Lunchtime!

It's high noon. Life is happening. Schedules are being executed & new priorities are adding themselves to our lists.

The truth is for many of us, lunch may be the most difficult meal of the day to control.

When we are busy, the temptation of pre-packaged & over-processed, whatever's quick-and-easy, or maybe it's those famous 'Golden Arches' catching our attention and drawing us close.

So in the midst of our bustling schedules, how can we get a more nutrient dense meal to satisfy our nutrition needs as well as our taste-buds?

The simplest advice is ADD MORE VEGGIES (and I am not advocating 'eat more fries': french fries are still 'poisonous potatoes' Mom!). You can add a salad - spinach, kale, arugula, romaine - carrot sticks, celery, broccoli, snap peas, beets, green beans, brussels sprouts, etc. SO many options!

What ever flavor(s) you choose, eat the vegetables first; chances are you will find you are more satisfied, will eat smaller amounts of the less-than-healthy-for-you options on your plate, and have more energy to push through the second-half of your active day!

These Lunch-Switch graphics from choosemyplate.gov encourage us add more vegetables to our mid-day meals, reducing empty calorie intakes; ditch the sodium and saturated fats that come along with packaged potato chips; and swap out the added processed sugars in jams & jellies for bananas which will more naturally satisfy your sweet PB&J craving - I guess that Elvis guy was on to something!

Have you made any changes to your lunch routines? Do you plan to?

Post a picture with the tag #myplatewins of your healthy lunchtime decisions!

#NationalNutritionMonth #success #stronger #goals #fitness #awarenessdays #food #healthy