How To Lose Weight In Your Lunch Break

Making sure you have a healthy meal at lunchtime can be a difficult task, especially during the week when you’re probably eating at work, or eating during your lunch break.

Unless you’ve prepared your own healthy meal in the morning, you’re probably going to eat out at a fast food restaurant, or a canteen at your workplace.

Or maybe you find yourself skipping your lunch break entirely because you're too busy to have a decent meal. Maybe there are errands to run and chores that you need to get done.

Maybe the lack of time means your only option is to chow down on a fast food burger and fries. Neither of these things are good for you nutritionally, and there are even worse if you’re trying to lose weight.

Many people decide it’s better to just skip lunch altogether instead of eating unhealthy meals like burger and fries. However, if you skip lunch entirely the odds are that a couple hours later you'll be starving and you’re going to be hitting the vending machine for chips and a candy bar later on. That means a fast rise in blood sugar and drop as well, which means another vending machine run.

So what can you do? You don’t want to skip meals, but you don’t want to binge of candy bars later on in the day to make up for skipping a real meal.

If you splurge on a fat filled calorie laden burger and fries you can easily end up using your entire calorie allowance just on lunch, never mind all the extra fat and salt which is certainly not going to help you achieve your weight loss goals.

Sometimes fast food is your only choice. But here’s what you can do to improve the nutritional value from your fast food meals.

Try to look for items on the menu that aren't fried. Stay away from burgers. A healthier option is to choose roasted chicken. A sandwich is fine, just skip the mayo. You can ask for a couple of juicy tomato slices instead. This will make your meal just as tasty, but also a lot healthier.

If you go for the salad have no fat or low fat dressing. Choose ice tea or water to drink rather than soda, too.

Avoid adding cheese or bacon to your fast food meal. Because both of these are very high in fat, as well as being low in fiber. The truth is that you won't miss them on a sandwich or in a salad – and it makes the whole meal much healthier.

It’s a good idea to skip the fries out entirely. Any nutritional value they may have disappeared when they transformed from potato to fries. There's no way around it.

If you can order a wrap instead of a sandwich you'll save another 100 calories, too. Wraps can be just as satisfying – so you don’t need to feel like you’re depriving yourself.

When you know your day is going to be hectic, plan for it ahead. This is a good idea anyway, especially if you’re quite busy. It’s easy to take out your own prepared meal then head off to the nearest fast food restaurant.

Pack a light lunch. Even if you just stash it in your own refrigerator, you'll know it's there and won't succumb to stuffing yourself full of cookies, just because it’s more convenient.

And these packed lunches really don’t have to be boring. Lunch on the run can mean a tuna fish salad moistened with chopped dill pickles and cucumbers. Add a few whole wheat crackers and a piece of fruit and you'll have a lunch that will easily keep you full and satisfied all the way up to dinner time.

When you’re shopping for sandwich meats, try to stay away from the deli. These meats often have added fat and sugars, which you really don’t want to be adding to your diet too regularly.

Use mustard instead of mayo as your sandwich spread. Add lettuce, bean sprouts, tomatoes, cucumber slices and pickles to bulk up your sandwich. These are all healthy and tasty options.

Another good choice for lunch is delicious soup. Remember to stay away from cream based soups, though. There are lots of prepared soups that stay within 100 calories or so per serving. These types of soups are perfect, because they are healthy, tasty, and just as convenient as visiting a fast food restaurant.

Lunch can be a difficult time if you’re trying to lose weight, because it’s often so much easier to eat unhealthy foods. But if you prepare your lunch meals before hand, you’ll find it much easier and convenient to stick to your diet. And remember, the weight loss results will be more than worth it!