Preparing a packed healthy work/school lunch can save you not only cash but calories too! Restaurant, tuck- shop/ canteen, take-away or prepackaged meals can contain lots of refined sugars and unhealthy fats and are energy dense rather than nutrient dense.
So plan ahead and choose easy lunches and snacks to keep you sustained throughout the day. Make life easy for yourself by making extra at dinner time and using leftovers to add to salads/ sandwiches and buy easy snacky foods. Buy a good lunchbox or try out a mason jar if you want to look fancy :)
Make your own balanced lunch using the following combinations:
Healthy Carbohydrates
Wholewheat/ Low GI/ Rye bread
Wholewheat roll/ wrap/ pita/ multiseed bagel
Wholewheat couscous/ brown rice/ quinoa/ barley
Chickpeas/ lentils/ beans
Butternut/ corn/ small baked potato/ boiled baby potatoes
Lean Protein
Chicken (skinless)/ smoked chicken/ shaved chicken
Tuna (brine/ water)
Sardines/ pilchards
Boiled egg
Cottage cheese/ Ricotta cheese
Slimmer's Choice Feta (30g)/ Slimmer's choice mozzarella (30g)
Reduced fat hummus
Good fats
Avocado pear
Soft tub margarine
Lite/Trim mayonnaise
Basil pesto
Olives/ Olive spread
Veggies
Tomato
Cucumber
Carrots
Sweet peppers
Onion
Beetroot
Sugar snap peas/ fresh peas
Celery
Long stem broccoli
Spinach / kale/ rocket/ watercress
Radish
Mushrooms
Cabbage/ lettuce
Healthy Snacks to keep you going:
Savoury snack ideas
Lean Biltong (30g)
Boiled egg & 4 Finn crisps
2 Heaped Dsp cottage cheese & 4 Provita’s
Vegetable crudites & reduced fat hummus
2 Rye Crackerbread with Marmite/ Fish paste
Handful of nuts (30 g snack packet)
2 brown rice cakes & 2 tsp peanut butter (sugar free)
3 cups Popcorn (airpopped)
Handful Extra Thin Pretzels (about 20 sticks)
3 corn thins with marmite & reduced fat mozarella (30g)
Sweet snack ideas
Fresh fruit
2 Crackerbread with cottage cheese & banana
Plain low fat yoghurt with I cup cubed paw paw
Fat Free Greek Yoghurt with ½ cup berries
Fruit yoghurt (fat free, no sugar added)
x1 Muesli Lite rusk (Ouma)
Slimmer's Choice frozen yoghurt (125ml)
Apple slices with 2 tsp peanut butter
3 dates + handful almonds
1- 2 date balls