The social distancing rules we’ve been asked to follow, are forcing us to live in a “new temporary normal” state. When it comes to eating, the meal that’s being interrupted for many of us, is lunch. You can no longer grab lunch on the go at your local sandwich shop, while racing from one meeting to the next. You can’t take advantage of the subsidized company cafeteria for lunch either. Healthy home lunches now have to be top of mind.
In the past, you may have treated a work from home day as a treat. You may have grabbed a frozen pizza or bacon sandwich for lunch to celebrate. Things are different right now, many of us are stuck working from home indefinitely. If this type of pizza grabbing mindset continues for a couple of weeks straight, it’s really going to have a negative impact to both your waistline, and your health! Our current reality of social distancing is forcing us to get better at making healthy home lunches. Here are 3 ways you can improve your lunches at home.
3 Tips to Healthy Home Lunches
Use your leftovers.
Especially during this time frame that we’re being asked to limit our social interaction, including our grocery store trips, leftovers will grow in importance in our lives. The best way to make use of leftovers, is to eat them the following day for lunch. In fact, why not cook bigger portions at dinner filled with more vegetables than usual, with this plan in mind? Some meals taste even better the next day, after the seasonings have had a chance to sit together overnight. Your lunches may turn out being your tastiest meal of the day! Leftovers don’t require you to plan, prepare or cook another meal, you’ll only have to warm them up. They’re also tasty to eat on top of a plate of mixed greens to create a pseudo salad!
Take time to relax over your lunch hour.
It’s very easy stand over the sink while pounding back a sandwich or something you grab quickly from the fridge for lunch when you’re working from home. It’s easy to also get so wound up with what you’re working on, that you forget about eating lunch all together. This is a bad habit to get into. Research shows, that a break in the middle of the day re-charges us and makes us more productive for the rest of the day. You’re used to having lunch when you’re in the office, so remember to eat it at home.
Just think, when you work from home you save time because you don’t have to commute there and back, or get fully ready. So use this extra time to enjoy your lunch hour. Shut your computer down and leave your desk for lunch at close to the same time everyday if you can. Enjoy the process of preparing your lunch. Turn up your favourite music, and start chopping veggies, nuts and cheese for your salad. If you have a little extra time, walk around the block after you’re done eating.
Let There be Soup!
I’ve talked in the past about how much I love soup. It can be one of the healthiest meals out there because you ingest every ounce of nutrition from the veggies and ingredients you cook with. It can be a quick and easy dish to make and it never gets boring. I also love soup for lunches because it’s a quiet meal to eat. So if you’re stuck on a conference call while you’re working from home, just pour your soup in a coffee soup and sip away during the call. No one will have any idea that you’re eating your lunch!
To sum it up…Healthy Home Lunches
During social distancing, so many people are working from home every day, for the first time. It can be stressful to have to make 3 healthy meals a day for yourself when you’re not used to it. When it comes to healthy home lunches, remember to make use of your leftovers, take and enjoy your full lunch hour and try eating soup for lunch. These tips should make healthy home lunches easier and more enjoyable for you.