What's for Lunch?
08-26-14 | 10:50 AM
#27
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Joined: Jan 2013
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From: Atlanta, GA. USA
Bikes: Surly Long Haul Disc Trucker
Most of my lunch comes from the deli at the farmer's market. They make various dishes from the same food they sell. My lunch consists of a few things I pack into a plastic container I take to work with me. Typical selections include tabbouleh, hummus, four-bean salad, curried chick pea, lintel salad, salsa, smoked salmon fillet. I also bring some fruit like a peach or some grapes.
08-26-14 | 10:52 AM
#28
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Joined: May 2009
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From: Edgewater, CO
Bikes: Tons
Exactly, I am so all about keeping long-term costs down. Going out once in a while to celebrate somebody's retirement or new baby or something, OK, but 3-5 times/week?! That's just flushing money down the toilet. Although your homemade sandwich and fresh fruit is probably a lot healthier than my noodle soup full of salt and MSG...
I don't go out nearly as frequently as I did, but still every once in awhile do for the social aspect. Plus, the Chinese food across the street is cheap and tasty
08-26-14 | 11:16 AM
#29
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Nanaimo, BC
Bikes: 1997 Kona Hahana Race Light, 2010 Surly LHT(deceased), 1999 Rocky Mountain Turbo
Today is a lunch day.
I have a salad with some left over greek kebabs today. I tend towards huge salads for lunch; with lettuce, spinach, cucumber, carrots, beans, feta, olives and red peppers. I use my own homemade dressing from balsamic, olive oil, a bit of chili oil, roasted garlic, herbs d'Provence, mother in law's bee's honey, and spicy dijon mustard.
I also have fresh peaches and nectarines, I already at the plums.
It will be almost identical for Thursday.
I do alternate day fasting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To stem the questions there is peer reviewed research documenting the physiological benefits. Mostly I do it for the physiological benefits, some for the weight maintenance benefits.
I have a salad with some left over greek kebabs today. I tend towards huge salads for lunch; with lettuce, spinach, cucumber, carrots, beans, feta, olives and red peppers. I use my own homemade dressing from balsamic, olive oil, a bit of chili oil, roasted garlic, herbs d'Provence, mother in law's bee's honey, and spicy dijon mustard.
I also have fresh peaches and nectarines, I already at the plums.
It will be almost identical for Thursday.
I do alternate day fasting on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To stem the questions there is peer reviewed research documenting the physiological benefits. Mostly I do it for the physiological benefits, some for the weight maintenance benefits.
08-26-14 | 11:49 AM
#32
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Nanaimo, BC
Bikes: 1997 Kona Hahana Race Light, 2010 Surly LHT(deceased), 1999 Rocky Mountain Turbo
It is for about 20 hours. I usually eat dinner and skip breakfast and lunch. I will have a snack on the way home with my son, it is usually an apple and dried seeds and fruits. The research has shown up to about 300 calories provides the same benefit.
I also cannot fathom paying for lunch everyday, or coffee. I get lunch once a month from a cafe down the street and maybe every six weeks I will get a bagel egg-which for breakfast. I buy a coffee maybe once every two months. McDonalds has my favorite store chain coffee and they have stickers to get a free coffee (7 then a free medium). I just stop along my commute and collect stickers. I think I have three or four free coffee coupons in my wallet right now. I will stop to get the stickers but too lazy to stop and get the coffee.
I like all the savings since it makes it easy to justify the weekly growler fill and whenever I want something new for myself (read my bike)
I also cannot fathom paying for lunch everyday, or coffee. I get lunch once a month from a cafe down the street and maybe every six weeks I will get a bagel egg-which for breakfast. I buy a coffee maybe once every two months. McDonalds has my favorite store chain coffee and they have stickers to get a free coffee (7 then a free medium). I just stop along my commute and collect stickers. I think I have three or four free coffee coupons in my wallet right now. I will stop to get the stickers but too lazy to stop and get the coffee.
I like all the savings since it makes it easy to justify the weekly growler fill and whenever I want something new for myself (read my bike)
08-26-14 | 12:18 PM
#33
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Joined: May 2011
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From: Brodhead, WI - south of Madison
Bikes: 2009 Trek 1.2
I have a Trader Joe's adjacent to my office. So most of the time I'll go down there on Monday and stock up on supplies for the week. I do the same with coffee. We have a local coffee joint (Collectivo if you're local to WI) and every two weeks I'll buy a pound and have it ground for my French Press and that's my morning coffee.
I do, at times, bring leftovers, packed in a plastic bag to keep separate from my clothes.
I do, at times, bring leftovers, packed in a plastic bag to keep separate from my clothes.
