Although breakfast is considered the most important meal of the day, lunch also assumes equal importance as it provides energy for activities done in the remaining part of day. It plays an important role in our overall health factor. Hence, it is important that you have a healthy lunch. The two important aspects of a healthy lunch would be the ingredients used to prepare the lunch and healthy cooking method to complement it.

Selecting Healthy Ingredients For Lunch:

Substituting chicken for red meat is one of the healthy options for lunch as red meat contains double the fat in comparison to chicken. However, you should not opt for breaded chicken fingers or nuggets if you intend to prepare a healthy lunch for your family

You should be careful while selecting breads for your healthy lunch. Avoid white bread as it contains high contents of sugar. Instead, go for whole meal bread, whole grained bread or seeded bread.

Substitute white rice with healthy options such as basmati rice, wild rice or brown as they have low starch content in comparison to white rice and the taste is not different.

When purchasing meat like beef or pork, try buying extra lean or lean meats. Cuts such as sirloin or fillet have less fat content in comparison to other cuts. Choose light meat over dark meat as it contains fewer calories.

Cook turkey and stuffing separately as the fat content from the turkey may get absorbed into the dressing. Use less butter or margarine when preparing the stuffing.

Healthy Cooking methods:

Healthy cooking methods include usage of lemon juice and herbs as a substitute for butter and margarine.

However, adopting healthy cooking methods, such as steaming or roasting, is important to prepare a healthy lunch. Grilling or dry frying are also healthy cooking methods. You can also use a cooking spray to eliminate the use of oil in cooking.

Healthy Lunch Ideas:

Oven Roasted vegetables: You can roast a large batch of vegetables in the beginning of the week and use them for the entire week.

Salad Lunch: You can start with greens and add legumes such as edamame or chickpeas, hard boiled egg or lean protein such as chicken.

Sweet Potato or Potato: You can consume sweet potatoes or potatoes as filling options for lunch. You can roast potatoes for lunch and top them with fresh salads or fresh herbs.

Healthy lunches should taste delicious and be gluten free. A lunch plays an important role in your weight loss goals and weight maintenance.