How many times have you wanted to make your lunch for work but ended up eating at the cafeteria instead, for lack of time? Here are some great tips for packing lunch as much as possible.
Every time I want to save some money and eat healthier, I end up daydreaming about preparing lunch for the next day. And yet, I never quite manage to do it. The closest I’ve ever come to a habit of doing that is making lunch for two consecutive days and then abandoning it altogether because of some calamity or another in my life. But there’s always got to be a way to push ourselves, right? There has to be a way to be motivated enough to succeed in this.
So, I stopped to think about what would help, and these are the ideas I came up with. Read more about meal planning here.
4 tips for packing lunch in an efficient way
1. Don’t aim too high
One of my constant problems is that I always put too much pressure on myself to do everything perfectly. And then, because the stakes seem high in my head, I end up doing nothing at all. So, don’t overdo it with your eating goal. Try and start out small: aim for two days of packing lunch every week and go from there. This gives you a little room to breathe. Also, try and make simple dishes at first, don’t complicate your life with sophisticated things. Allow yourself to grow into this.
2. Double up on meals
If you’re cooking dinner or breakfast, why not make it a double meal? Cook some extra chicken, boil some extra pasta or rice. It doesn’t mean that much extra work or time spent in the kitchen, but it ensures you get more food that you can eat the following day. Food you can be proud of making. Plus: it also gets you into the habit of actually cooking lunch (even if you’re cooking dinner).
3. Make sandwiches
Isn’t that the simplest lunch option? Especially a hearty sandwich, with fresh and freshly cooked ingredients that will give you an energy boost for the rest of the day. You can also use meat you’ve cooked for dinner, ready-made spreads, some veggies you had chopped for a salad and so on. It doesn’t have to be complicated at all.
4. Let the grocery store help you
There is no shame in buying pre-cut things from the grocery store, like vegetables, cheese, deli meats. Wherever you can cut a bit of time from your to-do list, do it. You deserve not to worry about every little thing you put into your meals. And sometimes the quest for healthy eating purity can lead us down into exhaustion.
How about you? Any thoughts on how to manage to make lunch for yourself? If yes, share it with the rest of us, cause we all want to eat better, healthier, and save some money.
