How to stock your desk for a healthier lunch
Stop if this sounds familiar: You leave your house in the morning and then, after what seems like just a few minutes later, you're shuffling back in. But 12 hours have passed.
And you're starving.
Despite your best intentions, the day got away from you. And your lunch got lost somewhere in a pile of meetings, unexpected emergencies or kids' crises.
Breakfast may be viewed as the most important meal of the day, but lunch is nothing to sneeze at. Run around for hours without fuel, and your blood sugar starts to dive; your metabolism slows as your body goes into starvation mode. Your focus and energy start to wane.
Plus, skipping lunch can lead to overeating later when you're starving.
The solution? Keep a stash of healthy food at your desk, says Monique Costello, a certified integrative health coach and culinary nutrition expert with clients throughout the suburbs.
“Being prepared is the key to being healthy. Stocking your desk with staples that offer you nutritional boosts like protein, fiber and magnesium (think seeds — chia, hemp, pumpkin and sunflower) will help keep you satiated longer and help keep your system working,” Costello says. “And you can focus on work instead of scrounging for leftover food in the company kitchen.”
A study at Cornell University in 2013 showed that the negative effects of skipping a meal — such as overeating later — can be abated by a small, healthy snack.
In the study, 68 meal-skippers, after a five-hour fast, were either given food (wheat crackers) to reduce their hunger or not given any food. They were then asked to make purchases at a simulated grocery store. The hungry shoppers who did not eat crackers bought almost 19 percent more food, including 31 percent more high-calorie snacks.
“Make sure you don't skip a meal, or at least have a snack like apples or string cheese in your office,” says study co-author Brian Wansink.
To avoid this urge to overeat after work, stock your desk with some essentials, says Costello.
I attended a recent lunch class taught by Costello and came away armed with a lot of practical ideas that I can fit in my crazy schedule.
Costello suggests you stock your desk, stock your freezer and get the right containers.
For your desk
• Olive and nut oils
• Vinegar (look for sample size jars of oil and vinegar, then keep refilling them; you should also store in a dark place)
• Herbs (salt and pepper, cinnamon, dried herbs, turmeric)
• Jar of almond butter
• Healthy crackers
• Nuts and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, chia, hemp, almonds, walnuts, pecans)
• Honey
• Cocoa powder
• Spirulina/green powder
• Almond milk
• Cup, plate, bowl and silverware
For your freezer
• Precooked grains, lentils, quinoa in 1-cup portions
• Cooked meats in ½-cup portions.
• Freeze soups
Containers
• Go for glass or metal over plastic (chemicals leach out of plastic)
• Totes with freezable inserts
• Reusable snack/sandwich bags
• Thermos for soups or smoothies
• And make sure you keep some dishes and utensils at your desk. “No one likes to dig into a salad with a little plastic fork,” Costello said. “Food just tastes better when it's not cooked in plastic.”
Eating
So what do you do with all this?
It's about having healthy things on hand that you can toss together when the hunger hits, but you don't have the time (or energy) to get a full-scale lunch.
On days when you find yourself craving something sweet, instead of hitting the vending machine, toss some almond milk and cocoa powder in a cup or cinnamon and honey in a glass of tea.
You can also make a quick serving of chia pudding by blending chia seeds, almond milk, cinnamon, hemp and nut seeds with honey.
Or spread some almond butter on crackers to give yourself a quick dose of protein.
While both almond and peanut butter will give you about the same amount of protein as one ounce of meat, almond butter is rich in vitamin E, magnesium and iron, while peanut butter is higher in selenium.
If all else fails, you can toss a teaspoon of spirulina in some water to get some key nutrients.
“Think of spirulina as every healthy green thing in one glass,” Costello says. “But it's an acquired taste, so go slow.”
And she is very right. Spirulina is blue-green algae, and it does not taste or smell very good.
On the bright side, the taste completely disappears when you mix it with anything. I've mixed it with smoothies, tomato juice and some lemonade out of a vending machine (long travel day). I couldn't taste it. I would also suggest you drink it with a straw so that your nose can't trick you into thinking you can taste it.
Now, even better than a quick-fix snack to hold you over, is a healthy lunch. Look in Wednesday's food section for some of Costello's best recipes for lunch.
Quick snacks, treats
With a quick stir, you can create a healthy pick-me-up.
</b>Chia pudding</b>
• Chia seeds
• almond milk
• cinnamon
• hemp seeds, nuts, seeds
• honey
<b>Green juice</b>
• Spirulina
• water or almond milk
<b>Veggie power</b>
• Spirulina
• V8
<b>Hot chocolate</b>
• Cocoa powder
• almond milk
• cinnamon
<b>Protein punch</b>
• Almond butter and crackers