It’s lunchtime, and you’ve promised yourself that you’re going to eat healthily. You go to the fridge, bring out all the vegetables you can find, and all the extra flavors you can add to the otherwise bland greens.
You whip up either a salad or a vegetarian lunch sandwich. “Aha! Here’s a healthy lunch idea,” you tell yourself, but you’re wrong!
You’re right about the vegetable part, but you could be wrong about the other add-on like dressings, croutons, and more!
It happens to the best of us. We think we’re eating healthy, but we aren’t.
Here are some healthy lunch ideas we only think are healthy but are not.
Prepared salad
Let’s start with salads since we already opened with the idea of vegetables. Indeed, vegetables are healthy. However, the vegetable is not the issue. It’s what’s on top of it that you must be careful with when considering eating it (especially frequently).
You decide to eat green and add some salad dressings, which, for one, could add tons of calories and sugar to your salad. It would be even worst if there are croutons, chips, or fried chicken! If you want a healthy salad, go for the greens.
Deli sandwich
A yes, the deli sandwich that my friend calls a complete meal. Indeed, it has protein and carbohydrate, and almost all your needed nutrients. However, these are all mostly in the guise of heavily processed ingredients.
The bread alone is made of enriched flour; then, it is paired with plenty of delicatessens that we believe are healthy because they aren’t fried. However, these could be packed with sodium. Of course, there’s also the creamy spread, the cheese, and all other add-ons.
It’s fine to eat a deli sandwich once in a while but to make your daily lunch would not be a wise decision. Eating deli sandwich could make you sluggish, if not completely sleepy an hour or two after consumption.
Sushi
Don’t feel sad, not all types of sushi are unhealthy, but the specialty ones, like the California Maki, is. One small sushi roll could be packed with 500 calories. Imagine eating ten rolls!
Veggie burger
Again, just because it has ‘veggie’ in the name, doesn’t make it instantly healthy. What you think is made of mostly vegetables is often made of beans or rice held together by oils and veggie proteins. While there is indeed some vegetable in it, the process it undergoes reduces the nutrients. If you want a veggie burger, then make one.
These foods are okay to eat sometimes, but not all the time. What you put in the food that is supposed to be healthy on its own, like vegetables, could make or break your healthy lunch ideas.
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