Tips for Packing Lunch on The Body Ecology Diet

Tips for Packing Lunch on Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.)

Tara Carpenter, NC.

Nutritional Consultant specialized in step-by-step guidance for people of all ages healing digestion and yeast overgrowth with Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.).

When you start Body Ecology Diet (B.E.D.), the simple task of packing lunch will kick up a notch, or 10, because not only are you learning how to make food without sugar, flour, yeast, or pasteurized dairy you are also learning to crack coconuts for yck, practicing 80/20, and food combining.

I’ve been packing B.E.D.-friendly lunches since 2010. What used to take forever and give me a panic attack just thinking about this task, is now easier. There is a learning curve! When I first started on this diet, my oldest was in a public elementary school and my youngest was in a Waldorf preschool. My husband was an independent contractor and out building most days and took lunch with him. I myself travel out of the home a couple days each week servicing new mothers around the state of Vermont and pack a small cooler of homemade food to bring on my long work days.

Do you wonder how I pack enough food to get through work/school days? In the beginning, I was a fish floundering in murky water above my head. Eventually I did find my swimming arms and to a comfortable place where I could pack lunch/snacks for my family in under an hour.

Now my kids are old enough to pack their own lunch , yet I still do the BIG job of grocery shopping, keeping kitchen stocked and organized so everyone can easily grab ‘n go. I also put a lunchbox list on our fridge for them to peek at in a pinch 😉

Here is a good article on how to handle when kids need to eat different.

5 Tips for Packing a B.E.D. Lunchbox

#1) Invest in lunchbox like this. I love Bento Boxes because you can compartmentalize protein, starch, veggie, and sweet AND the kids seem to like when their food is kept seperate (not so much touching each other). Using a Bento Box can be especially helpful when practicing the 80/20 principle. Those little boxes help you see how the food is balanced (or not). They make stainless steel ones, military style, for older people too!

I keep an insulated cooler for when we are out of the house for long periods of time in areas without stores or restaurants. That way God forbid we do not starve. I swear we get in the car and one of the kids is automatically hungry 🙂 When I need to be gone long periods of time then I eat breakfast at home and bring snacks, canister of tea, lunch, and something sweet in a cooler with an ice pack.

#2) Stock kitchen with foods allowed on B.E.D. that you like and will eat. Here is a stage 1 and stage 2 grocery list. If you have family members that are not on the diet, then stock food separately. I like to label all containers and shelves with permanent markers and keep colored markers and sticky labels in a kitchen drawer. Super-fine sharpies became my best friend 🙂

b-e-d-grocery-list

#3) Organize kitchen and keep organized. If you want to run a smooth sailing ship in the midst of a busy week, this is an absolute. Put all the most often grabbed for stuff in easy-to-reach spots. Make this part of life easy. I deep clean our kitchen once a week; during the week the kids keep the container drawer organized. I label things if they’re not recognizable or if there is an allergen present that one of the boys can’t eat.

#4) Stick this “lunchbox list“ on the fridge so when you’re packing lunch for the next day or have only minutes before the kids need to get on the bus, you (they) can do get going without feeling as though you are racking your brain. Look at the list and see what you have on hand to use less brain power. That’s the trick …don’t get amped up and mental about all this. I know it’s hard when you are learning something new, yet in the big picture we are just packing lunch(es) five days a week. You got this!

#5) Put this food combining chart next to your printed out lunchbox list to remind you of what food combines best with what for enormously relieving near any digestive issue you may have.