One of the things I’m asked most often is about how I plan ahead for healthy lunches at work. Warning: some of this may seem seriously simple to those of you who are crazy organized. Alas, I’m routinely questioned about not just what I eat, but how I prep it healthfully, and so, the idea for this post was formed.
The first thing you should know is that if I had it my way, I would consume a scone from Starbucks and a massive white mocha for breakfast every day of my life. Or maybe an enormous bowl of cereal. Lunch would be pasta in some form and a large Diet Coke. Since this is obviously not conducive to my goal of losing weight, I had to streamline things a bit. You should also know that while I will occasionally eat leftovers, doing it every day is against my religion. I used to be a devotee of Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, etc. but as I’ve moved towards eating fresher, healthier food, I needed something easy and freezable.
For breakfast, I like to keep things simple. I either eat some frozen broccoli, chicken-apple sausage and eggs, or a smoothie. I’m a fan of the Green Monster by Oh She Glows or Ashlee’s Super Smoothie. I absolutely HATE being hungry in the morning, and I want to feel full, so I always add a heaping scoop of protein powder to the smoothies. I usually eat breakfast around 6 AM (or drink a smoothie while driving ’til 6:30 AM) and have a quick snack before I start teaching at 9 AM. I don’t get a break until 12:16, so I need things that will help me stay full for about six hours. A smoothie and some nuts around 8:50 usually do the trick, thankfully.
To make things easy in the morning, I have my recipes printed and in a plastic sheet protector, which I store near my cookbooks on top of my fridge:
Lunches require a bit more prep than throwing things in the blender. My dear friend Steph turned me on to several simple soup recipes, and they’ve become my go-to lunch.
Every Sunday, I make a giant vat of soup. I choose simple recipes, so prepping and cooking the soup never takes more than an hour. My favorite is this recipe for kale and white bean soup. It’s easy and it freezes well. If you decide to use the recipe, the one thing I’d add is ground turkey—more protein. Yes, I am obsessed with protein. Sorry, vegetarians!
After making soup on Sunday, I divide it into plastic containers, like these:
I let them cool for a bit and pop them in the freezer. That way, they’re easy to grab in the morning (or even better, the night before).
The other big thing I recommend (again, OBVIOUS!) is a sturdy lunch bag, like so:
Obviously, soup isn’t enough for lunch. I usually add some carrot sticks or pistachios, too, plus and apple and peanut butter for a post-work/pre-workout snack. I’m in love with Fit and Fresh containers, and I ordered a whole bunch of them for really cheap:
By taking just an hour of my Sunday, I literally save myself hours of time and stress each week. It’s easy, healthy and pretty delicious. Of course, we all get sick of eating the same things each day. Occasionally, I’ll substitute other things, like buying a whole roasted chicken and taking portions of that, plus some frozen veggies. And some days, when I’m really over whatever I’ve made or purchased, I stop for a sandwich, and you know what? That’s okay, too.
How do you stay organized and on top of eating well, especially for lunches?
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I love a good roast veggie and couscous salad. Other staples include fried rice, pasta, homemade pizza and various sandwiches (often egg). I usually make a few days of lunches on the weekend, and do the same mid week for the rest of the week – makes life so much easier!
I’m a meal-planner, too. Steve and I also plan our weekly menus for dinner. Thus allows us to know what we’re having for dinner every night and have all of the ingredients. I’ve had people call me anal until they’ve tried it. It makes sure we have healthy meal options. I also prepare my breakfast the night before (oatmeal wth milk, cranberries, walnuts, and cinnamon, a side of melon, OJ and coffee).
I agree! I need a good, hearty, big breakfast to keep my full. Otherwise, I graze between breakfast and lunchtime. So, like you, I go for eggs, whole grain cereal, and/or oatmeal. I bet some people would be aghast at my big breakfast, but, hey, I can make it from 7 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. on that, so it works for me. I agree with your soup idea. In the winter, I love eating chili leftovers because that keeps me full well into the afternoon. And for snack, I try to go with protein, like peanut butter. It does take effort and planning to plot out healthy meals and snacks – but it is so worth it when you aren’t scrounging and succumb to a stale bag of Tostitos
Wow… That is impressive organization! My old roommate was a huge fan of making soup on Sundays for the week ahead.
One little trick I have that seems SO simple but definitely makes things easier is rinsing off all the fruit I buy as soon as I get it home. That way I really can just grab an apple, a handful of grapes, a peach, etc., as I’m running out the door and not have to worry about stopping, peeling the sticker off, washing it, drying it, etc. Again, saves all of three minutes but for some reason, mentally, it helps.
I LOVE that kale and white bean soup. I use extra cans of beans to up the protein and make it last longer. It’s delicious!
Wow, you’re really organized! I’m just starting to organize my family’s lunches – we usually have leftovers from the night before but scramble for them in the morning. Now I try to at least make my son’s lunch the night before – fruits, veggies, crackers, some leftovers. He eats breakfast but my husband and I never do during the week. We value our sleep too much, I think …
I do what you do basically though I tend to bring leftovers too and sometimes make a sandwich at home. I rarely eat lunch out and always have breakfast (I am a beast without it). I used to eat eggs every day but now I substitute oatmeal I make from scratch with nuts and fruit. Yummmmmmmy!
