Lunch helps our bodies keep blood sugar steady, important for maintaining a healthy weight. In essence, think of lunch as the best way to prevent eating too many calories later in the day, which is linked to weight gain and other health complications.
You may think that skipping breakfast or lunch will make the number on the scale drop quicker. The truth is that studies have shown that skipping meals can slow down your metabolism and cause you to gain weight, not lose it.
Skipping meals can also cause your metabolism to slow down, which can cause weight gain or make it harder to lose weight. “When you skip a meal or go a long time without eating, your body goes into survival mode,” says Robinson. “This causes your cells and body to crave food which causes you to eat a lot.
Any well-balanced meal — lunch included — consists of lean protein, fiber-rich sources of carbohydrate and veggies, and healthy fats. The typical lunchtime staple of a sandwich can be made into a well-balanced meal if you include: 100% whole grain bread. Fresh deli turkey or leftover grilled chicken.
The only truly zero calorie food is water, but low calorie foods are also grouped in. Still, we view eating only zero or negative calorie foods as fad dieting nonsense similar to drinking ice cold water instead of room temperature water (which burns around 5 extra calories per glass, by the way).
While zero-calorie foods may not truly exist, there are many low-calorie fruits and vegetables that when consumed may indeed require more energy to burn than they give to the body. Such fruits and veggies make fantastic food options for anyone on a weight loss journey to add to their diet.
For weight loss specifically, experts suggest that whole-wheat or whole-grain pasta is the best. Pasta made of whole grains (wheat, brown rice, spelt, etc.) has fewer calories and high fibre content, both of which make it an ideal option to be added to your weight loss meal.
There isn't much nutritional difference between bread and wraps. Both contain similar ingredients, except the bread is leavened with yeast and a wrap is flat. The Nutrition Facts labels show similar nutritional profiles for one wrap and two slices of commercially baked bread.
Good sandwich choices include sliced deli or rotisserie chicken, turkey, ham, lean roast beef, canned salmon or tuna, nut butter, grilled tempeh or tofu, smashed cooked beans, and reduced-fat cheese. Unsure about serving size?
