Packed Lunches while Training

M.J.M.C

Hi Guys

Just a quick question, I pack my lunch and bring it into work with me - usually just a brown bread sandwich and some fruit. Then after work id go for a 10K run.

I'm looking for some alternatives that will give me energy for when I finish work.

Thanks

inigo

M.J.M.C wrote: »

Hi Guys

Just a quick question, I pack my lunch and bring it into work with me - usually just a brown bread sandwich and some fruit. Then after work id go for a 10K run.

I'm looking for some alternatives that will give me energy for when I finish work.

Thanks

For a quick fix I take a banana, a couple of dates or dry figs. For a longer lasting effect, a handful of nuts or an avocado either plain or in guacamole style. Sometimes I stuff dates/figs with almond/peanut butter. Absolutely delicious!! All easy to pack and carry.

M.J.M.C

Thanks for the reply inigo

I'm looking for more lunches than just snakes etc. Would you guys cook pasta and bring it into work or ?

Thanks

ecoli

I used to struggle with the sandwiches as they didnt keep me full. Started picking up salad bowls and a tin of tuna.

Keeps me full for much longer and not breaking the bank.

Pasta mixes are another option as well and can vary it up

crisco10

Quinoa is also quite a nice way to bulk up a salad...Just simmer it in water the night before and stick in fridge. Eat cold the next day. I usually just stick it on at the same time I'm doing my dinner, saves me going back to the kitchen later when I might be too lazy.

inigo

Sorry, I read the message to quickly...

For lunches I find also that anything with bread will not last past 4pm! I'd be starving by the time I can put my shorts on and run home!

A few ideas:

Today I had home made hummus with sliced avocado on rye crisps, orange and 81% chocolate square.

Yesterday it was guacamole (made in situ in 3 minutes) with tortilla chips, a few brazil nuts, apple and the choc above.

Day before yesterday, chickpea, red rice & spinach stew in one of these, fruit and chocolate.

Other days I'd have a tin of sardines or mackerel on crispbread plus some salad or veg like carrot, and for desert always fruit & 70%+ chocolate.

I love a big salad too, with lettuce/spinach/rocket, veg, sprouts, seeds, nuts, feta and so on which I carry in a big Tesco tupper.

I keep bags of nuts and trail mix at work, as well as a salt mill and a jar with olive oil/vinegar dressing.

Sounds like a lot of hassle but all you need is just to be a little organised the day before. Once you make a start preparing the stuff, say putting salad in the tupper, is usually enough to keep it going...

M.J.M.C

crisco10 wrote: »

Quinoa is also quite a nice way to bulk up....

I'm ashamed to say I'd never heard of this stuff and i'm looking into it now, thanks for that

inigo wrote: »

Sorry, I read the message to quickly...

...

Thanks for the detailed reply that is fantastic. I think it's as much "mixing it up" as it is something that will keep me going.
What chocolate is that out of interest? Chocolate is my vice. Thanks again for the wonderful suggestions.

inigo

M.J.M.C wrote: »

Thanks for the detailed reply that is fantastic. I think it's as much "mixing it up" as it is something that will keep me going.
What chocolate is that out of interest? Chocolate is my vice. Thanks again for the wonderful suggestions.

That's right! Mix it up, keep it interesting and you'll get lots of nutrients too. If I can't go out to run to get the space I 'disappear' into the kitchen...

Quinoa, amaranth, millet, barley, spelt, buckwheat, bulgur, brown rice, plain couscous... are a great base for a salad kind of meal. Google recipes to get some ideas.

My favourite chocolate is the 70% Green & Black's. LOVE IT! But it is expensive so I always wait for a buy 1 get 1 free or a buy 2 for €4 type of offer to stock up. Problem is my wife loves it too... Otherwise I go for the plain 70/80% Lidl ones, preferably the Fairtrade one. I can never finish a lunch or dinner until I've had some!

By the way, what's your favourite chocolate??

