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I hate packing lunches. I find that it’s so much easier to run downstairs to our fabulous café, or jump in my car and pick up something warm and hearty for lunch. However, my waist line disagrees. A study conducted by the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center shows that about a quarter of Americans eat out at a fast food restaurant over their lunch breaks. Among the 9,000 study participants, those who consumed fast food drank about twice as many sugar-sweetened soft drinks as the individuals who avoided fast food. Not only did the fast food diners consume more calories, they also had substantially higher intakes of dietary fat and added sugar. And, by the end of the study, participants who visited fast food restaurants at least twice a week had gained an average of 10 pounds more than those who indulged in fast food less than once a week.[1]
My wallet was rebelling against my lunchtime habits as well. I found that I was spending an easy $20 a week in eating lunches out. MSNBC proposed a project, called “The Brown Bag Challenge”, where readers stopped eating out, packed their own lunches, and put that lunch “budget” into a savings account. Readers were saving about 30% of their restaurant budget by packing a creative, healthy lunch instead of eating out at a restaurant. [2]
This information started to sink in with the Health and Wellness Committee’s “Biggest Loser” campaign in 2009.
With my waist and budget in mind, I talked to my “Biggest Loser” teammates, and the four of us decided that we would take turns bringing in a healthy lunch one time a week throughout the duration of the competition. The purpose of our weekly lunches was to check in with each other on our weight loss progress and start the week out by eating right. And it helped. While our team didn’t win the competition, we all lost weight and, as an additional benefit, we learned new recipes or new ways to prepare foods. I found that, if I’m cooking for other people, I take that extra step to make sure the meal is not only healthy, but unique.
Although the lunches have taken breaks at times (during the summer), and the group that gathers is different in composition, the intent remains the same- we take turns cooking a healthy lunch for the rest of the group. Each week on Tuesday afternoons, we gather in one of the break rooms to enjoy each other’s company and to indulge an interesting, often new, and always healthy meal. This helps to break the food rut people tend to get into when dieting. With the Nutrition Bingo program in full swing, our lunch group has started developing meals around the board- for example, this week, we had a garbanzo bean salad over spinach, a veggie burger, and sliced apples with raisins and low fat caramel as a dessert. Healthy, filling, and accomplished 6 out of the week’s 25 squares.
If you would like recipe ideas, or would like to join in on the lunch fun, let me know! We’re always looking for new people to join the group. Just be sure to have your healthy recipes ready!
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