LUNCH BREAK AWAY: WHAT TO DO?

The lunch break outside the house often leads to making nutritional errors, which sooner or later are paid dearly. Let's see how to avoid them.

A few healthy suggestions not to lose your fitness while eating something good, and especially by changing as soon as you can. The hectic life of today does not allow us very long lunch breaks, generally it is just half an hour, especially if you want not to return too late in the evening.

So especially those who work away from home are forced to have lunch in the canteen or at the bar, restaurant or pizzeria.

A good step forward could be to get used to always having a nutritious and varied breakfast, nothing too heavy, but not too scarce either.

In practice: a hot drink to taste (tea, black coffee or coffee and milk, preferably if milk is partially skimmed) plus a low-fat yogurt with cereals, a fresh fruit and even a couple of rusks.

This kind of breakfast is useful not to suffer too much from the stomach ache during the morning and to improve concentration during work.

But, since most people drink coffee standing before getting in the car and then they have to wait for 13.00 to catapult to the bar downstairs from the office for the usual sandwich, here are some tips to avoid nutritional errors that sooner or later you pay dearly.

Big salads: a real deception

Anyone who is convinced of staying fit, or even losing weight, eating only a salad for lunch and a rich and abundant meal in the evening, is wrong.

Salads have become fashionable, especially among adults who, for work needs, eat at least five meals a week at the bar.

Salad, for its nutritional value and fiber content, should be only vegetable (and no more than 100 grams), dressed with a tablespoon of oil, a little salt and a few drops of vinegar or lemon.

Instead the mixed salads that are the most popular today, are usually too dressed, with a non-extra virgin olive oil and are rich in cheese, tuna, boiled eggs and egg-based sauces. A real dietary deception if you think that a salad of this type is equivalent to a meal of 500-600 kcalories (kcal), but unbalanced and too rich in animal fats and proteins.

Optimal: a first and vegetables

Much better a good first for lunch, for example pasta (80 grams) with tomato and basil which is equivalent to 295 kcal. Maybe preceded by a boiled vegetable (100 grams -dressed with a little oil and lemon juice).

In the evening, at home, you can eat a not too demanding second to digest (fish 200 grams and raw vegetables, a tablespoon of oil, a pinch of salt and pepper), a sandwich (50 grams) and later a fresh fruit (apple 150 grams).

In this way, the total of the day would be around 1,200-1,300 kcal which is also fine for those who have to keep himself/herself in shape.

Instead, those who have no weight problems can add a small glass of red wine and even a small portion of homemade dessert (about 300 kcal) without the risk of being wrong.

Sandwich or pizza?

Who is forced to eat a sandwich or a pizza can choose between the following alternatives.

Sandwich with roast beef and salad plus a tablespoon of oil and lemon juice 390 kcal, once a week.

Sandwich with mozzarella and tomato with a little oil and a pinch of oregano 300 kcal, once a week.

Sandwich with cooked or raw ham without fat (40 grams) 240 to 270 kcal, once a week.

Sandwich with grilled vegetables, a drop of oil, a pinch of aromatic herbs and a tablespoon of low-fat quark 200 Kcal, twice a week.

And for pizza lovers: a margherita pizza (total about 280 grams) can get to 600 - 700 kcal. It can be fine for a meal only a week. It is not forbidden, even in slimming diets, as long as the other meal of the day is judiciously restricted (a portion of puréed vegetables soup and a slice of grilled turkey breast, no bread and no condiments).