Diet and weight loss - ideas for sack lunches?

[Consul]

I've been struggling with my weight for all of my life, and as my joints become more and more creaky and painful, I've been more and more motivated to do something about it. One of the big problems I have, though, is taking lunch to school. It's rarely all that healthy, and of course, eating at the school's own greasy spoon is, well, not too healthy either. It's bad for the pocketbook, too. Thus I thought I'd appeal to the most creative and smartest bunch of people I know, but Fry and Laurie won't take my calls, so I'm stuck asking you lot. ;D

The overall idea is to split my meals up into smaller portions more times a day. The biggest constraint is that anything I take to school has to survive a number of hours without refrigeration. I do have a microwave handy, though. Here are some thoughts:

1) Mixed fruit and cottage cheese. This should be able to survive without refrigeration for a bit, and be fairly healthy.

2) Stir-fried veggies and noodles. I'd want to use a good-for-me oil, of course, and not take a huge portion. Something like this could be easily nuked. I could also make a larger amount in advance and take portions over the course of a week.

3) Bagel and cream cheese. Perhaps not the healthiest thing, but not the worst, and it would survive without chill for a time.

4) Of course, pieces of fruit, like apples, bananas, and oranges. And grapefruits. Yes, I'm weird.

I'm sure there are a lot of good ideas out there. Thanks in advance for brainstorming with me.

 

[Steve Jones]

Not quite what you are asking, but what is also good for weight loss is a 2 liter bottle of spring water with the juice of a lemon in it drunk throughout the day. 2 big helpers with weight loss are good hydration and lots of sleep.

Otherwise, a thick vegetable soup in a thermos flask could be good, or cold soups in summer.

 

[spica]

Do you like tuna?  It is healthy, doesn't need refrigeration, and is pretty cheap.  I went through a phase where I ate tuna either as lunch or dinner probably 5 or 6 days a week. 

I find the white albacore variety decent right out of the can.  It is easy to make a great sandwich with as well. 

 

[Svart]

I'm not going to be much help but 3 years of anatomy/physiology did stick in my head some.  Bear with me while I rant a bit.

Weight loss is simple regardless what anyone says.  It's "calories in" vs. "calories out" which can essentially be broken down to "carbohydrates in" VS. "carbohydrates out" since neither eating pure fat nor pure protein can cause you to gain weight.

The problem starts when you try to eat "healthy".  Yeah it's great but "healthy" food actually has less nutrients in it than "fattening" foods.  That is why you lose weight eating salad as opposed to eating ice-cream.

But's that also why it's so hard NOT to eat fattening foods.

Your body will ALWAYS crave high energy foods more than low energy foods, that's just the way it's made.  It will attempt to store energy from every single source it can and unfortunately when it feels starved of nutrients, it simply won't switch over to processing fat, it will just idle down and wait for your next meal.

That's why you might feel super tired between meals while dieting.  And that's exactly why it's so hard to lose weight..  

Because on the off chance you have a regular soda( or other carb-filled food) with your meal after you've effectively starved yourself by eating salads and cottage cheese, your body will now attempt to store a higher percentage of that soda as fat as opposed to the percentage you would have if you hadn't been "starving" your body.

This is called the rebound.  it always ends up worse than you started.

There is a way around this but it involves working out and a change of plans.

I'd suggest not focusing on losing weight just yet, I would focus on getting your musculature adapted to strenuous exercise.  bigger, stronger muscles will use more energy and thus you will lose more weight in less time.  You are getting your body into a reasonable range of efficiency so that it doesn't store energy.  The other aspect is getting your system used to switching between using quick stores of energy like free inter/intracellular ATP before switching cycles to burning fat.  There are two ways to do this, by completely starving yourself for a period of weeks (see Atkins induction phase) or by eating slightly less calories and then working out.  The latter will get your body used to working in cycles instead of simply storing everything it can as fat.

But hey, I became an EE instead of a Doctor.  Blood grosses me out.  go figure.

Anyway, the workouts should be circuit type workouts with alternating easy/difficult activities.  You will burn MUCH more fat by getting your heartrate up and then letting it come down to normal then getting it back up and then letting it come back down to normal many times.  The level of activity should be about 3/4ths of the "cardio" level but for longer intervals.

But to answer your questions directly:

1) Fruit=tons of sugars.  Limit your total uptake of fruits.  Watch your carb intake as closely as your total calorie intake.  Cottage cheese is A-OK all the time, eat as much as you like.

2)Noodles= lots of carbs, try whole-wheat noodles.  They taste almost the same but have more fiber in place of soluble carbs.

3)Bagels are a HUGE no-no.  Most bagels are just packed with calories, mostly because bread is just one big carb.  Cream Cheese is cool as long as it's pure.  Lots of places will put sugar in it to give it a slightly sweet taste.

4)watch those fruits again.  Carbs and sugars are the same thing.  Fructose(fruit sugars) and Sucrose(table sugar) will both be turned into an equal amount of fat.  Don't be fooled into thinking that one is healthier than the other.

5)watch your intake of artificial sweeteners.  They will also trick your body.  Your brain says "MMMM SWEET" but your body says "I'M STARVING!!"

