I started making a skirt last month and had to measure my waist to check the pattern. My waist was three inches bigger than the last time I measured, back in the spring. Since about that time I’d been in a rut about work lunches and was just bringing a frozen entree from Trader Joe’s every day. Coincidence? Nope.

So that got me started making lunches. Inspired yet again by Pinterest, I picked up these compartmented “bento” boxes from Amazon and have been bringing my lunch every day for the last month. Some highlights:

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Sesame noodles, cashews, grapes, and cheese
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A Trader Joe’s kid’s pizza with veggie pepperoni (old habits die hard–at least it’s small!), with grapes and cucumber salad
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Blurry leftover ravioli from dinner, garlic green beans, cherry tomatoes, and grapes & cheese
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“Nothing in the fridge” lunch–the last of the produce, cheese and crackers, and veggie pepperoni.


I’m loving the boxes–instead of figuring out a main dish every day, I just have to fill the compartments. It even makes it easy to pull lunch together when there isn’t much in the fridge. Plus, there’s something really satisfying to me about small servings of food in little compartments. (I think the same reasons this article says toddlers like bento boxes apply to adults.)

And it’s working (along with a 30-day yoga challenge): I’m down to just two inches about my usual waist size, so–progress. Yay lunch!