Make Your Own Lunch: Financial and Health Benefits

I find that lunch can be a right old pain in the backside when you’re working full-time. I work in central London, which like any city may have lots of variety, but if you want quality and healthy food you often need a small mortgage to fund it. The cheapest ‘buy out’ option is the sandwich from chains that won’t be named, chock-full of mayonnaise, salt and often questionable ingredients, not matter how ‘freshly prepared’ they claim to be. Or from the canteen, if you are lucky enough to have one and it be subsidised but then knowing what I know about large-scale catering, the quality of the ingredients is not going to be as high up the priority list as profits.

This brings me to the make-your-own point. I’m a huge fan of packed lunches. Once I got over the stigma of it, that is. It was only when I was working full-time in the music industry for minus £3 per hour that I realised that the only way to remove myself from sliding deeper into the red and drowning in my overdraft was to think about ways to keep my money in my pocket for longer than five seconds. The result was the packed lunch.

Your Challenge:

• Take a note of everything you buy in a working day from the minute you step out of the door until you walk back in.
• How could you make alterations to your current habits that could curtail some of that spending?

If you think more smartly about your eating habits and options then you can save loads and for some it can be a lifeline, where you were in the red two weeks into the month, you may be able to keep yourself happily in the black until pay-day and sshhh, don’t say it too loudly, but you might even be able to save a little.

some ideas to get you going:

• Bagged salad: buy it and keep in the fridge, or bring in a small bag every day from home
• Tinned fish: cheap, cheerful and super healthy. Choose mackerel, salmon and sardines for good fats – tuna has all it’s oil removed and has lashing of mercury so best avoided if possible.
• Seeds – add to your salads for that extra crunch and nutrition
• Balsamic, olive oil and lemons – perfect for dressings, they can be kept in the fridge or buy your desk.
• Leftovers – a brilliant way to keep abreast of your portion sizes at home and have lunch for the next day as well.
• Soups/stews/casseroles – ideally homemade – bring in a thermos which keeps contents warm for most of the day

Essentials:

• Tupperware – let it be your friend. The clickable ones are the best and come in different sizes.
• Fresh black pepper and herb grinders – you can get all sorts of condiment flavourings these days, keep one on your desk or in your draw for that extra seasoning.
• Plate, knife and fork: if you don’t have basic cutlery and crockery at work, get some cheap stuff, it’s amazing how different your meal tastes when eaten in china with a real knife and fork rather than a plastic one.
• Thermos flask – no longer the size of a tank, these sleek beauties keep anything vaguely liquid hot for eight hours.

Watch your bank balance swell:

• Get a money-box: Every time you bring your lunch in, put the equivalent money into a money-box.
• Open a savings account: set-up a standing order with the equivalent of the amount you spend monthly the day after you get paid.
• Give yourself a financial goal: make what you spend your savings on matter – whether it’s a holiday, a new coat or a contribution to the mortgage. Make it something to be proud of.

Remember – if you are in control of what you put in your mouth then you are more likely to eat well. Cheap eats do not have to be bland and unhealthy – quite the contrary, they can be super tasty.

Image by RambergMediaImages

The Search for Happiness

If Only It Was This Simple

Last month I was interviewed for a piece in the Sunday Times Style section on happiness and what it mean to me. It really got me thinking as happiness, is a word that conveys so much but has so different meanings to everyone. It is the elixir of life, the intangible that everyone wants to make tangible.

Recently I asked an old friend if, after a particularly challenging year, that they were happy. My friend replied saying that he thought so, but when pressed about why he only ‘thought’ rather than ‘knew’ he asked what I thought happiness was, per se. Is it walking down the street with a smile permanently attached to your face? Was it making sure the mortgage was paid? Seeing your kids happy and doing well at school?

How can Happiness be quantified when it means something different to each person.

According to dictionary.com, happiness  results from the possession or attainment of what one considers good. From my point of view, happiness something that can only be created within ourselves. Of course peoples actions can foster a happy feeling in us, but it is our own inner emotions that trigger the feelings of happiness. I couldn’t make you be happy unless you decided that was how you wanted to feel. If I was to pin you down saying ‘be happy now’ you wouldn’t be able to do it, unless you wanted to.

Food is something that can be used as a crutch to create happiness. It is very easy to gain a feeling of fulfillment through eating foods that give you that buzz… things that are ‘naughty’ those treats that you give yourself when you’re feeling shite. My weakness is a good chocolate brownie or a hot chocolate fondant dessert and ice cream with biscuits coming a close second. These days it is rare that I succumb unless I am at a restaurant, but it has taken a lot of tastebud training to be this way. To be completely honest, the best way I have found to acheive this is to not have the offending articles in my cupboards, If it is not there then I am not tempted. Although, if I’m with someone who wants to sway me, I am the first to break my rules but sharing is caring, after all!

It is easy to replace things that are missing with food or other stimulants such as coffee, sugar or alcohol and it is only when start to feel at the end of our tether that we begin to look at our diets when in fact it would be ideal for it to be the first thing to assess. Food is the foundation of our health and if we are feeding ourselves badly then how can we expect our bodies to function optimally?

With the dawn of 2010 upon us, why not take the opportunity to look at your diet and see what amendments can be made? If you can’t face taking things out, why not start to add more wholesome foods into your diet. As habits are altered, changes will happen with less pain; however in order for the change to be permanent perseverance and a little (mental) pain may be involved. But it will only be temporary until the brain is trained to a new way of thinking. Think of all the changes you have made in your life, either consciously or not, things do not stay constant good habits are as created to be made as bad. It is just a matter of perception.

Go for it, you can do it, we all can… if you want to read more about how to make resolutions and how keep them, read my post on bitchbuzz.com

Image by jaja_1985