Lunch: quick small recipes and strategies so you wont starve or snooze.

Out of all the meals in a day lunch used to my least favorite meal. Somehow I always lost my energy and mental sharpness after lunch. I tried skipping lunch, but then by early afternoon I was cranky, short fused and starving. Thats when all the unhealthy snacking took over. It was a lose lose situation. But on a recent trip to a big city I realized that despite having lunch and even at times a little vino, I never really had those feelings. In fact I was ready to go. So, I started to do some investigation.

To be clear, what I found is based on opinions and expert advice, and my own eperience. There are no real studies or guidelines. But it has worked for me, and if you are a lunch starver or snoozer, I think it will work for you as well. And no, dont worry, your doctor is not drinking a little vino at lunch, thats only during vacation.

Factors that affect lunch sedation:

1) The Quality of the food:

I am sure you have already read my many blogs on the importance of eating a high quality meal and how it can affect your energy, mood and health. I will not spend any more time on this here. Please read my blogs on how to eat healthy.

2) The Quantity of the food:

If you have ever traveled to a place outside of the US, you most likely have noticed that the portion sizes are much smaller. In fact when they bring your plate you wonder if you need to order a second or even third serving. But after a day or two you realize that the smaller portion size is equally as filling. What you do not feel is the post lunch snooze. You are ready to get going and continue with your daily activity. This is particularly important with carb and fat portion sizes. So I made some drastic changes on our return. Instead of the American, the bigger the better poriton size, we started eating smaller portions (just buy smaller plates and work lunch containers) The protein and carbs each are the size of your palm, and the fat is as a garnish like healthy olive oil or avocado spread. Adding a full glass of water also helps since at times our hunger is actually thirst and not calorie defieincy. A side of fruit is always a great option. A small bite of dark chocholate is a must to tap it all off (any chocholate or sweet in a 2-3 bite size is really perfectly fine and in small size not unhealthy). The goal is to be satisfied and not hungry, but also not full or stuffed. If you are an athlete that needs more calories, you make up for it with mid morning and mid afternoon snacks. But keep your lunch portion size to a smaller plate serving size.

3) The Location of the food:

Eating while working, staring at the computer, scrolling down social media, checking the news for the 10th time. Sounds familiar? We all do it. In fact we still do it at Emerald, but after this blog, things will change. Paying attention to your tastebuds is as a foreign concept to us as dial phones to our kids. But by setting aside some time to eat and do nothing else allows you to be much more intuned with your appetite, taste buds, and sense of fullness. It also allows you to actually enjoy your food. I used to read the news while eating. But I realized I never even knew what I am eating. Besdies touch, taste and smell are one of the greates senses we have, enjoy them. After all, you dont scroll down your social media or read your email during your intimate bedtime moments, do you?

4) The post lunch period:

Now, this actually has solid scientific research on it. There is now growing evidence that some sort of mild physical activity after a meal leads to better glycemic control (lower blood sugar). It also leads to less feeling of post lunch groginess and increased mental sharpness. This is why when you are on vacation and walking you usually dont have that feeling of an imminent nap after eating lunch (unless you are on a beach vacation and a drink or two in, in which case, enjoy your breezy nap on the beach). This can be a short walk arount the office, a visit to your collegue's office, a climb of stairs up and down or if you have the time, a 10 minute walk outside.

So, instead of making yourself a big plate, eating it while staring at a screen, and then continue sititng and doing the same thing after you are done shoving your face, set a 15 minute time aside. Enjoy your meal alone or with someone else, then go do something active for 10 minutes. You will be much more productive and mentally sharp and will make up for that lost time by being more mentally attuned. Treat lunch time like a short mini vacation during your day.

And lastly, here are 3 lunch ideas to get you started:

An amazing sandwich:

The bread: Made with high quality bread (our favorite is On the Rise). To keep the bread from becoming soggy drizzle the inside of the bread with a little olive oil and spread it, this repels the moisture from the ingredients and keeps your bread fresh. Spread the bread with some mayo and mustard (soft avocado instead of mayo for healthier and tastier option).

Source of protein: homemade chicken (breast or thigh), thin pork cuts, canned Tuna, fresh salmon, steak or soft tofu. Avoid the unhealthy deli cuts.

You can make the chicken and pork in advance and in larger quantities. I make these on a weekend and keep it in the frdige. Dry the chicken or pork with a paper towel. Sprinkel with whatever meat spice you want. Heat a skillet to high heat, add a little avocado oil, cook the thin cuts for 2 minutes on each side. Let cool and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Garnhish with your favorite veggies and herbs like tomatoes, cucumbers or pickles, spinach/lettuce/arugula, cut uncooked bell peppers for crunchiness or pickled vegetables, some parsely or cilantro. The list is limitless, choose whatever you like. This is also a great way to get rid of the leftovers in your fridge. Most veggies are fair game. If raw is not your cup of tea, you can bake your veggies in advance (drizzle with olive oil and salt, bake in the over at 350 for 15 minutes. Keep them in the fridge for 5 days), or pickle them and keep them in a airtight jar in the fridge for up to 7 days.

Press the sandwich hard with your big muscles or a heavy book. Wrap it in aluminum foil, and enjoy it at lunch. We make all our ingredients in advance and simply make the sandwich in the morning and take it to work.

The fat comes from your avocado, olive oil and meat.

Side of fruits instead of chips. For extra carb (endurance athletes), 1/2 cup side of baked potatoes or quinuo wil suffice.

The salad: One of our lunch staples, there are so many variations. I already covered a whole blog on this, here is the link.

Meat and Veggies plate:

This is probably one of the easiest and fastest ways of making a dinner with lunch leftover and a frequent flyer at our house. The variations are endless and seasonal. Its summer time, so lets talk zucchinivand sqaush

Chicken parts of your choice, we like to mix it up with thighs, breasts and drum sticks. Pat dry with paper towel, toss in a large bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin cooking olive oil, fresh sqeezed lemon juice (keep the lemon), sprinkle with spices of choice. For summer we like to add tsp of paprika and tsp of cumin. Mix well, add extra if there is more chicken than sauce. The chickens should be mildly covered with the sauce and spices. Grate half of the lemon skin on top. Line a large oven tray with parchman paper and arrange the chickens, with at least half an inch space between each.

Now dice fresh farm zucchini and sqauch (you can get them from farmers market, Heinen's or Miles Market) and toss in the same big bowl. Dont worry about the bacteria from the chickens, we will cook them all.

Dice one sweet or regular potatoe per serving and toss in the same bowl with the zucchini. Drizzle with small amount of olive oil, cumin and paprika, mix and then toss the potatoe and zucchini mix between the chickens in the oven tray. The chickens should be a little apart from each other, but it is ok to randomly toss the veggies and potatoes and cover the tray. As a family of 5, I use two trays, you dont want over crowding as it makes it boil instead of baking.

Cook in the oven at 425 degrees for 35 minutes or until the chicken is done. If you are using various cuts of chicken, put the thick ones and bony ones in one tray and the thin ones in another, thick cuts and bony parts may take a little longer.

Take out of oven, drizzle with salt, a little fresh lemon juice, and most importantly all that delicious juice in the tray. Keep the left overs for lunch the next day.