Lunch
-
I find this a real bastard, and on day 1 of the TSF Fatbusters Challenge I found myself matching Voltman's quarter chicken with a steak and mushroom pie, and raising him a cheese and spinach pastry. That set me back a week. <br />
<br />
It's not actually an easy thing to get right. For a start, lunch has to be something you can look forward to and enjoy in an otherwise boring day. Damned if I'm eating fucking sprouts; my job is bad enough without working four hours for that shit. I'd have slit my throat by afternoon tea. <br />
<br />
On the other hand, the temptation for something to cheer you up leads to the meat pie scenario. Also the temptation to have something hot almost invariably leads to the temptation to buy something that is extremely bad for you.<br />
<br />
Also, I hate preparing anything or making it at work. And if you have the same thing everyday, it becomes really dreary I reckon. <br />
<br />
It was never this hard at school. Perhaps I should just go back to bread rolls and a packet of Sunmaid raisins. If you blow through the empty packet it makes a whistling sound. <br />
<br />
Today I came up with noodles and a banana. Ham sandwiches are another option. <br />
<br />
So let's have some thoughts: what can you buy at the supermarket, take to work, enjoy without having to do any preparation and that is not too bad for you? -
Top post here MvJ as I too need some ideas on lunches/meals on the run staying away for work etc.<br />
<br />
When at home I am up and after breakfast at 6am make lunch, finding a routine easier now and feel guilty as hell if I forget/don't make lunch and have to buy it which always means something bad from BJ's Bakery.<br />
<br />
I have found a new bread that last for ages and is top notch stuff....Station? Southern Grain? new on the market I think. The only problem is I make the same bloody sandwiches every day...buggered if I know why but the taste bloody good, mainly because I'm hungry, also find I eat them over the course of the day instead of all in lunch hour which is a good thing.<br />
<br />
So tonight walked around supermarket and looked for heathy options and as have no cooking facilities in hotel need some thing non cookable.<br />
<br />
When at home, no problems as enjoy cooking and not bad at it. -
If you have a decent sandwhich shop close by, use that.<br />
<br />
At the moment, I'm having dryroast chicken, Avocado, Olives and Jalepenos with standard fair salad. Brown Bread of course. I also buy a truckload of fruit during the week and that ties me over for snacks -
Here's what I do for the office grind:<br />
<br />
At the supermarket ensure you get:<br />- weet bix<br />
- milk - note that I don't really give a shit whether its non/low fat or not. The amount you consume is miniscule in your entire diet and if you walk any distance to work you'll lose it anyway<br />
- 10 bananas<br />
- 5 apples<br />
- multigrain or wholemeal bread. White bread sucks arse in this regard - the more man has fucked with it, the worse it is for you.<br />
- one lot of cold meats sufficient for 6 sandwiches so about 300g - and mix it up a bit. Go for honey ham one week, smoked the next, change with lite ham if you want to try it, and then on alternate weeks get chicken or the roast lamb<br />
- 5 tomatoes if you're into them and I am<br />
- 1 head of lettuce which I'm not fond of but its incapable of spoiling the taste of anything, just the texture <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /><br />
- ziplock sandwich bags<br />
- On the first occasion, but a sandwich box capable of holding two apples, two sandwiches, and a banana<br />
<br />
Now part of the problem with making your lunch is the actual making it and the boredom you experience eating the same shit every day, so a good strategy is the following:<br />
<br />
- For breakfast get two weetbix and then cut up a banana into the bowl before adding milk. Beats putting sugar on it and tastes nicer besides.<br />
<br /> - Monday, Wednesday, Friday - MAKE YOUR FECKIN LUNCH YOU LAZY BASTARD! Two sandwiches with the cold meat and lettuce. DON'T add the tomato because it'll go soggy as. Put the tomato, one apple, and one banana in the lunch box with the two sandwiches and a sharp knife if your office kitchen doesn't have one.<br />
<br /> - Tuesdays and Thursdays is "luxury" day - you get to go to the sandwich shop and order something more exotic. You will come to value these days above all others <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> At the moment, Ralph's Cafe on the USYD campus does a delightful flat roll with Turkey breast, cranberry sauce, avocado and camembert cheese. Yeah its slightly fatty but by fuck it tastes nice and its my day away from boring sandwiches.<br />
<br /> - When you get to work, if you're feeling a bit tired from a late night, eat the apple. All the calories in the apple will be consumed by you working your jaws away on it, and eating an apple will stimulate you much more than a cup of coffee (fact - read it in a few journals and online), and it doesn't have a "crash factor" afterwards.<br />
