Are you frustrated as you don’t know what to make for lunch? Confused as nutrition information is always changing, or simply at a loss as to what to make and think running to the local restaurant is the easiest thing to do?

Perhaps you are wondering what is healthy these days. Maybe you feel like you don’t have enough time to make and bring your own lunch. Possibly you want to take your nutrition to the next level. Potentially you simply don’t know where to start.

It is the middle of the day and all too often the first meal for many of us. How can we make it interesting, easy, fast fun and delicious?

Let’s not forget that not only are we eating to nourish ourselves, but we are eating to get energy to carry out the rest of our day. Your body is in constant demand of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

Taking your lunch to a whole new level will escalate your other two meals of the day and energy and vitality will be your two new best friends.

As a nutritionist I have heard it all. Pizza, burgers, fries, soda, pasta are some of the more common food choices for lunch. I sat down with a friend the other day during a busy week and she said she wanted comfort food for lunch. Is food for mood, or is food for feeding every organ, cell, and muscle tissue?

It really is about the 80/20 rule. What you do 80 percent of the time matters the most. You can certainly have your comfort food every once in a while, and I highly recommend you do treat yourself from time to time.  While she ate her comfort food and I enjoyed my salad with tons of interesting ingredients, I was able to stay awake and energize for the rest of the afternoon while my friend kept nodding off.

Let’s face it. Many of us are busy throughout the week, and it certainly may feel more convenient to grab something on the go. During our work day many of us just think about getting something in our stomach and feel that we can get our “good food” later. But if you’re not doing it on a regular basis, when are you? But by working to change your habits, and taking 10 minutes or less in morning to prepare yourself something that will nourish you, your body will rejoice. Try playing around with tossing together a few simple healthy ingredients like the examples below.

Salad to Go

First, we need colour. Food that grows toward the sunshine is our best friend. Here’s a great tip for you: you can buy a small box of organic greens, take the lid off and throw in chopped green onions, tomato, chick peas, avocado and some cut up chicken. Add some balsamic vinegar and olive oil right into the container and you have a salad to go.

Boil a couple of eggs and spread some avocado on 100% rye bread. Enjoy it with some slices of mango or apple on the side.

Open up a can of salmon and add celery, green onions, avocado and mash it up and serve with rye bread.

Many people like yogurt for lunch as well. My favourite is goat milk yogurt with fruit, flax oil and flax seeds. Add a little bit of maple syrup and you’re good to go!

Or mix some greens with chick peas, walnuts, apple slices, sundried tomatoes and onions with rye crackers…

Cook up some quinoa and add capers, coriander, tomatoes, cucumber, cumin, and some olive oil.

Be creative, have fun and remember to not eat for mood, but to eat for your health!