08-26-14 | 12:29 PM
#34
Keepin it Wheel
Joined: Aug 2011
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From: San Diego
Bikes: Surly CrossCheck, Krampus
Interesting. I was experimenting for a little bit with weekly fasting, skipping Sun bfast/dinner and Mon bfast/lunch (to make it non-intrusive to the family schedule). I knocked it off when I was training for a duathlon and started to feel a little weak, but now that's over, I should consider picking it up again.
08-26-14 | 12:29 PM
#35
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Joined: Jul 2011
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From: Austin, Texas
Bikes: Me: 2011 Novara Fusion, "Ivy Mike" and 2014 Novara FlyBy, "Nightbeat"; My Wife: 2012 Torker Tristar, "Kate"
I like to keep weekday lunches light & quick, so I pack in a week's worth of home-made bean & cheese tacos, along with Pringles single-serving tubs and sugar-free dark chocolates every Monday.
08-26-14 | 12:43 PM
#36
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Nanaimo, BC
Bikes: 1997 Kona Hahana Race Light, 2010 Surly LHT(deceased), 1999 Rocky Mountain Turbo
Interesting. I was experimenting for a little bit with weekly fasting, skipping Sun bfast/dinner and Mon bfast/lunch (to make it non-intrusive to the family schedule). I knocked it off when I was training for a duathlon and started to feel a little weak, but now that's over, I should consider picking it up again.
I have been doing three days a week since April and rarely face much fatigue, I commute between 23 km and 36 km each day. I only felt fatigued two weeks ago when I tacked on about another 25 km one evening after a week off. The nice thing is if you have a dinner or lunch to go to on a fast day, you just fast the next day. It is not schedule restricted. The best results have been shown when one skips lunch and dinner (breakfast to breakfast). But I found it more important to eat dinner with the family.
I fasted yesterday and I smashed my PR on a hill on the way home by about 15 seconds.
08-26-14 | 01:08 PM
#37
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From: Sudbury, ON, CA
Bikes: 2012 Kona Sutra, 2002 Look AL 384, 2018 Moose Fat bike
08-26-14 | 01:10 PM
#38
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From: Sudbury, ON, CA
Bikes: 2012 Kona Sutra, 2002 Look AL 384, 2018 Moose Fat bike
08-26-14 | 01:32 PM
#39
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Joined: Apr 2010
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From: Nanaimo, BC
Bikes: 1997 Kona Hahana Race Light, 2010 Surly LHT(deceased), 1999 Rocky Mountain Turbo
The benefits some research have shown include cardiovascular (HDL and LDL cholesterol levels), obesity related fat burning and accessing fat reserves not usually burned for energy, glucose-insulin (production, sensitivity and regulation) and other metabolites have been studied. There have been hints to increase in longevity in some samples of mice. The studies have also look at difference between ADF and caloric restriction
I may have forgotten some and I have not been keeping up to date with the literature in last half year or so.
08-26-14 | 02:01 PM
#42
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From: Raleigh, NC
Bikes: Waterford RST-22, Bob Jackson World Tour, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Soma Saga, De Bernardi SL, Specialized Sequoia
I've been packing my lunch for years as a way to help balance the budget at home.
I usually bring a sandwich, granola bar, apple and yogurt for lunch. Sometimes I pack a few cookies or pretzels, chips. If we have leftovers from dinner, sometimes I'll bring chili, spaghetti, red beans & rice or other food that's easy to carry in a container. I usually eat lunch out about once a week, somewhere inexpensive. There are a lot of nice restaurant options close to my office but I can't afford to eat out very often. Well, I could afford it but then I wouldn't have the money to spend on bike gear and trips.
I usually bring a sandwich, granola bar, apple and yogurt for lunch. Sometimes I pack a few cookies or pretzels, chips. If we have leftovers from dinner, sometimes I'll bring chili, spaghetti, red beans & rice or other food that's easy to carry in a container. I usually eat lunch out about once a week, somewhere inexpensive. There are a lot of nice restaurant options close to my office but I can't afford to eat out very often. Well, I could afford it but then I wouldn't have the money to spend on bike gear and trips.
08-26-14 | 06:23 PM
#43
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: Ohio
Bikes: 2011 Trek 7.2 FX & 2015 Bianchi Volpe
Exactly, I am so all about keeping long-term costs down. Going out once in a while to celebrate somebody's retirement or new baby or something, OK, but 3-5 times/week?! That's just flushing money down the toilet. Although your homemade sandwich and fresh fruit is probably a lot healthier than my noodle soup full of salt and MSG...
I just got back from a business trip, the 3-meal per-diem was $71. There was a Trader Joes near my hotel, I spent less than $10 for breakfasts for the whole trip, cafeteria lunches under $10 each, probably netted a couple hundy out of the whole deal.
