Lunch?

Hey - this question is directed to the weekend warrior crowd, or anyone in general that needs to pack lunches several days a week.

I work in a place that has very limited purchasable food, which is great because I pack my own lunch a lot. Usually dinner leftovers, and sometimes I get to making the PB&J with chopped up raw veggies.

What do you other climbers pack for lunch? I'm kind of bored with my routine!

Healthy foods count for about 18 points.
Healthy foods that taste good are an extra 87 points.
I put this in the training forum because I think food is a huge part of your training success

Wraps are your friend, romaine lettuce, spinach, avocado, chicken and a nip of ceasor dressing.

you can add lots of different things to wraps to keep them new and tasting good.

The Elvis Burrito: Put peanut butter on a tortilla, wrap it around a whole banana. Depending on your personal preference, add honey. Best hand-held lunch ever for any outdoor activity!

1/2 cup oatmeal, handful of craisins, dash of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of rice protein in a small tupperware container, thermos of hot water. Add hot water, agitate, wait 3 minutes. then some sort of crunchy cereal on top after its "cooked". I eat this everyday in the field for work, and most days out at the crag. it's effin' delicious.

Are you wanting to know what climbers take for lunch on climbing days, or what they take for lunch to their jobs?

If I'm at work, I usually take a big salad of spinach, brocolli, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, avacado, and egg whites, with some sort of vinegar or citric dressing. Then a piece of fruit. Minimal on the processed carbs.

For climbing, I take a similar setup, but with extra nuts and trail mix, and maybe some carbs.

At work: Either chopped lettuce and dressing (Italian or Alton Brown's No guilt cesar) depending on the lettuce I got that week. Or soup / leftovers that have been conviently pre-portioned into serving sizes for grab and go when cleaning up after dinner. 3-4 pieces of hand fruit to get through the day. Sometimes a carton of grape / cherry tomatoes, or a bag of baby cut carrots, or a couple whole carrots, or a couple stalks of celery. Crudites depend on what is coming in the CSA box at the time (same with the lettuce actually). I keep a plate and bowl in my office to avoid microwaving transport containers.

Breakfast at the office also: Whole wheat bagle thin (normal bagel diameter, 25% the quantity), 1 piece bacon, 1 egg, and a bananna. Microwave and toast the entire thing in our kitchen area.

camhead wrote:Are you wanting to know what climbers take for lunch on climbing days, or what they take for lunch to their jobs?

Well - originally for work only, but now that you mention crag day lunch I'll take those recipies too!

Thanks for the great responses thus far!

For crag days, I usually take a green chili bagel with a few slices of ham or turkey and a slice of cheese. I place it in the top of my pack so the sun can get it and by lunch time the cheese is melted and bread warm just like a microwave.

ian watson wrote:For crag days, I usually take a green chili bagel with a few slices of ham or turkey and a slice of cheese. I place it in the top of my pack so the sun can get it and by lunch time the cheese is melted and bread warm just like a microwave.

EDIT: for the obvious I place it in a ziplock bag, so my pack does not eat it.

^ screwed that up..........life goes on.

Long live Kale!

This recipe kicks ass and kale does not do the soggy thing that other greens do when dressed.

Raw Kale Salad the recipe from LuLu's in Aspen.

Raw Kale Salad

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small bunches of kale
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/3 cup dried currants
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
Directions

Remove the kale leaves from the stems and chop fine. In a large bowl, combine kale, lemon juice, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pine nuts, currants and parmesan cheese. Toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. I think this salad tastes best if made about an hour before serving.

If you are trying to save some pennies...swap the currants for any dried fruit and pine nuts for any other nut.

This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject:

Boone Speed wrote: My diet consists mostly of Diet Pepsi and Power Bars. I've tried eating right, I've tried following a health food diet for months or at least weeks at a time, and I don't feel any different, so I just decided I'd rather eat ice cream and brocolli.

