced as your lunch box. If your goal is to lose weight, you need to restrict the consumption of sweets and fried foods at other times of the day too, not just at lunch.
6. Eat the same thing everyday
Of course it is easier to prepare just one type of carbohydrate and protein for the whole week. But will eating the same thing every day make your meals dull? and you will be increasingly tempted to take the untouched pot home and eat a piece of pizza instead.
Also, by always consuming the same foods, you are always eating the same nutrients, which can make other important elements out of your diet.
You don't have to make big inventions every day, but it might be interesting to change the way you prepare vegetables, change the variety of leaves, and try to consume different carbohydrates and proteins for lunch and dinner.
7. Follow a very prohibitive diet
It won't do you any good to fool yourself and drop the lunchbox to eat hamburgers at lunchtime; however, you should not be uncompromising about yourself either.
Read also: How to freeze and thaw foods correctly
For example, you have prepared a supersalada for lunch, but the weather has turned, it's cold and you don't feel like eating a cold lunchbox. If so, if you're going to be happier with a soup, go for it? Just try to choose a healthier option such as a soup or vegetable soup. No one needs to eat anything thanks.
Another small gesture of kindness you can have with yourself is to allow yourself to eat a treat from time to time. Otherwise, you will end up feeling dissatisfied with your food and leaving the pots aside.
Remember: it is not enough to prepare fitness boxes with very few calories. Every diet needs to be sustainable and versatile for food reeducation to become natural in your life.
10 Life Changing Tips for Packing Lunch for Work or School (March 2024)
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