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If you work full-time in an office, factory, or warehouse, you already understand the importance of having a healthy and full-filling lunch while on the job. Going hungry at work can make you less productive, irritable, and possibly even an unpleasant person to be around. 

It is the law that your employer provides you with a certain amount of time for lunch and breaks throughout your workday. For full-time employees, typically you are allowed between 30 and 60 minutes for lunch, depending on the state you live in and the company you work for. 

It may be tempting to get in your car and hit the nearest drive-through during lunch, but is it really the best thing for you? More people are realizing the benefits of packing their own lunch and using insulated cooler lunch bags to do so.

 Let us look at some of the benefits you can enjoy when you ditch going out for lunch every day and decide to start packing your lunches at home.

1. Save Money

People who dine out for lunch on a daily basis may not notice the amount of money they are spending at first. It may just be $8 one day, $12 the next, and maybe only $4 another, however, that can add up over time. For example, let us say that you average $10 a day for lunch expenses. 

If there are 19 to 22 working days in a month, that adds up to between $190 and $220 a month or between $2,280 and $2,640 a year. Wow! Think about what you could do with that money if you were to save it rather than spend it on going out for lunch every day. 

2. Healthier Options

When you are leaving your workplace to find something to eat for lunch, the options available to you are not going to be the healthiest. You already have a limited amount of time, so you need something quick, convenient, and often something you can easily eat in your vehicle. 

Those types of options tend to be the greasiest and least healthy options available. Wash it down with a soft drink, and now you have just sugar-loaded yourself in addition to adding several hundred calories to your meal. Be prepared for an afternoon crash that is going to leave you feeling sluggish and unable to perform your work tasks to the best of your ability.

When you pack your own lunch, you can have plenty of smaller, healthier snacks that you can eat throughout the day. Snacks like grapes, granola, yogurt, cherry tomatoes, crackers, and raisins can give you little boosts of energy spread out throughout the day rather than having one large greasy meal during lunch that makes you want to find a bed as soon as possible. 

We are not saying you have to eat 100% healthily, either. Pack some chocolate, maybe a leftover slice of pizza from the night before. The point is, when you pack your own lunch, you have more control over the foods you can put into your body which can be better for your health, your waistline, and your overall well-being.  

3. Pack Your Favorite Foods

The best part of packing your own lunch, aside from saving money, is the fact that you can pack your favorite foods and use your leftovers from the previous night’s dinner. Think about it. Maybe over the weekend, you had some friends over for a backyard barbeque, and you still have some leftover grilled steaks or barbecue chicken. 

Pack up a few pieces of that chicken, maybe toss up a small side salad, add a piece of fruit and a bottle of water, and you have a delicious home-cooked meal at work that you cannot get at any fast food restaurant. As a bonus, you will save even more money by consuming your leftovers instead of letting them go to waste. 

4. More Variety

When you pack your own lunch, you will definitely have much more variety regarding the types of food available to you for lunch. Depending on your workplace location, you may only have access to a handful of the same restaurants daily. This lack of variety and choice can get tiresome over time. 

Bringing your lunch from home in insulated cooler bags can allow you to pack anything you want. The insulated bag can keep foods cold for hours before they must be reheated for lunch. You can do meal prep as well and premake all your meals for the week, and in the morning, before you head out the door, simply stash the day’s meal in an insulated cooler lunch bag, and you are set. 

On another note, if you work in a factory or warehouse where you have a physically demanding job, you are going to want to ensure you have plenty of liquids to consume throughout the day. It is a matter of safety, especially in the hotter summer months. That being said, using an insulated cooler bag allows you to pack plenty of water, Gatorade, ice teas, and other hydrating and delicious beverages that will stay cold throughout the day for you to enjoy and stay feeling fresh. 

5. Save Time

If your job requires you to punch out for lunch, then you may have to stay at your job later in the day to ensure you get your full eight hours if you spend a good deal of time driving to a restaurant and sitting down to eat a full lunch or ordering lunch and eating it in your car. 

It is important to take your breaks to rest your mind and body, however, if you pack your own lunch, you may only need a 30-minute lunch break instead of an hour. Those extra 30 minutes then can ensure you can leave for the day earlier and have time to run errands, go to the gym, and simply relax at home. 

Need Some Good Supplies For Bringing Lunch to Work?

Insulated cooler bags can be extremely useful for those who are looking to save money, eat healthily, and save time while on the job. To see what types of insulated cooler bags are available for purchase, check out our inventory at Prime Line Retail.