<br /> - Have your first sandwich some time between 12.30PM and 1PM - cut up half the tomato to include in the sandwich. Have salt if you want because real men sweat. Don't throw the ziplock bag away unless its festy because let's face it the little bastards are expensive for what they do. Once the sandwich is scoffed, wait 20 minutes and go for a walk around the block (10 minutes) just to use a little of the stuff you just ate.<br />
<br /> - About 60-90 minutes after you eat that sandwich you're going to feel a bit sleepy, due to the blood sugar created by the sandwich being bitchslapped by your insulin flow. This is the ideal time to have sandwich 2, using the rest of the tomato. Will keep you going for another hour or two.<br />
<br /> - At about 3.30-4PM have the banana to keep the carb levels satisfied.<br />
<br /> - If you're late at the office then also include some minor treat for the end of the day like a Fun Size Snickers or Mars or whatever you're into. DON'T go down to the 7-11 and buy something because you'll subconsciously grab more than you wanted, or in larger sizes which are bad for you.<br />
<br />
Naturally through the course of the day all types of caffeine are to be avoided. If you've got to have a hot drink, have a cup of tea with minimum sugar in it. I have hot chocolate which is actually laden with sugar but I walk while I'm drinking it to help keep its effects on my arse down. Drink water - lots of it, and remember to watch your glass because human spit carries germs like you wouldn't believe. I probably get through two litres a day between home and work. Mix it up with juice if you like - I find tomato a great alternative to OJ and pineapple juice is also good.<br />
<br />
MvJ - as far as sandwich shops go, there are good ones around the place. But find one that is a healthy 5-10 minute walk away so you get something out of just going there.
-
Whack some blueberries in your cereal bowl too. Awesome detox and system jumpers they are. <br />
I buy a bag of apples, 2 bags clementines, satsumas or mandarins, 6 bananas, 1 punnet blueberries, raspberries or blackberries and plums or nectarines depending on what's in stock every week. That's my snackfood. I hardly touch anything vaguely sugary/chocolatey/fatty because of these bad boys.<br />
I'm lucky enough to be able to eat my brekkie at work so I get fruit & fibre every week too. I never get sick of it as I just add different berries or a banana and it's great. <br />
<br />
Sorry - thats brekkie I know. For Lunch I make sambos most days. Trying to mix it up by using wraps instead of bread and depending what left overs from dinner are, I usually enjoy them more. Lower fat and carbs and they come in nice flavours too.<br />
Cold cooked turkey is great to whack in there and tomatoes a plenty. I still haven't solved the soggy sambos dilemma yet tho.Â
-
Bloody oath, Stoberon,<br />
<br />
I reckon planning is where it's at - if you plan to have chips and peanuts and christ knows what around you when you're doing it tough, then there's a good chance you're going to snack on it. Have blueberries and bananas and apples on hand, and you'll do that. We're all lazy afterall. Works for me too. Create the habit, then it's easy. And substituting those things when you're out and about becomes second nature too.<br />
<br />
Go hard all of you fatbusters, bloody good job. -
[quote name='The Gamer']<br />
[b]Bloody oath, Stoberon,[/b]<br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
I'll take that as a compliment.
<br />
<br />
You're completely right - good habits make the diff.  I go to the supermarket down the road every monday and get my supplies. Most of it keeps well in my drawer and now it's habit it seems like the easiest thing to do. I get sustained energy throughout the day as opposed to when I'd peak for 20 mins then crash and burn for the next 2 hours until i got another sugar fix.<br />
Farkin great sex drive too. Nuts n berries boys. Chicks dig it. -
I found myself a job at a company that has a great staff restaurant. Deli sandwich bar, hot food options (Tuesdays you can make your own stir fry, just pick what ingredients you want and they fry it up for you), salad options and pre pack sarnies too. All free (including fruit and youghurts). So, if possible, change jobs and get free lunch at work! Back in NZ I always made my own sarnies before work, the trick is not to put tomato in as that just makes the buggers soggy..
-
Stuff like ceaser salads is great for lunch: get a fresh lettuce, chop it up, throw in some spicy shop-bought croutons, splash on low-fat dressing, and it's surprisingly filling/refreshing (eat as much as you want) and, once you've got past the savoury craving, tastes bloody good. Initially, add grilled and chopped bacon if you must have meat. (Not fried!!)
