Brown Bag Smart

Blog originally posted through WellCats Newsletter

Whether you’re trying to recover from post-holiday indulging or just want to make healthier food decisions, a great way to start is simply to brown bag smart. Bringing your own lunch to work, a place where we consume 1/3 or more of our total daily calories, can be a powerful way to work on our health goals and also save money on eating out. Here are some tips to make your brown bag experience simple, tasty, and healthy!

1. Don’t forget to make your grains WHOLE: If you’re a sandwich lover, a wonderful way to add nutrition to your meal is to switch out your processed flours for whole grain versions. The added fiber from whole grain products provides many health benefits including helping you to stay full longer. This can be a smart strategy for eliminating high calorie snacking and keeping your food choices more mindful all throughout the day.

2. Keep it Colorful: When packing your lunch make sure you take an assortment of brown bag items with you. If your lunch consists of a sandwich and potato chips, you’ll notice an important element is missing: COLOR! Color is a simple way to do a variety check. Consider adding to your brown bag items, colorful veggies such as carrots, bell pepper, cucumber, and tomato. These beautiful, bright veggies add fun to your bag and help to meet your nutrient goals. Also, if you want a fun way to motivate yourself in the veggie department, add healthy dips to your brown bag. Guacamole, salsa, and hummus all make wonderful, quality dips that make eating healthier fun and tasty!

3. Fresh and Fabulous Fruit: There’s no better way to end your brown bag feast than with flavorful fruit. Fruit can brighten every brown bag by providing sweet, delicious, super food goodness without adding the calories, sugar, and fat found in most sweets. Fruit makes a perfect, healthy dessert or mid-afternoon snack. Plus, the fiber in fruit will give you a treat that lasts. Strawberries, bananas, oranges, and apples are all easy to prepare, delicious, and colorful fruits to add. Treating yourself to healthy fruits will leave you saying YES to your health and the brilliance of a simple and delectable brown bag lunch.