LUNCH TIME! - Weight Loss Part 6

As I mentioned in my previous blog about breakfast, I used to eat quite a large lunch with a lot of carbs, often because I'd skipped breakfast. Working at a college the canteen food is sometimes just far too tempting to resist and you have to have a lot of willpower to not go for the macaroni or lasagne or the odd day when they have sausage roll beans and chips. Very tasty! But not so good for the waste line. Another favourite! Cheese and crisp sandwich... Occasionally with a piece of cake or a scone on the side. 

All these foods have two main things in common, carbs! So many carbs! And lots of sugars. Probably fine if you have a very active job and are able burn half of it off in the second half of the day, but for a desk worker? You just watch the pounds pile on! The other thing about eating so many carbs and sugars, is the sugar rush straight after lunch followed by sudden sleepiness. For years, I did a very good impression of a nodding dog around 3pm. The solution often being to eat more, usually crisps or chocolate. I used to eat SO much chocolate!

In 2016 lunch was mainly a cheese and tuna sandwich. It was on wholemeal bread and I don’t like butter or mayo, so it was a little healthier than it sounds, but I’d often have cake, crisps or chocolate with it as well. The first step I took with lunch was to take in a salad to go with my sandwich and only order half a sandwich. I also banned myself from cake, most of the time, and crisps. I can only recall having one bag of crisps since the beginning of February this year. My new lunch filled me up and kept me going, and best of all, didn't make me sleepy in the afternoon.

The thing I discovered about salad (veg only) is that you can eat as much of it as you like and still lose weight! So with veg, cooked or raw, eat till you’re full, don’t go hungry, and lose weight. Who'd have thunk it! With this theory in mind some might say, why not just eat veg? The thing is, we need protein, we need fat, and yes we need carbs. The problem is that today, most of us eat too many carbs and not enough veg. One of many reasons why we have become a society of overweight overeaters.

As I’ve said previously, gradual changes are the key to successfully changing your eating habits for good. Follow this rule and before you know it, what you used to eat for lunch will be a mere memory.

The second step I took was to cut out the sandwich all together and just have a salad. Not just veg of course. Usually a couple of boiled eggs, or some chicken, and some humus. The most obvious change here is, no carbs! I decided to try having one carb free meal a day, and given how sleepy carbs can make you if you have too many, I figured lunch was the one to try.

I don’t just stick to salad for lunch though. And I’m not opposed to eating carbs at lunchtime either. If, for any reason I don’t prepare lunch the night before, I’ll have a bowl of soup with no bread, or if I don’t really fancy the soup that day, I’ll get half a sandwich with a bit of cucumber on the side. Previously neither of these would not have filled me up, but it seems my stomach has slowly shrunk, as I'm full to almost bursting after a bowl of soup, and I don’t feel the need to eat anything else after my half sandwich.

Another tasty lunch I’ve discovered is rice wraps. A lot less carbs than a normal wrap, and you can put whatever you like in them. I usually have something like chicken, lettuce, grated carrot, bean sprouts and soy sauce or sweet chilli sauce.

Of course, there are lots of tasty healthy lunch options out there, and I’m still experimenting, particularly with trying to find things I can prepare the night before. But I hope this gives you some ideas, or at least a launch pad for kicking the carb habit and finding inspiration in veg. I would say that carrot sticks have become one of my favourite things, and a must in my lunch box today. I will never stick my nose up at rabbit food again!

*DISCLAIMER: Just a wee reminder that this is what has worked for me. There's no guarantee that it will work for everyone as we are all different. I’m not a professional!