E-Mail This Article to a Friend Boxing day Trade in your boring brown bag for a trendy new lunch tote BY DARCY HEITZKE

With all THE low-carb, non-fat, high-protein diets in fashion these days, many of us are finding the best way to stick to our diets at work is to bring a lunch from home. But who wants to carry lunch in a boring brown bag?

Remember the colorful lunch boxes and thermoses you had when you were a youngster? Well, they’re back — and they’re not just for kids anymore. Now you can head off to work with an eye-catching lunch box emblazoned with your favorite superhero or sports team. Do you have a thing for pin-up girls? Obsessed with the work of Renaissance and Post-Impressionist masters? Now you can express your taste in the arts while carrying your lunch in a hip new tote.

Support the team by going to Newbury Comics and purchasing a dome-shaped tin lunch box with the Red Sox logo printed on the side ($10.99). Or pick up a nylon Sox lunch tote ($8.99) with a carrying handle and strap. Not only does this soft-sided red-and-white case have the Sox logo on the front, but it’s also officially licensed Major League Baseball merchandise. For film buffs, Newbury Comics carries a number of movie-related lunch boxes ($17.99), including one of Clerks, which features images of Jay and Silent Bob.

If you’re just a kid at heart and still love to watch cartoons, there are plenty of lunch boxes that depict your favorites. Newbury Comics carries tin lunch boxes embossed with images of Batman, Wonder Woman, and SpongeBob SquarePants ($7.99). In the same style is a Simpsons lunch box ($18.99), which comes with a metal drink container to make it worth the extra bucks.

Looking for something a bit more "grown-up"? Head to Buckaroo’s Mercantile, where you’ll find two different tin lunch boxes with images of a scantily clad Bettie Page ($18). For the churchgoer (and art-lover), the Last Supper Longbox ($10) might hold your midday meal. If you prefer the work of the Post-Impressionists, Brookline Booksmith carries three small, round lunch boxes featuring the works of van Gogh ($11). Booksmith also carries a BYO Lunch Bag ($29) made of neoprene (the same stuff used to make wet suits); it’s machine-washable. As long as you’re not packing a super-size lunch, check out the small, side-ventilated "bathing beauties" tin lunch box ($9.50) at Monroe Salt Works, which also carries tall metal snack boxes decorated with Hawaiian women, and cowboys on horseback ($12.95).

If you want your co-workers to see what’s on the menu, pick up a dome-shaped metal-mesh lunch box ($16.50) from Black Ink. This sturdy carryall is roomy enough to meet the needs of those with even the largest appetites. If you’re a little more discreet about your afternoon meals but still want a metal container that isn’t covered in artwork, try a gray aluminum lunch box with snap-lock closures, in two different sizes ($28 and $32), from the Museum of Useful Things. The latter also carries clear plastic sandwich containers ($4) and cookie/cracker containers ($3.50). Both help keep your food intact and are dishwasher-safe.

What’s lunch without a beverage to wash it down? Black Ink stocks glass-lined, insulated metal bottles ($18) in red or orange plaid. It also has Sigg insulated bottles ($12.95–$16.95), made in Switzerland: these shiny metallic containers come in three sizes and are lightweight and leakproof. The Museum of Useful Things carries the Sigg brand as well, offering a vacuum-insulated bottle ($36) designed to store hot or cold liquids. It comes equipped with a leakproof push-button top for easy pouring. Also at the museum is a stainless-steel vacuum-insulated bottle by Nissan ($42). Although small, this is a serious drink container: it’s aerodynamic, leakproof, and extremely cool.

Where to find it:

• Black Ink, 101 Charles Street, Boston, (617) 723-3883; 5 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 497-1221.

• Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, (617) 566-6660; www.brooklinebooksmith.com

• Buckaroo’s Mercantile, 1297 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, (617) 492-4792; www.buckmerc.com

• Monroe Salt Works, Copley Place, Boston, (617) 236-0045; 202 Mass Ave, Arlington, (781) 646-6699; www.monroesaltworks.com

• Museum of Useful Things, 49B Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 576-3322; www.themut.com

• Newbury Comics, various locations; www.newburycomics.com