Now that I've gotten a hang of this nutrition aspect of my diet, it's time to dissect the second most important meal of the day, Lunch.
Lunch may be one of the most underrated meals. So much emphasis is placed on breakfast, and with good reason, then, it seems we skip lunch and head straight to dinner when thinking about meals. "Dinner date" vs "Lunch date"...right? I would go as far to say Brunch has even surpassed lunch on the meal scale. Who isn't always ready for brunch? Now, that is arguably the most important meal of the entire weekend.
Lunch happens 5x more often though. So, all things considered, and for the purposes of immediate objectives in achieving my Diet Goals, I'll focus on Lunch.
Depending your schedule, lunch can be the last meal you have to prepare your body for your workout. In some cases it can be the meal following your workout. In both cases, this makes lunch vital to achieving your workout and fitness goals, as meal composition and quantity would determine performance or recovery, respectively.
Even if your workout is not preceded or succeeded by lunch, it is an important meal of your day in which your body is provided with essential nutrition for both mental and physical health. Therefore, lunch should never be skipped. Here are a few reasons not to skip lunch:
- re-energizes your body and can raise blood sugar levels when focus and concentration are lagging
- keeps your metabolism active, especially if you have a moderately sized meal and a snack before and afterward
- skipping lunch can rev up your appetite later, causing you to overeat or choose foods that have poor nutritional values
Always remember that what you eat is more important than how much, Quality over Quantity. Therefore meals, including lunch should be well balanced and meet an appropriate carbohydrate-protein-fat ratio. There is no one size fits all for this ratio, as factors such as before/after workout would determine the proportions needed by the body.
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I don't generally skip any meals, definitely not intentionally, but there have been the odd days where it has happened. I also don't put a lot of thought into Lunch and generally have leftovers, or something quick to assemble. This is not a bad approach to lunch, however, a bit more attention and care is needed when working towards a goal. In my personal case I cannot afford to miss lunch or not have it be a quality meal, as lunch precedes my workout on most days. Therefore to master this meal and achieve my goal, planning must be implemented to see results and achieve success.
Planning to have lunch timed at 60-90 mins before workouts to ensure proper digestion - to make the nutrients available to fuel the workout to prevent suffering muscle loss. And planning to include complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fats to achieve my goal of increased lean muscle.
Keep this in mind if your goals are similar.
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GOAL MEASUREMENT | PROGRESS | SUCCESS
MEASUREMENT
Record meals in detail using app. with pecific focus on the content breakdown - carb/protein/fat.
The first week will be the base before assessment and adjustments
PROGRESS
There will be 2 assessments, the first after the first week which will propose adjustments in planning to be taken over the following 2 weeks, and the second following this/after the 3rd week to gauge progress and rate the effectiveness of changes made.
SUCCESS
Scheduled consistent well balanced meals that allow for mental and physical health, with noted improvement in workout performance and results. And no skipped lunches!
Sources
How do you tie lunch into your fitness and diet goals?
~ Josie Jo ~
