Lunch: The Second Most Important Meal of the Day

Unfortunately for our health, today’s lifestyles rarely include breakfast and barely accommodate lunch and dinner, even when eaten on the run. Relaxing lunches and dinners—nicely prepared, attractively served, and shared with family and friends—are rare occurrences for many active people and sports families.

My clients commonly express dissatisfaction with their mealtime eating. Yet, when life is full, stress is high, and schedules are crazy, eating well balanced meals on a predictable schedule can provide the energy you need to better manage stress and prevent fatigue.

For active people who should be in the continuous cycle of fueling up for workouts and refueling afterward, lunch is the second most important meal of the day. Breakfast remains number one. Lunch refuels morning or noontime exercisers and offers fuel to those preparing for an afternoon session. Given that active people tend to get hungry every four hours (if not sooner), if you eat breakfast at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m., you are certainly ready for lunch at 11:00 or 12:00. But if you eat too little breakfast (as commonly happens), you’ll be hungry for lunch by 10:00 a.m.—and that throws off the rest of the day’s eating schedule. The solution to the “I cannot wait until noon to eat lunch” predicament is simple: You could either eat a bigger breakfast that sustains you until noon, eat a mid morning snack (more correctly, the second half of your too-small breakfast), or eat the first of two lunches, one at 10:00 and the other at 2:00.

For a nation of lunch skippers, eating two lunches may seem a wacky idea. But why not? Ideally, you should eat according to hunger, not by the clock. After all, hunger is simply your body’s request for more fuel. If you’ve eaten only a light breakfast or have exercised hard in the morning, you can easily be ready for lunch 1 at 10:00 a.m. and for lunch 2 at 2:00.

Despite the importance of lunch, logistics tend to be a hassle. If you pack your own lunch, what do you pack? If you buy lunch, what’s a healthful bargain? If you’re on a diet, what’s best to eat? Here are some helpful tips to improve your lunch intake.

If you pack your lunch, the what-to-pack dilemma quickly becomes tiring. Most people tend to pack more or less the same food every day and end up with yet another turkey sandwich, salad, or bagel. As long as you’re content with what you choose, fine. But if you’re tired of the same stuff, consider these suggestions:

• Strive for at least 500 calories (even if you are on a reducing diet) from three types of food at lunch. This means a bagel, yogurt, and banana or salad, turkey, and pita. Just a bagel or just a salad is likely too little fuel.

• Pack planned leftovers from dinner and heat them in the microwave oven. They’re preferable to the cup of noodles or frozen lunches that cost more than they’re worth.

• Remember peanut butter. Peanut butter is an outstanding sports food—even for dieters—because it’s satisfying and helps you stay fueled for the whole afternoon. Yes, it has 200 more calories than a standard turkey sandwich, but a  satisfying peanut butter sandwich allows you to nix the afternoon cookies and snacks that would otherwise sneak into your intake for the day.