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If you go by the standard rules of eating, you eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Breakfast is usually easy since you’re home in the morning, and dinner is something most people plan at least a little bit, but lunch can be a hassle. It’s the middle of the day, you’re likely out and about, and sometimes stopping to eat lunch can put a halt to the day’s productivity. Many people eat out everyday, even though this knowingly takes a toll on both health and finances.
It doesn’t have to be difficult, however, and in fact, with the right attitude, and a little bit of planning, you can enjoy your lunch everyday instead of dreading it.
1. Plan
This is perhaps the most important part of making anything work. You likely plan your dinners, especially if you have a family to feed, but lunch is often an afterthought that ends up with you either eating a granola bar from the vending machine because you’re too busy for anything else, or grabbing a burger through the drive through because it’s easy and seems cheap. While these options will work in the short term, they don’t do much for your health or your budget in the long term.
Instead of flying by the seat of your pants when it comes to lunch, make a plan on Sunday night (or whenever works for you) regarding what’s going to happen over the next week. If you plan your dinners, this is a similar process, and will eventually get you to the point where you don’t even think about what you’re having for lunch.
2. Make Leftovers
Instead of taking leftovers if you happen to have them, make enough when cooking that you know you’ll have leftovers. While this may not work with everything, if you think about lunches when planning your dinners, you can plan meals that work well the next day, and that you know you like. Most foods will work well for leftovers, but you have to have enough for an extra meal to make it work consistently.
3. Eat Breakfast
What does breakfast have to do with lunch? A lot actually. Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day, and having something when you wake up will set the stage for how the rest of the day will go.
If you get up and run out the door without eating, a couple things will happen. You’ll likely be starving before lunch, which means, if you have something, you’ll probably eat it sooner than you anticipate. This means you’ll be hungry before before dinner, which means you’ll probably eat junk that you don’t need. It’s a vicious cycle that can be difficult to get out of, but can be solved by eating a healthy, nutritious, high protein breakfast before you leave the house. Lunch can then be at a reasonable time, and you are likely to snack throughout the day much less.
4. Rethink What Lunch is Supposed to Be
Lunch doesn’t have to be a sandwich, or leftovers, even hot and prepared. It can be anything that fills you up so that you can move on with your day. While having a delicious, hot lunch everyday may seem ideal, it’s best to plan easy, quick meals for days when this isn’t possible. For example, a handful of nuts, a piece of string cheese, and apple can be filling and quick on a day when you don’t have time to leave the office. Depending on where you are, lunch can be anything you want it to be.
5. Splurge
If you’re on a budget or especially tight on time, lunch can be nothing but a headache that you have to deal with everyday. If you’re trying to eat healthy, that makes it worse. To combat boredom and hassle, plan for something you know you’ll enjoy once a week. Maybe it’s getting a burrito from your favorite burrito place, or eating at a gourmet restaurant. Whatever it is for you, figure out how to make something work so that you’ll have something to look forward to when you’re eating a salad for the third time.
6. Make Lunchtime as Easy as Possible
Everyone is different, but there’s always something you hate about lunch that you can change. If it’s a full break room at lunchtime, see if you can schedule your lunch an hour later. If it’s that you hate to leave the office during the day, see if you can arrange for someone else to get you something if they’re going out. Whatever your lunch biggest lunchtime pet peeve is, do your best to avoid it most days, and you will be much more likely to enjoy that hour instead of dread it.
7. Be Considerate
If you work in an office where you share a lunch or break room with others, it’s important to be considerate at lunchtime. This means not bringing in food that has an offensive odor and cleaning up after yourself. If you become known around the office as the one that never cleans the microwave or leaves dirty dishes everywhere, your daily lunch hour will become a nightmare.
8. Make Grab and Go Lunches
While quick snack type lunches are easy, sometimes you want to have a meal but don’t have time to prepare it. There’s an easy solution to this problem, and that’s making up lunches ahead of time that you can grab on the way out the door and eat quickly with little prep. Jarred salads, overnight oatmeal, or even leftovers that are already proportioned and ready to go are options that will come in handy. This takes a little bit of planning, but will relieve a lot of stress.
9. Get the Right Gear
Most people usually eat lunch outside of their homes, which means finding ways to transport or reheat things in an unfamiliar setting. If this sounds like you, figure out what your problem is and get the right supplies to fix it. A reusable lunch bag will save you money, and a thermos will do a great job of keeping your soup hot. You can buy plenty of products that can change your life when it comes to lunch, whether it is something as simple as a water bottle, or something a bit more complex like a plastic container that will separate cereal and milk so that you can enjoy it later.
Having the right tools when you’re preparing your food will also make prepping your lunches easier.
10. Build a Routine That Works For You
Once you’ve figured out your biggest problems when it comes to lunch, build a routine that will help you and stick to it. Meal planning is an obvious answer, but it could be simply finding the right setting or even getting pretty dishes to eat lunch on at your desk. Lunch is a crucial part of your day, but it doesn’t have to be something you constantly think about.
Conclusion
If done right, lunch can be a helpful part of your day instead of hindering it. By taking the time to plan meals, thinking of others you share a space with, and building good midday habits, you’ll be amazed at how quickly lunch goes from headache to enjoyment.