Lunch is an important meal. In my research, I’ve learned that it is best to consume most of your calories at lunchtime. This is how the folks in the Mediterranean do things, and they have some of the healthiest eating habits in the world.

By now,  you should have a handle on breakfast. For me, it’s been two weeks since I’ve been fixating on breakfast and I finally have the hang of it. On days when I don’t wake up hungry I eat about ten almonds and some dried fruit and drink plenty of water. On days when I feel hungrier I have some oatmeal on a smoothie. If I feel cold, oatmeal wins. If my body is at a good temperature, I prepare a smoothie.

But now, I know I need to focus on lunch. For me, lunch should fall at around 1 PM because  I work out around 3. This gives my body plenty of time to digest most of the food and it leaves me with plenty of energy for my workouts. Here are the rules for lunch:

• Eat lunch about 2-3 hours after your late morning snack (don’t worry about that now) or no more than 4 hours after breakfast.
• Consume a healthy 3 ounce portion of protein, fruits and vegetables (try a small salad and a piece of fruit for dessert), and one serving of a whole grain carbohydrate such as a slice of multigrain bread, brown rice, or a small serving of pasta.

Tricks and Tactics for Feeling Full Longer

• Start your lunch with a small serving of a broth based soup. 3/4 cup of tomato soup (no cream or milk added) provides about 100 calories. This will help you consume less calories overall and help you feel full longer.
• Legumes offer an excellent protein source. Substitute a serving of legumes such as lentils or chickpeas for the 3 ounces of protein specified. A sample meal would be a bowl of lentil soup, slice of whole grain bread, a small salad, and a piece of fruit for dessert.

Work on this step until you’ve mastered it.

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