Brown-Bagging It: How to Bring the Healthiest Lunch to Work Every Day

"Brown-bagging it" may not be the most popular option, but it's the best choice for a healthy lunch. After all, vending machine food is devoid of all health, and even restaurant food is going to be higher in calories than you might like. Here are a few of the best lunches you can bring to work each day:

Tuna Sammy

Skip the mayo, but add a lot of spicy Dijon and yellow mustard into your tuna sandwich. With a pinch of salt and pepper, a few chopped onions, and a whole lot of pickles, it's a sandwich that's not only healthy, but also delicious! (Just make sure to bring the tuna in a Tupperware, as it will make your bread soggy if it sits in a bag all day long.)

Hummus and Pita

Hummus is easy to make - all you need is cooked chickpeas, raw garlic, lemon juice, cilantro, and some nice chipotle peppers for a tasty Mexican twist - and it's a healthy meal to bring to work. Pita is much healthier than crackers or white bread, and it will combine perfectly with this Mediterranean delight!

Multi-Bean Salad

Get yourself a Tupperware container with multiple sections, and bring three or four beans with you to work to mix in with your salad. Black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, and pinto beans are all healthy, not to mention low in fat. Just make sure they're flavored before adding them into the salad you order at the restaurant (sans creamy dressing, of course), and you've got an ideal low calorie meal.

Chicken Strips

No, I'm not talking about the processed "chicken finger" garbage sold as food at most restaurants, but I mean grilled chicken breast. Go ahead and marinade it in soy sauce and orange juice for a teriyaki flavor, spread a dollop of BBQ sauce on it, or let it sit in low-sodium hot wing sauce all day. When meal time rolls around, there's nothing better!

Egg Salad

It may not be perfect in a sandwich, but it's not bad when eaten alone or with whole wheat crackers. Just make sure to go easy on the Mayo, but add plenty of onions, pickles, salt, and pepper for a tasty treat. Add in a tomato or two, and use Romaine lettuce leaves to make it a "wrap".

Wraps

Flour tortillas may not be the world's healthiest meal, but there are worse. Grill yourself some chicken, and add in all the veggies you can fit into your tasty taco! Simple, quick, easy to make, and - best of all - not too high in calories!