Here Are 7 Ways To Choose A Healthy Lunch

If you find yourself fighting sugar cravings and mid-afternoon energy crashes, your lunch could be the reason.

Nutritionist Charlotte Watts, author of The De-Stress Effect, clarifies to Healthista how to make your lunch work for you.

1. 'I feel stressed from the morning'
It could be easy to load up on the starchy carbs like bread or pasta here but your brain is demanding healthy fats to aid it cope and to stop you self-medicating on sugars later on.

Base your meal around oily fish like salmon or egg with at least the same amount as the carb part.

Satisfying fats like nuts, seeds, avocado and coconut also provide textures that provide a sense of luxury and fulfillment.

2. 'I want to feel more energized without ruining my weight loss efforts'
If you’ve been holding back on the calories, but also working hard, you may not have been providing your brain with the fuel it needs.

Before you have a bingeing backlash, have a hearty meal that lets your body know there is food available to you and it can relax.

Sometimes that might mean something warm and a bit old school like a stew and sometimes like adding great big veg like broccoli, cabbage and kale.  

3. 'I've exercised and feel ravenous'
Brown rice could help you work to your best potential due to the starchy carbs.

Firstly, it is crucial to refill muscle after exercise so carry nuts or a protein bar or shake with natural ingredients.

Don’t allow yourself to hit a wall where you run out of energy available to your muscles and brain; that will make your exercise a stress rather than a boon to your health.

Ensuring something that supports blood sugar levels throughout exercise can stop you making choices based on a crash afterwards.

A piece of fruit, or a smoothie with veg before exercising can help you make healthy choices later.

If it suits you, adding a starchy carb portion like brown rice, quinoa or sweet potato ensures energy that also allows you to work to your best potential and one or two vegetable portions provide antioxidants and minerals to help prevent injury.

4. 'I've already snacked and don't feel that hungry'
It’s never a good idea to force food in – it really doesn’t help the digestive processes!

Something light like a salad or hearty soup ensures we don’t have a blood sugar crash in the afternoon and if you can wait a little later for lunch to regain your appetite, all the better.

Snacking less and allowing yourself to feel hunger (as long as you’ve had breakfast), helps create intuition for what you need.

Healthy hunger builds slowly and doesn’t leave you desperate to grab any old c*&p by the time you stop for lunch.

5. 'I just want to eat rubbish today'
To acknowledge this reaction, look for some middle-ground where you can eat something that feels indulgent, whilst acknowledging that your brain probably needs some nutrient support for those cravings.

Having some starchy egg pasta or quinoa alongside filling protein with a vegetable portion won’t be ‘rubbish’ but it will satisfy that itch.

6. 'I've "been good" all week and just want to eat what I want'
Is what you want also what you need? There are levels here and we can get overcome by those quick-fix urge if we view health as a fad that we have to do, but don’t really value.

It’s no bad thing to indulge ourselves every so often but if that can also leave us feeling positive after, all the better.

So have the indulgence and practice damage limitation with a side salad or simple bag of rocket or watercress leaves and some olive oil.

7. 'I don't really know what I want'
This is the best time to try something new, what have you got to lose? Is there something you’ve looked at with curiosity but then gone for your old favourite?

It may be that you’ve got a little bit bored and need to shake things up a little – what’s the worst that can happen?