lunch

Felix-da-house-mouse

what should i be eating for my lunch? i believe cheese and ham sandwiches arent exactly good for you. any one got anything nicer and better for you?

spasypaddy

tuna on brown bed, protein and good carbs!

Clever Pun

it depends if you've just done some weights or you're going out on a big ride... that kinda thing

weights hit the protein rich stuff before or just after working out to help rebuild the muscles

carbs will give energy over a longer period of time (bananas are good at slow release energy too)

ajohn9

ive just eaten my dinner after a ride, i had some pasta with a tomato sauce, a salad with homemade dressing, and a strawberry shake. Lovely

Blonde

Eat whatever works for you.

I don't eat bread (if I can help it) as it makes me ill, so sandwiches are out. I have something like a lasagne with salad, or a baked potato with chilli, or steak pie and chips, or salmon en croute and stir-fry vegetables or a chicken curry with rice and salad. I like to have a proper hot meal at lunchtime - it means I feel full for hours afterwards and don't need to eat anything else till my evening meal. I don't really do snacks unless I'm actually on the bike, and even then a lot less than I used to. I used to suffer with low blood sugar (feeling tired, shaky, very cold and irritable) and needed to eat (fruit or something high carbohydrate usually) every three hours, whether on the bike or just sat at work, but I've managed to stop that happening by eating generally lower GI foods and proper meals three times a day. I didn't realise it at the time but the fruit or high sugar/carb snack on it's own was the worst thing I could have eaten to relieve the low blood sugar because it is such a high sugar food and so was causing an even bigger sugar high and low and was making me worse! I have one piece of fruit with my lunch and one with my evening meal now instead of eating pounds of it every day and I'm much better for it.

If you haven't got a cheap 'n' cheerful work canteen, you could take your own pasta or cous-cous salad. Feta cheese, roast chicken, olives, grated carrot, red cabbage, spring onions, tomatoes, cucumber and celery etc (Plus any left overs form last night tea!) are all good for this. Make it the night before. Avoid lettuce though, 'cos it only goes soggy and horrid in yer tupperware once you've put any dressing on it.

Gussio

Blonde - reading your post has made me feel hungry! Roast chicken and olives sound delicious....

Jeff Jones

Ham and cheese (and tomato) sandwiches work fine for me.

Blonde

Gussio wrote:

Blonde - reading your post has made me feel hungry! Roast chicken and olives sound delicious....

Heh heh! Brown rice, cracked wheat or barley is a good base for a salad too - but takes longer to cook than wholewheat pasta or cous-cous, so best to use it when you're doing rice, wheat or barley as part or your evening meal the night before. Brown rice cakes and oat cakes are good too - put whatever you like on 'em. Get the salt and sugar free variety and load up with soft cheese (not necessarily 'cream' cheese - you can get lower fat varieties) mixed with chopped chives (most supermarkets sell herbs growing in pots for around 70-80p and they last at least a month just on the kitchen window sill), hummous and roasted red peppers (roast the peppers when you've got the oven on the night before), aubergine (egg pant) spread/dip is good as well and easy to make....

Garybee

Clever Pun wrote:

it depends if you've just done some weights or you're going out on a big ride... that kinda thing

weights hit the protein rich stuff before or just after working out to help rebuild the muscles

carbs will give energy over a longer period of time (bananas are good at slow release energy too)

Bananas are only good for slow release energy if you eat them soon after they ripen. The softer/more ripe they get the faster the energy is released by your digestive system. This is due to ripening breaking down th carbohydrate chains. For the same reason baked potatoes (mentioned below) are also not as good as people think. The long, slow cooking breaks down these chains and makes them a 'fast release' energy food. Good for after training to raise your blood sugar levels quickly but not ideal otherwise.

There are some unexpected things that are supprisingly good though. Chocolate spread is one example of a food that you may expect to release energy fast but actually releases it slowly.

emaichael

ham and tomato sandwich, kept wrapped in cling film over night, squashed into a pocket the next day, flat packed in the cycling jersey pocket for about 5hours, un-wrapped from the cling film, its slightly damp from the moisture in the plastic ham, and tomato's. dropped it onto the floor by accident picking up a bit of grit.
then eating it in a cafe, but then being told to leave because only food bought from the cafe can be eaten on the premises.

i just eat bananas all day normally (mainly as lunch to), (carry about six in my pockets altogether), have a bowl of cereal for complex carbs and slow release throughout the day.
all works for me also a stop at Macdonalds, or KFC mid-day a couple of times a week...is a treat. tin of tuna, and a potato in the evening, along with lots of chocolate before i go to bed, and a bowl of cereal, drink lots and lots of milk (about 3pints all together in a day - full fat stuff.

as much as my diet does consist of a few....unhealthy? things. i burn it all off from my 30-120miles cycles every single day of the week, and definitely 250miles altogether on the weekend. on Very hilly terrain...lots of really long hills...10miles a go.

Blonde

Eating a diet high in fat is generally considered to be a bad idea no matter how much cycling (or other exercise) you do. It is possible to be 'underweight' (or 'normal') and yet be fat on the inside - it isn't good for your organs or arteries. You can probably get away with eating more 'good' fats (ie. oily fish, nuts, seeds) than the average sedentary person but I don't think it's usually advocated that you go stuffing your face with burgers and chips! Apart from anything else, you'll be missing out on important nutrients if you do that at the expense of eating a wider variety of much more nutrient rich foods.