Healthy eating gets a bit more challenging when family members leave the home for work or school.   You might feel rushed for time trying to get up, eat a good breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, and get to where you’re going on time.  This is doubly true if you also have to help someone else to do the same–your children, for example.

If you’re not a parent, stay tuned – these tips work just as well for busy workers!  Save money, eat well, and avoid the temptation of junk food by packing healthy lunches.

Tips for Convenient, Healthy Bag Lunches

When you make a dinner, make enough food for leftovers.  Leftovers make quick and convenient lunches with no additional cooking required!

Make the most of oven time.  If you’re baking fish for dinner, you can also bake some chicken breasts for lunch the next day.  These can be chilled, sliced up, and added to green leafy salads, wraps or pitas, sandwich fillings, stir fries…  Instead of turning on the oven later that night or, worse, first thing in the morning, you’ll find your protein already cooked and waiting to be used in lunches.

Make and pack lunches the night before.  No more early-morning rush!  Just grab and go.  Some people also make breakfasts in advance:  hardboiled eggs, scramble skillets with meat, veggies and cheese, healthy muffins…all these breakfasts will keep for several days.

Keep healthy snacks on hand.  In a pinch, you can toss them into a bag for lunch.  Cut-up veggie sticks, hummus dip, fresh fruit, sunflower seeds, tuna salad, whole-grain crackers, cheese – instant healthy lunch.  These foods are also great to have around if you or your kids are hungry after school or before bed.  They’re nutritious and can be served in snack-size portions.

Invest in containers that will make lunches easier.  For example, if there’s no way to heat food at school or work, buy a thermos that can keep a meal warm.  Purchase small, refillable containers to hold hummus, salad dressing or other condiments.

Kids can help to make their own lunch.  What better way to teach them about healthy eating?  They will feel empowered by the ability to make choices (“would you like celery sticks with sunflower seed butter, or carrots and a hard boiled egg?”).  As they get older, they will be able to do this task themselves.

Have we seen your children yet this summer?

Many parents find it easier to bring their kids to the chiropractor before school resumes.  Chiropractic care can address and treat childhood injuries and strains before they develop into problems down the road.  If we haven’t seen your children this summer, contact Sheppard Chiropractic Centre at (506) 635-8182 or (506) 847-7172.