I've been making and bringing my lunch to work since the first of September, for eleven days now. Taking my lunch is not something new to me, I do it the majority of the time, but the consistency of EVERY work day for an entire month is a challenge! I bring my lunch primarily to save money. Going out everyday really adds up. It is very hard to buy a decent lunch for less than $5/day so that is a minimum of $25/week, $100/month or $1200/year. That's a lot of money to spend with nothing to show for it!
A group of my coworkers decided to join me on this challenge. We started out strong, but I think all of us have missed at least one day and the month is only half over. For me, the day I missed I had a business lunch/meeting at a restaurant and I didn't feel like I could walk in with my own food, so I did eat out that day, although I didn't have to pay for it. So I still have not spent any month this month on eating lunch out!
Some days there are things that go on at work, that just make you feel like you deserve to go out for lunch and this commitment has saved me from participating in some emotional overeating on those stressful days.
I only eat what I bring and I pack extra food for snacks. A typical day might include:
- 2 bottles of diet snapple tea
- large Sigg bottle of water
- fruit
- 1/2 cup yogurt
- Kind bar
- PB&J on potato roll
- carrots/hummus
- fruit strip
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| Old Faithful - PB&J |
I don't always eat all the food I bring, but I would rather have it and not need it, than not be prepared. I do eat a lot of peanut butter and jelly, but it is one of my favorites and easy to transport. I don't have lots of variety, but I bring leftovers for lunch when we have them. A few days I even brought cereal when I didn't have any other food in the house.
As part of this challenge, I have been trying to branch out and add some new items to my lunch menus. I have found a couple of great ideas from other bloggers who are taking on the brown bag challenge too.
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| Bean, onion, tomato quesadilla (SOURCE: Nutritionella) |
This great idea comes from Elle at Nutritionella. I am making it this week!
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| Pesto Penne Primavera (SOURCE: Healthy Plates) |
Tonya from Healthy Plates shared this easy and delicious recipe. It has all the things I like in it. Why didn't I think of it?
There are ten more days of the Brown Bag Challenge, and my goal is to add at least two new items to my lunches.
Do you bring a lunch from home or do you eat out?
What's your favorite lunch spot?