-from Masters of Stone

I work at a place w/ tons of purchasable food, but i save like $20-30 a week bringing lunch/breakfast and i eat much better:

6 oz Yogurt and a Banana mid morning with about half a liter of water. Occasionally some tea. For lunch, natural or organic peanut butter (Definitely tastes better) with some sort of triple-fruit preserves (right now, raspberry-strawberry-blackberry) on whole wheat, one medium size apple, and a cheese stick. Oh, and more water.

Climbing days i'll have a bigger breakfast, maybe some eggs and toast or a bagel, but other than that, mostly the same things, with extra fruit and cheese, maybe some nuts/trail mix to snack on thru the day.

When I actually am in phases where I have the discipline to bring my own lunch and make it healthy, my preference is Greek yogurt with almonds, raisins (or any dried fruit) and maybe chocolate chips mixed in. Low carbs, lots of protein, cheap and delicious.

Monomaniac wrote:This pretty much sums up my thoughts on the subject: -from Masters of Stone

Thanks for the funny quote, Mono!

I'm not talented like Boone so any little bit helps. I follow a strict diet of whatever I see, I eat. I try for about 75% of my diet being "good" foods though... and eat junk whenever. I do notice a difference in my recovery time if I eat more good foods than bad. Seems like I can climb harder for more days in a row, too.

Overnight oatmeal. 1/2 cup greek yogurt (or kefir if you prefer), 2/3 cup milk, 1 tablespoon chia seeds, 1/2 cup rolled oats (don't use quick or steel cut). Mix together, let soak overnight. Add fresh fruit, jam, jelly, pb, strawberry nesquik (my fav). It covers a lot of the important stuff your body needs.

Daily breakfast: 1 egg + pepperjack + slice of ham on a toasted bagel.
Brought lunch: Sandwich: turkey + colbyjack, toasted on sourdough. Any two of apple, banana, granola bar.
No brought lunch: fast food.

Life's too short and shitty food tastes too good. Loaded up burritos from various local places are something poeple shouldn't live without.

-18 points, but I look forward to eating it.

Lunch can be any combo of these: PB&J, Cliff bars, Balance bars, Tiger Milk bars, gorp, hard boiled egg or two and a little elk jerky now and then. Oh and I stick a water bottle in the sun so I can make a cup of Starbucks Via (instant coffee). The latter keeps me perky, that's right perky, late in the day when many of my hardest redpoints get done.

That and partners that will not listen to any of my excuses. Their response to my reasons for not taking one more run is always same. You always tell us to "just get on it, you never know."

Matt N wrote:Life's too short and shitty food tastes too good.

Yes, life is short, especially if you eat shit. You know, a funny thing happens if you stop eating fast food...real food starts to taste really good because you aren't being bombarded with superfluous salt and sugar anymore, an fast food starts to taste like shit. It takes about a month IME.

I share your love of mexican food, but you can easily hold the chease, lard and sour cream and it still tastes great (assuming...see above). Fresh salsa is very healthy, and can even be considered a "diet" food, but be careful with the chips....

Mike Anderson wrote: You know, a funny thing happens if you stop eating fast food...real food starts to taste really good because you aren't being bombarded with superfluous salt and sugar anymore, an fast food starts to taste like shit. It takes about a month IME.

Thanks for posting this. I had a bad habit of loving fast food in the past, and am finally over it. But seeing stuff like this helps me to keep it from coming back.

Thanks to all the posters who shared thier healthy foods, I've already started changing up the routine and new ways of mixing good foods together are always fun!

Keep those good lunch ideas coming!

My diet is incredibly boring. I buy essentially the same stuff at the grocery every week. I keep a stash of quick oats and raisins or apricots in the desk for those times I forget to bring lunch.

But on a normal day I eat three smaller meals in place of a lunch. It is almost always: PB (all natural, ingredients list is peanuts, salt) on toasted whole wheat thin rounds bread (~100cal on the bread), apple + string cheese, 85% chocolate (about half a bar ~150 cal). Often I'll add some carrots and/or collard greens, steamed kale, or broccoli.