A Healthy Lunch Makes for a Healthy Day

A healthy lunch, by definition, is often more like an all-day dining event. It includes foods that one can nibble on throughout the day - "throughout the day" meaning some time after breakfast and before dinner. To stave off hunger, pack fresh celery and carrot sticks, kept crisp and cool by SaranWrap placed in the freezer over night, along with a smidgeon of bleu cheese or ranch dressing as a snack.

Choose the green Granny Smith apples (two: one before the big sandwich or salad and one after) because they not only taste good, but they have just the right amount of acidity to swiftly clear the system of the sometimes unavoidable saturated fats and high-calorie carbs that are found in the main course.

On a hectic day, one where you might not feel you are able to tear yourself away from your desk for a healthy lunch, pack your corporate lunchbox -- for those of you who still take your lunchboxes to work -- with a homemade sandwich that includes focaccia bread, avocado, a piece of turkey breast, spicy mustard and a pickle. When getting to the salad bar is possible, first pile your tray high with mixed green leafy vegetables, peppers, shredded carrots, cucumber slices and radishes. When you can barely close the lid, then add a few wedges of chicken or turkey to the top.

Although it is good to make it a habit of eating first and then drinking, for a healthy lunch have either warm or chilled fruit teas or spice teas. Because of the natural flavors, you do not need to add sugar, honey or artificial sweetener for enhancement.

The apples and spicy mustard will whet your taste buds enough so that you can forego flavored drinks such as soda and pre-sweetened juices. But at the end of the day, when you are heading home for the evening and contemplating dinner, for the last part of your healthy lunch -- often whimsically referred to as "linner" - treat yourself to a fresh-squeezed cup of carrot or apple juice from the health food store.

To add to your healthy lunch, a good multi vitamin and lots of water throughout the day help to distribute the nutrients from the food throughout the system swiftly, thereby optimizing the ability to focus on your workload and keep stress at a minimum.

A healthy lunch for a typical day does not only include what you ingest orally. Whether it is during the lunch hour or at that twilight time before rush hour, take the time to engage in fifteen to twenty minutes of Chinese energy work without fail. This can include The 12 Treasures from the qi gong discipline and or a short tai chi routine. The motions are slow and gentle and designed to increase energy rather than depleting it, as is the case with many Western forms of exercise.

In many countries outside of the United States, the midday meal is the most significant one of the day, so therefore a healthy lunch is essential. The intention is to sustain you, not only for the longest amount of hours, but also during the time when the body is most active.

Many of you have worked in the big cities throughout the US, including New York and Washington, DC, and have experienced more challenges than most in steering clear of the greasy burger, pizza, chicken and pizza caves. It is not easy to be disciplined, especially since for most of us, it is difficult to find a healthy lunch meal outside of our homes. But in keeping in mind that the body is a living organism; a beautiful temple of strength and light that desires to be honored daily, you can master the art of choosing to eat and act healthfully as a way of life.