Lunch is the meal that replenishes your energy in the middle of the day and helps you go through the rest of the day. Just like a good breakfast, It shouldn't be skipped, since you increase the risk of being too hungry and stuffing yourself at supper.
Important: Please note that I am not a nutritionist, so all recipes and suggestions only come from what I found to work for me. Please review the suggested food items and consider them against your possible digestive, allergic and nutrition limitation.
Just like all other meals, lunch should be eaten at roughly the same time every day. That way you establish a good energy replenishment routine for your body and will stay off the munchies much easier.
Again, some ground rules:
- Avoid snacks throughout the day, so chips, cookies, sodas etc are NOT part of your diet. If you still snack, either stop now or just stop reading, the suggestions in this text won't help you
- Eat your lunch roughly at the same time every day. Leave around 7 hours between breakfast and lunch, so you can have two full meals, and avoid dinner (or make it fruit only)
- No dessert with lunch - sweets are off limits at all times.
- VERY EASY on the alcohol. Alcohol is empty calories and is of no use to you. Limit yourself to a glass of beer/wine a week
During my 3 years of dieting, I did not establish any specific rules on what to eat for lunch. The focus was more on eating food that good quality, but always starting with something that is more filling but has less calories. A typical lunch includes:
- Soup - a fantastic filler, always start with a good bowl of soup. The soup doesn't have to be something fancy, you can easily make one in 10 minutes with an instant soup bag from any supermarket. If you feel very hungry, eat a second helping of soup before continuing with the meal.
- A big bowl of salad - only vegetables, no meat, mayo, croutons or other additions to the salad. Dress the salad with small amount of olive oil and some vinegar and salt. That's it! I suggest that you eat at least 1/3 of the salad before you start eating the main course. That way, you won't have the urge to stuff yourself on the high calorie main course.
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- A slice of bread - bread is not forbidden. Eat it, but in moderation. No butter or salad dressing on it though!
- Main course, something nice, something cooked - 95% of my lunches include a dish with cooked meat and vegetables, like a goulash with roasted potatoes, grilled turkey breast with roasted or boiled vegetables, grilled fish, grilled prawns etc... Just remember the rule to limit your portion size to one half size of your pre-diet portion. We will publish recipes, so visit us again soon
- No dessert - instead of eating dessert drink a glass of water. Wait for 15 minutes, and if you still crave something sweet, eat a handful of dried cranberries. Drink another glass of water.
I estimate that my lunch was about 1000 calories in total, sometimes more, sometimes less. I eat my lunch relatively late (around 16:30) and i don't eat snacks in the meantime so this amount of calories is quite acceptable for me
The next meal should be supper, with no munchies and sodas in between. In the meantime, drink plenty of water, tea, and coffee as usual.
Visit us soon for ideas and tips for supper!
What is your lunch choice? Please tell us in the comments!
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