4 Ways to Add Variety to Your Office Snacks and Lunches

Are you ever out of ideas when it comes to new meal ideas for the office? If your lunches look like the same sad sandwich, different day — here are four ways to spice up your office meals. You’ll not only look forward to eating them more, but you’ll get the health benefits of introducing different nutrients, too. Bon appetit!

1. Get some fresh snack ideas.
Services like Nature Box, Graze and Urth Box send monthly or weekly boxes of snacks from good-for-you brands.

2. Mimic your favorite restaurants.
Have you ever brought lunch to work but found yourself craving something else when lunchtime rolls around? Avoid this common predicament by jotting down the restaurants or dishes you find yourself craving most, then finding healthier ways to make them. For example, if you love tacos from Chipotle, why not make a fresh taco salad? Or if you’re a fan of take-out, consider swapping your usual fried rice for cauliflower rice, prawns, egg, and veggies. You’ll benefit from cleaner ingredients, better portion sizes, and a few extra dollars in the bank.

3. Know your style.
This is one of the most important tips I give to clients. If you find yourself trying to eat hummus and veggies for an afternoon snack but always want chocolate instead, see what happens when you stop fighting your natural preference. You can make a healthier chocolate — try melting ¼ c. coconut oil, ¼ c. cocoa powder, and 2 T. real maple syrup, then freezing until firm — and the same goes for any other snack you crave. The sooner you satisfy your cravings, the sooner you’ll stop diving headfirst into the bag of cookies you really wanted all along. (More ideas here.)

4. Choose something new every week to look forward to.
A diet that’s full of variety goes hand-in-hand with health, as different colors of produce provide unique health benefits. To get out of a food rut, choose something new every week at the grocery store: a new herb, a new kind of cheese, a new type of nut, a fruit you’ve seen before but never been sure how to use. You’ll look forward to the new experience, and you’ll get health benefits to boot.

I am sharing more ideas for making healthy eating easy in busy lives in a free webinar, “Balance Without Losing Your Mind: Healthy Eating for Busy Professionals.”

This is part of a weekly series by Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner Jessica Biber, NTP, of Taste of Health. This month, we’re featuring one new bite-size #foodforthought per week about meal prepping for busy professionals.