The 7 ways to choose a healthy lunch from soups to a jacket potato

If you find yourself battling sugar cravings and mid-afternoon energy slumps, your lunch could be to blame.

Lunch often slips down the priority chart as more jobs get piled on top of you, making you unproductive come 4pm.

Skipping your break and soldiering on leaves you working on next to no resources, reducing your focus. 

But taking time away from work in the form of an hour break and replenishing your energy with some healthy brain fuel is the best way to stay on top of your workload. 

Nutritionist Charlotte Watts, author of The De-Stress Effect, explains to Healthista how to make your lunch work for you…

Lunch normally gets put to the bottom of the priority chart as more jobs get piled on top of you, making you unproductive in the mid-afternoon

Bupa research has found only 30 per cent of the average workforce take an hour’s lunch, making nearly half feel their productivity levels slump during the afternoon. 

That higher number suffering the 3-4pm energy slump can also be traced back to stress levels and skipping breakfast. 

Along with missed lunch, these factors all add up to an interrupted supply of energy that results in focus, concentration and motivation taking a nosedive too. 

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When we don’t take in enough sustaining food to allow consistent fuel to our brains, we also become prey to quick-fix refuelling with caffeine and sugar – yes with an instantaneous energy hit but usually with a price as we can make less rational decisions and make more mistakes before the crash!

So taking a work time lunch really does oil the wheels and if that’s a healthy lunch all the better to keep up that brain fuel for the afternoon.

Salad with lots of green leaves are the best way to give your brain the healthy fats it needs to cope

1. ‘I feel stressed from the morning’ 

It could be easy to load up on the starchy carbs like bread or pasta here but your brain is crying out for healthy fats to help it cope and to stop you self-medicating on sugars later on. 

Base your meal around oily fish like salmon or egg with at least the same amount as the carb part.

Satisfying fats like nuts, seeds, avocado and coconut also provide textures that provide a sense of luxury and fulfilment. 

EXAMPLE: Salad with loads of green leaves, goat’s cheese, walnuts, avocado, beetroot and plenty of olive oil – you can make as a salad from the night before or make it at work if possible.  

There are some good variations of this in high street chains now.

Thai green curry could be the best way to hold back on the calories without damaging your body

2. ‘I want to feel more energised without ruining my weight loss efforts’ 

If you’ve been holding back on the calories, but also working hard, you may not have been providing your brain with the fuel it needs. 

Before you have a bingeing backlash, have a hearty meal that lets your body know there is food available to you and it can relax. 

Sometimes that might mean something warm and a bit old school like a stew and sometimes like adding great big veg like broccoli, cabbage and kale.  

EXAMPLE: Thai green curry with tofu, chicken or prawns, coconut milk, plenty veg and optional brown rice. 

Last night’s stew or curry works well for lunch the next day; order more of a good quality Indian or Thai take-away.

3. ‘I’ve exercised and feel ravenous’

Brown rice could help you work to your best potential due to the starchy carbs

Firstly, it is crucial to replenish muscle after exercise so carry nuts or a protein bar or shake with natural ingredients. 

Don’t allow yourself to hit a wall where you run out of energy available to your muscles and brain; that will make your exercise a stress rather than a boon to your health. 

Ensuring something that supports blood sugar levels throughout exercise can stop you making choices based on a crash afterwards. 

A piece of fruit, or a smoothie with veg before exercising can help you make healthy choices later.

If it suits you, adding a starchy carb portion like brown rice, quinoa or sweet potato ensures energy that also allows you to work to your best potential and one or two vegetable portions provide antioxidants and minerals to help prevent injury. 

EXAMPLE: A brown rice or quinoa salad with chicken or egg for protein and plenty of greens. 

Sulphur food like meat, onions and beans also help muscle build-up through collagen production and this needs vitamin C from plenty of veg like broccoli and red pepper. 

4. ‘I’ve already snacked and don’t feel that hungry’ 

It’s never a good idea to force food in – it really doesn’t help the digestive processes! 

Something light like a salad or hearty soup ensures we don’t have a blood sugar crash in the afternoon and if you can wait a little later for lunch to regain your appetite, all the better. 

Snacking less and allowing yourself to feel hunger (as long as you’ve had breakfast), helps create intuition for what you need. 

Healthy hunger builds slowly and doesn’t leave you desperate to grab any old c*p by the time you stop for lunch. 

EXAMPLE: Good quality soup from the high street is becoming easier to grab, with good choices available with beans like lentils that can feel light but still sustain energy well through the afternoon.

Good quality soup from the high street ensures you won’t have a blood sugar crash in the afternoon

5. ‘I just want to eat rubbish today’ 

Compromise is the key word here. 

To acknowledge this knee-jerk reaction (maybe to stress or anger?) look for some middle-ground where you can eat something that feels indulgent, whilst acknowledging that your brain probably needs some nutrient support for those cravings. 

Having some starchy egg pasta or quinoa alongside filling protein with a vegetable portion won’t be ‘rubbish’ but it will satisfy that itch. 

You can always have the option alongside vegetable crisps or a baked potato to give that full feeling that stops the brain seeking compulsions. 

EXAMPLE: A simple baked potato with a filling like tuna or cheese ‘n’ beans isn’t the top of the healthy list, but it’s certainly not the worst thing either. 

This can hit that spot that otherwise might be filled with chips or the most gloopy wrap in the shop.

A simple baked potato could help to give the full-feeling that stops the brain seeking compulsions

6. ‘I’ve “been good” all week and just want to eat what I want’ 

Is what you want also what you need? There are levels here and we can get overcome by those quick-fix urge if we view health as a fad that we have to do, but don’t really value. 

It’s no bad thing to indulge ourselves every so often but if that can also leave us feeling positive after, all the better. 

So have the indulgence and practice damage limitation with a side salad or simple bag of rocket or watercress leaves and some olive oil. 

EXAMPLE: If there’s a traditional type of meal that really does it for you, this might be the time to go for a cottage pie, fishcakes or a burger. 

Adding lots of veg to anything really changes the balance of helping your body to cope rather than crash through the afternoon.

Add a side salad to your fishcakes to make sure your body can cope during the stresses of the afternoon 

7. ‘I don’t really know what I want’

This is the best time to try something new, what have you got to lose? Is there something you’ve looked at with curiosity but then gone for your old favourite?

It may be that you’ve got a little bit bored and need to shake things up a little – what’s the worst that can happen? 

EXAMPLE: Maybe try sushi if you haven’t before or that new Vietnamese street food place… or anything just a little outside your own taste and habit box! 

Charlotte Watts is author of The De-Stress Effect . 

This article originally appeared on and has been reproduced with the permission of Healthista.