-
Great tips, thanks to all, especially NTA for an NTA trademark thesisÂ
I have bought the lunchbox, and will report back in due course. <br />
<br />
Are two minute noodles bad for you? The ones I have at work have 8 grams of saturated fat, whatever that means. -
Yeah, I find rice impossible to cook. <br />
<br />
I am a bit worried about the lunchbox thing. When MvJ was a Boy Scout there was a guy in my troop who had no mates. We used to falsely assert that his only friends were smurfs which he carried around in his lunchbox.<br />
<br />
Now I have the lunchbox I feel half-way there myself. -
When you find the little bastards creeping in there late at night, don't call me <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /><br />
<br />
<br />
[quote name='Miller V Jackson']<br />
Yeah, I find rice impossible to cook. <br />
[/quote]<br />
<br />
I have my own methods, but [url="http://www.oriental.com.au/Promotions/perfectricesystem.aspx"]http://www.oriental.com.au/Promotions/p ... ystem.aspx[/url] if you're interested. Cooking rice in the microwave the only way to go for mine. Stove top sucks. -
Rice is a godsend, particularly on a college campus in the USA.<br />
<br />
I've got one of those magnificent microwaveable rice cookers that you can put the rice and water into, then put into a microwave for 15 minutes. <br />
<br />
For variety, I often just mix in a few various spices - some chilli powder, turmeric, cloves and such, and then let the flavours get absorbed during the cooking process. Very good and quite healthy too.<br />
<br />
Food though is a real problem here - campus food is atrocious American fare, usually too greasy or deep fried - only the plain grilled chicken burgers in the caf are anything near decent. I can cook adequately, but time is an issue when cooking - as is cleaning up, and quite often it's just not possible to take 30 mins to cook a decent dinner, eat and then wash the dishes up later on. I can do it maybe 2-3 times a week at max, but not much more often.<br />
<br />
Soups, btw, are excellent. There are a lot of low-cal ones you can just mix in with boiling water so preparation isn't an issue, plus it also fills you up at the beginning of a meal. -
[quote]Are two minute noodles bad for you? The ones I have at work have 8 grams of saturated fat, whatever that means[/quote]<br />
<br />
The thing to watch with instant noodles is the salt content can be quite high. Check out the sodium levels on the nutrition panel and find the ones with the lowest salt and fat content.<br />
<br />
8 grams of fat seems quite high in regards to noodles to me.<br />
<br />
As an aside be careful you don't replace low fat foods with high sugar foods. Some people make the mistake of going as fat free as possible but don't actually realise that they have replaced the fat with sugar. Not good.<br />
<br />
A bit of the topic of lunch but a few other tips fro eating in general:<br />
<br />
Try and get some fish in your diet regularly. Great source of protein and good fatty acids which your brain needs. I like to have fish at least twice a week, although it does often come in the form of canned tuna.<br />
<br />
As for red meat, well I love it as I'm sure most of you on here do. But look for alternative options aside from chops, sausages etc. Stick with the lean varieties as much as possible. <br />
<br />
I'm a bit fan of Kangaroo! a part from the novelty of eating the national emblem of Australia it is also has the lowest fat content of any red meat. Kangaroo and ostrich are great if yo ucan get hold of them. Not sure if you can in NZ? -
I've had coat-of-arms pizza - kanga and emu - at a pub here in Sydney <img src='http://www.daimenhutchison.com/invision/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />
-
Cmon rice has to be the easiest thing to cook. Put rice in pot, cover with water to a figers depth (hand flat so about 1cm) above the rice. Covwer with tight fitting lid. Bring to boil. Take off heat as soon as it starts to boil. Leave for 15 mins (giving you plenty of time to do other shit). Serve. The rice will have absorbed all the water and will not be sticky although I agree with TLB plain rice is just carbo loading. My problem is the curry that will go all over the rice mmmmmm
-
I make a salad most days for lunch, but when I am more lazy and still want to be healthy I go for one of these options (probably in order from most to least healthiest IMO):<br />
<br />- a salad sambo from sandwich shop<br />
- a healthy subway roll (although they have some real bad stuff too)<br />
- a tin of baked beans<br />
- sushis rolls (provided you get something grilled or raw meat only - not the fried chick, prawn, pork ones)<br />
- a clear asian soup with steamed wontons<br />
- fruit salad with yoghurt<br />
<br />
Making myself hungry typing this, can tell I am not eating as much as usual.<br />
<br />
BTW - is only takes me a bout 10mins a day to make salad for lunch now that I have a routine going.
-
Salads are the go for lunch along with low fat yoghurt and muesli bars (without coconut). Also a few raw peanuts, cashews and almonds - maybe a small handful of one or two types wil keep you going for snacks. Dried fruit, such as apricots are good as long as you don't eat too many......constipation beckons if you do. :nta<br />
<br />
For the reason that it contains a lot of sugar diet books say to stay away from eating too much fruit.