SamforMayo

Sandwiches don't keep me full for long either. I find my most satisfying lunch is salad with rocket, tomato, boiled eggs, cheese, ham and spring onion, usually have with a couple of sesame seed ryvita.

Hani Kosti

Lentil salad (beans of your choice or chickpea), onion, carrot, pepper, olives, tomatoes. Lemon juice, olive oil and balsamic
Served on bed of greens, avocado on top (that was my lunch today)
Leftover dinners (Thai curry, risotto)
Pasta with tons of veg and chicken
Turkey skewers done night before
Quinoa "risotto"
Homemade Lasagna or pasta bake (easy on the cheese here)
Stuffed peppers/courgettes
Roasted veg with fish

I bring my own lunch to work for last 3 years and have no intention changing it

You have good idea what you eat (calories/macros if needes) and it's yum

drquirky

I'm a big fan of donuts. They keep well in a packed lunch. TBH when I'm training hard I take an "any carb will do" approach- so lots of well, carbs. "If the furnace is hot enough, anything will burn"

That said I eat a balanced and sensible diet w/ lots of vegetables/fruit/lean meat and fish and stay away from any current fad diets or anything advocated by Tim Noakes.

drquirky

Also- do like Quinoa myself but the Euro/North American fad over "super foods" has put the squeeze on indigenous people in Boliva for whom this grain is a stable...worth thinking about as you tuck into your quinoa/ wheatgrass/hempseed/ paleo "pizza"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

Krusty_Clown

drquirky wrote: »

Also- do like Quinoa myself but the Euro/North American fad over "super foods" has put the squeeze on indigenous people in Boliva for whom this grain is a stable...worth thinking about as you tuck into your quinoa/ wheatgrass/hempseed/ paleo "pizza"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

Better bring up the blood avocados then (blood, as in 'Blood Diamonds'). It's paleo, but is it ethical?

inigo

drquirky wrote: »

Also- do like Quinoa myself but the Euro/North American fad over "super foods" has put the squeeze on indigenous people in Boliva for whom this grain is a stable...worth thinking about as you tuck into your quinoa/ wheatgrass/hempseed/ paleo "pizza"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

True! And the same applies to bananas, chocolate, tea, coffee and many other things. Without going that far, fruit, veg, tinned tomatoes, etc. from Italy or Spain are often not 'blood-free'... But I think we are deviating from the title of the thread, aren't we?

theboyblunder

drquirky wrote: »

Also- do like Quinoa myself but the Euro/North American fad over "super foods" has put the squeeze on indigenous people in Boliva for whom this grain is a stable...worth thinking about as you tuck into your quinoa/ wheatgrass/hempseed/ paleo "pizza"

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/16/vegans-stomach-unpalatable-truth-quinoa

ahhh balls. For f*ck sake Quirky. Im running out of foods!

(thanks for article - didnt know that)

menoscemo

theboyblunder wrote: »

ahhh balls. For f*ck sake Quirky. Im running out of foods!

(thanks for article - didnt know that)

Don't go near soya products either.
http://worldinfo.org/2012/01/food-for-thought-soybean-endangers-brazil-amazon-rainforest/
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/sep/04/environment.environment

Cartman78

M.J.M.C wrote: »

Thanks for the reply inigo

I'm looking for more lunches than just snakes etc. Would you guys cook pasta and bring it into work or ?

Thanks

Where do you get the snakes from anyway?

Have been bringing my own lunch to work for the guts of 10 years now....try to keep it as varied as possible. Wraps are handy for loading up with goodies, and normally have pasta or cous-cous as a side dish.

And keep myself topped up with tons of fruit, oat cakes etc.

Duanington

I normally go with Fruit ( lots ), nuts, peanut butter for snacking and chicken with pasta\rice\bread\salad for lunch. ( throw them into some plastic containers)

I sometimes get a but peckish on the way home from work so I'll often have some nuts\fruit in the car too..

Works well for me