I think this kind of thriftiness is tied to the mentality of the bike commuter: why pay $5+ per day for somebody else to make me a lunch, when I can make it nearly for free myself? Why pay $X per day on gasoline to move a multi-ton vehicle and myself between home and work when I can, with my own power, move a 30-lb bike and myself between home and work for free?
That's also why, even though I'm generally a techie, I have no interest in paying $30-50-??/mo (per person in my family) for smartphones, when I can buy a tracfone for $10 and spend $10-20 every few months to add minutes (which I never use). If I got a smartphone fully-paid as a work benefit, that would be a different matter, but to pay to be able to waste more time on mobile than I already waste on computers....it's just silly.
I just got back from a business trip, the 3-meal per-diem was $71. There was a Trader Joes near my hotel, I spent less than $10 for breakfasts for the whole trip, cafeteria lunches under $10 each, probably netted a couple hundy out of the whole deal.
I think this kind of thriftiness is tied to the mentality of the bike commuter: why pay $5+ per day for somebody else to make me a lunch, when I can make it nearly for free myself? Why pay $X per day on gasoline to move a multi-ton vehicle and myself between home and work when I can, with my own power, move a 30-lb bike and myself between home and work for free?
That's also why, even though I'm generally a techie, I have no interest in paying $30-50-??/mo (per person in my family) for smartphones, when I can buy a tracfone for $10 and spend $10-20 every few months to add minutes (which I never use). If I got a smartphone fully-paid as a work benefit, that would be a different matter, but to pay to be able to waste more time on mobile than I already waste on computers....it's just silly.
Another semi-commuter related, money saving scheme I've employed off and on is to cut my own hair with a Wahl trimmer. Saves 15-30 bucks a month. Having a buzz cut also saves me time in the morning for commuting.
08-26-14 | 08:01 PM
#46
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Joined: Sep 2013
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From: Memphis, TN
I'm incredibly lucky to have a meal plan at the college refectory, 20 meals for $72 = $3.60 a meal. It's good, healthy food too. The vegetarian station is always excellent, there's a huge salad bar, and sometimes I just get the veggies from the old-fashioned meat-and-three station. On other days I bring leftovers from supper the night before. Probably once each week or ten days, I ride to a cafe or the Indian buffet off campus.
08-26-14 | 08:15 PM
#47
contiuniously variable
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,280
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From: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Bikes: 2012 Breezer Uptown Infinity, Fuji Varsity
5 dollar meal is a bargain around here. The food is usually on the gourmet/very high quality side as well. Now, expensive food that you can get cheaper, that makes no sense. I buy food really frugally (often a whole month's groceries in one trip), so lunch tends to be my "treat".
- Andy
- Andy
08-26-14 | 08:55 PM
#48
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Joined: Feb 2013
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Not sure how you manage that. Sure, it's easy to buy a month's worth of frozen, dried or canned foods, and you save a few dollars buying 25 lb bags of rice and beans. Yogurt, juice and even meats, if you freeze some, can be purchased monthly. But if you want fresh fruit, vegetables or bakery items in your diet, it's pretty difficult. I tend to go grocery shopping once or twice a week.
08-26-14 | 09:23 PM
#49
contiuniously variable
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 2,280
Likes: 9
From: Southeastern Pennsylvania
Bikes: 2012 Breezer Uptown Infinity, Fuji Varsity
Not sure how you manage that. Sure, it's easy to buy a month's worth of frozen, dried or canned foods, and you save a few dollars buying 25 lb bags of rice and beans. Yogurt, juice and even meats, if you freeze some, can be purchased monthly. But if you want fresh fruit, vegetables or bakery items in your diet, it's pretty difficult. I tend to go grocery shopping once or twice a week.
One change i did make is after silk organic plain soymilk had its ingredients changed (it now tastes horrific & artificial), i switched to organic whole milk. Doing this seems to have drastically improved GI health and i get less heartburn too.
I eat about 3 lbs of meat a month if that, usually a cheese steak or 2, and the sushi i mentioned in the lunch thread. Sushi is where i normally get my vegetables.
In the next few months i'm expecting some changes in budget etc, so maybe i can get a separate area in the house for fresh fruits & veggies, especially from local farms, farmer market, etc.
- Andy
08-26-14 | 10:26 PM
#50
do-over candidate
Joined: Jan 2014
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From: PNW
Bikes: One of everything and three of everything French
Typical lunch for me is one package of ramen and two pieces of fruit. These I keep at my desk along with instant oatmeal and breakfast bars. I bring food and clothes to last the week to facilitate my bike commuting. My employer provides a nice catered lunch and breakfast at subsidized prices- which is perfect for a cyclist. I have stopped buying the lunch to save money.
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