I’ve gotten away from planning ahead, but I recently jumped back on the bandwagon, if you will. For one, I wasn’t buying anything for lunch, always eating leftovers but I’m trying to get back to eating like I did when I was a kid. Sandwiches and pretzels and fruit for lunch, a snack between lunch and dinner, etc.
Planning ahead is crucial, though, in living a healthy lifestyle. So many choices to eat badly when you don’t!
I love Fresh and Fit too! I bought the salad one, the cereal one and the sandwich one. The sandwich one seems to never fit my sandwiches though. I love how you plan ahead and cook on Sundays. I need to start doing that. I pack my lunch the night before (or try to). My food for today is: Multigrain Cheerios, Nonfat Greek yogurt with fresh berries, grapes, lowfat cheese stick and grapes until I get home to left ower turkey and pineapple tacos!
I always have Multigrain Cheerios for breakfast but this week, I will change it up with oatmeal I bought from Trader Joe’s (the frozen steel cut one you can microwave).
love every bit of this. meal planning is one of the determining factors of a good week for me.
i’ve often struggled in the afternoon – post work. since i eat lunch at 11am i am starving by 3 pm and NEVER remember to factor in that afternoon snack. it is no bueno.
thanks for the reminder!
I work at home so I tend to mingle through the kitchen and make something rather than planning ahead since I’m rarely on the go, but I think I’m still going to start making large pots of soup on Sunday. That white bean and kale soup sounds INCREDIBLE and super healthy. I love soup, especially during colder seasons, I just need interesting recipes that aren’t the typical bland chicken noodle so I don’t lose interest. Thanks for linking to that recipe!
Great tips Amy! I’m not going to lie, I’ve gotten REALLY bad about cooking on Sundays and planning ahead this summer. I did it all the time last fall/winter. I think it’s because summer weekends are so busy? Anyways, I definitely want to pick this habit back up because it makes the week so much less stressful and more carefree!
I usually don’t plan meals for the whole week, but always try to have leftovers for next day’s lunch.
I also take granola and fruits with me for a light breakfast in the morning, or sometimes some whole grain bread.
I have a very tasty recipe for a veggie soup, if you’re interested.
I just started planning dinners for the week, in hopes that it helps us streamline our grocery shopping a little bit (rather than just wandering the aisles grabbing things that look good and ending up wasting produce that goes bad).
I work from home, so I don’t really organize my lunches that well and will eat whatever’s on hand and looks good – a bagel with peanut butter & banana, a salad, leftovers, or a stir fry. But when I was working away from home I tried to mix things up to keep from getting bored. Lunch was often a soup and some crackers and cheese, a salad with chickpeas or chicken for protein, or a turkey and veggie panini…we got a panini maker for our wedding and I luuuurve that thing.
The Eat, Shrink & Be Merry cookbook has been a big help for me. Many of the recipes are for 6-8 servings, but quite often, they’re freezable so I’d make a big batch of whatever it was on the weekend, have it for dinner, and freeze the rest into individual portions for lunches. Chili is also awesome for this reason!
Yay, so excited you got so much out of the recipes I sent you. Surprisingly, I don’t eat much soup for lunch, generally for dinner. But I find planning lunches a bit challenging so maybe I’ll start doing this!
I love this post! One of my biggest health problems is that I am very bad at planning meals ahead, so I go too long without eating and end up inhaling some horrible fast food. Obvious to some, maybe, but a great help to me!
my weekday lunch usually consists of yogurt, a granola bar and a apple with sliced cheese. sometimes i try to vary it up so i don’t get too bored but i definitely try to keep healthy snacks on hand so i’m not tempted to eat too many sweets.
i love how you organize a week ahead though, i keep saying it, but i honestly need to start doing that to save me a morning hassle.
Planning is definitely the number one ingredient to getting yourself healthy in my books too! Mmmmm, salivating over the smoothies that you shared, will be testing them out this week. Loving hearing all about your weight loss journey hun – you go girl!! x
THIS is where I fail at eating better because I obviously don’t plan ahead! Thanks for the inspiration!! I’ll have to work on planning ahead this weekend for next week. New month…perfect timing! You should check out Crock Pot Girls on Facebook.
my toughest thing is keeping good options in the house. if i buy weekly, i run out and then i get stuck not eating (usually) or eating something totally random like sunflower seeds and plum jam (fact). i don’t know why i make such a big deal about going to the store — will have to give that some thought. preparedness is everything. ps – love your nails.
For me, summer eating is easy. I’ve got a CSA, so I’m forced to eat healthy, fresh food. The winter is a whole other monster. It’s too easy for me to keep comfort foods on hand and resort back to eating unhealthy things when it’s cold outside. I’m determined not to fall back into that trap this fall and winter!
we love this: “@elysa: Eating Healthy: Planning Ahead http://t.co/k61Yfss”
What a great post – I’ve been struggling with how to plan healthily lately. Great inspiration!