The Zone at Work: Packed Lunches and Office Snacks

Mornings are easy — breakfast happens at home. Evenings too. The workday, though, is where the Zone most often slips: lunch is whatever's nearby, and at 4 p.m. your hand reaches for a pastry on its own. The good news is that with a bit of planning and one lunch box, the workday becomes the most predictable part of your week.

The Zone lunch box formula

Pack the box the same way you build a plate:

• a palm-sized portion of protein — chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, ground meat
• plenty of vegetables and a piece of fruit for the carbs
• a little fat — olive oil, a few olives, avocado or a handful of nuts

A box with compartments helps more than it seems: one section for protein, another for vegetables, and you can see the balance while you're filling it. Pack the olive oil or dressing separately so the salad doesn't go soggy.

Cook on Sunday, eat through Thursday

The biggest obstacle to a packed lunch is the protein, because it takes the most time to cook. The fix is one bigger cook on Sunday. A good example is Stefani meatloaf: it bakes in half an hour, tastes good cold, and during the week you just slice it.

How to split it: the whole meatloaf is about 16 protein blocks and has almost no carbs. Cut it into four equal pieces of about 4 blocks each. Add about 4 carb blocks to each — a big salad and a piece of fruit — and 4 fat blocks, such as olive oil in the salad and a few olives. That turns one cooking session into four balanced lunches.

The same idea works with baked chicken breast, a batch of hard-boiled eggs or roasted fish. For more make-ahead ideas, see 7 small habits that make the Zone easier.

Snacks in your desk drawer

The afternoon snack is the one people skip most often — which is why you get home in the evening really hungry. Keep something small and balanced at work, one block each:

• Greek yogurt with fruit and a few almonds
• a hard-boiled egg, an apple and a few walnuts
• a piece of cheese or sliced turkey breast with a few cherry tomatoes and olives
• a sweet pudding in a jar, like the pear and cinnamon cream

If you often forget it, set a meal reminder for 4 p.m. And keep a bottle of water on your desk — part of the afternoon "hunger" is often thirst. We cover how much water you need in this article.

No lunch box today?

There will be days without a packed lunch — and that's normal. At the nearest store, look for rotisserie chicken or hard-boiled eggs, a ready-made salad and a piece of fruit. At a restaurant, choose grilled protein with vegetables instead of a starchy side — more tips in how to eat Zone at restaurants.

Log your lunch in the morning

When you pack the box, you already know what you'll eat. Log it in your ZoneIt diary right then — so at lunch you're not thinking about blocks, and in the evening you can see how many blocks are left for dinner. Do this for a few weeks and the lunch box becomes a habit, not a chore.