Have you completely fallen off the wagon with your lunch packing routine? Do you look at the money you spend on takeout lunches and cringe? Packing a lunch can be a great way to save money and stick to your nutrition goals, but there’s no doubt that it does take a bit of planning. Try these tips to keep on track.
Stick to a formula. If you have trouble deciding on a packable lunch, stick to a simple formula with a few different options. For example, you could pick a grain (rice or quinoa, for example), a protein (salmon, beef or chickpeas are all great options), a grilled vegetable and a simple dressing like lemon and olive oil. You can change this up to avoid monotony, but it’s easy enough to remember.
Try meal planning. Meal planning is all the rage…for a reason. The idea is to pick a day during the week to plan, shop and prep your meals for the coming week. This makes you less likely to avoid impulse buys, but also has the advantage of being much more time efficient.
Love your leftovers. If you don’t mind eating the same thing twice in a row, try making a bigger batch of your dinner and storing the extra for the next day. As a bonus, some dishes taste way better the next day, as the flavours have had a chance to really blossom overnight.
Get cute lunch containers. Do meals taste better when they’re eaten off cute dishes? Maybe. Splurge on a fun lunch bag, a set of kitschy, stackable lunch containers or some colourful, travel-friendly chopsticks. They’ll be begging for you to use them!
