Whether you’re a full time worker, a full time mother or something in-between, you’ll most likely lead a busy life. Busy people often find that lunch is regularly eaten: on the go, at your desk, in the car, at your computer, with a baby hanging off your hip or a toddler trying to steal it.

For most of my clients, lunch is probably the hardest meal of the day to make good choices. Breakfast is usually eaten at home and dinner means you’re more motivated to cook vegetables but lunch can be difficult.

I have found that the key to a healthy lunch each and every day is planning and organisation. You must plan to make healthy choices in order to make them a reality. Unless you have the discipline of an all-girls-school-head-master, if you haven’t got a plan you’ll most likely bring or buy something less than optimum. I know I do.

If your desire to eat healthy food goes beyond general health and well-being (ie you want to lose weight) then the key to your success lies in your consistency. One healthy lunch a week wont cut it. You need to actually develop a good routine that serves you well and helps you eat well at least 90% of the time.

So what’s the key to consistent, healthy lunches:

Write a lunch plan.

At the beginning of each week write out a plan of what your lunches will be. Keep this plan on your fridge at home and at your desk at work. If you don’t have a desk job, keep it in your iPhone or diary. Write your shopping list from this plan and do your grocery shopping at the beginning of the week to ensure you’ve got everything you need and your kitchen is well stocked.

As you write this plan you need to ask yourself some important questions. Your answers to these questions will determine how your plan is written, which in turn will determine how successful you are.

The plan is there to help you, not hinder you. So if your plan is unrealistic, boring or too much of a deviation from your normal habits, you’ll find it hard to follow. If you find it hard to follow, you’re not likely to stick to it and find yourself right back at square one.

Here are some helpful questions:

Do you have any events, meetings or social gatherings that need adding into your plan?

If your team is going out to lunch or you’re meeting a client at a restaurant, write that into your plan. No point planning a meal that you’re not actually going to eat. If you’re watching your weight, try sourcing the menu of the cafe or restaurant prior to your meeting and plan what you are going to order. Don’t make the decision at the table when your stomach is rumbling, you can smell bacon and the table next to yours orders fries with aioli… You’ll find it difficult to choose well. Choose when you’re in a rational, motivated state of mind so when you get there you don’t even need to see a menu, you just order.

How do you get to work?

This is important. If you’re planning on making a gourmet salad with feta, pine nuts, sweet potato, rocket, sun dried tomato and a home made vinaigrette but you ride your pushbike to work and you don’t have much room in your bag for heaps of separate ingredients, you won’t stick to your plan.

How much time do you get for your lunch break?

If your lunch break is limited, you’ll be more successful if you make the whole meal at home. Trying to make a meal from individual ingredients that require prepping will not be desirable if you’re tired and just want to eat and chill out. Try cooking up batches of curry, soup, risotto, slow cooker meals, pies etc so all you have to do is grab them out of the fridge as you leave for work and chuck them in the microwave. Then you can spend the rest of your lunch break passed out… or whatever you like to do to relax.

Will your lunch be leftovers from the night before?

If you like taking leftovers for lunch make sure you plan to make extra at your evening meals and set it aside for the next day. If you’re watching your energy intake make sure you divide your leftovers into controlled portions sizes, rather than just one container.

Do you get bored easily and need variety?

If yes, plan to have 2-3 different lunches that you rotate through the week. Be mindful that if you have too much variation it can become expensive and time consuming making your plan undesirable to follow. If you like the same thing everyday, find your favourite healthy meal and stick to that for the week. Change it up the next week to ensure nutritional variety.

Do you have the capacity to prepare food at work? Is there a sandwich press, toaster or microwave? is there adequate utensils or bench space?

I remember bringing whole vegetables to cut up for a salad for lunch at work one day. The problem was that the office kitchen was tiny, old and dirty. I hated being in there, it smelled funny and 99% of the time I would lose my appetite for a fresh salad and would go buy something from the cafe. The problem was that I would still plan to make a fresh salad, even though each time I went to make it I walked into the kitchen and lost my appetite. This was not a helpful plan.

Good plans are smart plans that set you up for success and not failure.

What are your easy lunch tips?

If you’re not sure what goes into making a healthy lunch, particularly if you are trying to lose weight, my eBook Lose Weight for Life, shows you proper portion sizes of normal everyday foods that help you fill up, control your appetite and burn fat. You can purchase it as an instant download from my website.