6)Watch alcohol intake( if applicable).  A beer will tell you how many carbs are in the beer at the time of bottling but they don't tell you that alcohol is metabolized directly into sugar and now that beer just went from 20 carbs to 200 carbs..

7)watch your caffeine intake.  Caffeine messes with your metabolism(I won't go into detail) but it will decrease the amount of fat you burn regardless of how much "energy" you feel you have from it.  The caffeine "crash" is essentially your body running out of quick energy and not switching over to fat burning.  

8 ) I don't care what those commercials say, high-fructose corn syrup is the devil.  It's half as sweet as sucrose but 100% of it will change blood sugar levels.  so essentially you are getting twice as much sugar than if you had a coke sweetened with regular sugar.  HFCS is as close to glucose as they come and can directly influence blood sugar levels whereas other types have to go through breakdown cycles that lessen their effects on blood sugar.  There are also reports that Fructose can inhibit the body's ability to create collagen and elastin and thus large amounts of it can damage organs (like diabetes..).  All in the name of profits.  It's MUCH cheaper than sucrose..

Eh, I could go on and on.  

 

[tk@halmi]

This is only way I have ever been able to slim down (40 pounds):
1. Walked the dog in the morning then did some sit ups and push ups (45 minutes)
2. Walked 30 minutes right after lunch
3. Jogged 30 minutes on the threadmill sometime after dinner
4. I ate five times a day, but no more than 400 to 450 calories for each meal.
4. Low carb (not zero carb)
5. No sodas and other sugary liquids. Diet ones ARE the worst.
6. Picked protein packed snacks (a favored lean cheeses, cold cuts and jerky).

Once you get your metabolism going you will be able to loose weight.
Don't stop. If you are prone to weight gain you need to pick a lifestyle that allows you to keep moving.

Good Luck!

 

[Consul]

1) Part of the problem I have with exercise is psychological (and very strong): Unless the exercise is actually accomplishing something, my mind resists doing it at all. I can't bring myself to move some heavy weight 50 times and say "well, I accomplished jack-all in the way of actual work, and the dumbbell is now back where it started." Walking to school is what I've been doing, as that actually accomplishes something (getting me to classes and back home). Of course, that goes away with Winter and Summer breaks, and it will go away completely when I transfer to uni, which is an hour-and-a-half drive away (no walking that one). I need activities that actually accomplish something. I can think of a few things off the top of my head that need done around the house, but beyond that...

I need to find some personal projects that don't involve sitting down all the time. There's always gardening in the summer, something I've been getting into lately, when I can talk my mom and sisters out of some of the backyard to plant food. They like their pretty flowers, but I don't plant anything I can't eat. I've also been getting into pickling and canning.

2) Okay, point taken. I'll limit the carbs. I still have to have my homemade pizza every once in a while. I'll just make sure I exercise more on those days.

One of the problems with America is that eating healthy has been made the most expensive and most difficult options. There is literally no convenience food I can think of, beyond perhaps beef jerky, that isn't loaded with carbs and sugar. A sandwich and a bag of chips is standard American fare to the point of being folklore. That's the part I'm trying to break out of here.

 

[MartyMart]

Like Svart said it's "calories in V's calories out" in the simplest form.
All the "Fad diets" in the world are not worth the paper they are printed on !
I spend far too much time in studio's and at home in front of a computer and a synthesizer !!
.... so I understand the problem.
Great things to do :
Go with your "eat small and regular" idea , that works a treat.
Walk / Swim / run if possible at least three times a week and get your heart pumping
( sex is also good for you !! )
If you can't stand the "Gym" ( like me ) try something else, I joined the local sports centre and
play Badminton on a regular basis - it's a LOT of fun and makes you sweat and run around like crazy !

Best of luck and keep it up ..... it's all in your head and the results will spur you on

MM.

 

[Consul]

( sex is also good for you !! )

Sex is one of the reasons I'm trying to lose weight. No woman is attracted to a big blob.

 

[Svart]

That brings up a good point. 

Swimming IS one of the best exercises you can do.  It can strengthen all of your muscles, not just the fast or slow muscles that other exercises can pinpoint.  It can be both cardio and fat burning at the same time.  The water is more comfortable than sweating your ass off in a gym and it's easier on the joints too.

AND if there are females in nice bathing suits at the pool then it can be a relaxing atmosphere instead of just running in place.  ;D


I'd suggest finding an indoor pool in your area at the YMCA or something.

Start by just treading water for a few minutes and then swim around for a while.  Eventually you will start getting into things like holding onto the side of the pool and kicking water for 10 minutes followed by swimming laps then continuing to alternate between the two and so forth.

 

[MartyMart]

I used to be a swim "coach" and Gym instructor in a "former life" !!
We trained pulling two buckets in the pool doing backstroke with only legs !

..... ahh  the old days

MM.

 

[tk@halmi]

1) Part of the problem I have with exercise is psychological (and very strong): Unless the exercise is actually accomplishing something, my mind resists doing it at all.

Your accomplishment is better health. If that is not worth doing anything for you will not make progress indeed.

One of the problems with America is that eating healthy has been made the most expensive and most difficult options. There is literally no convenience food I can think of, beyond perhaps beef jerky, that isn't loaded with carbs and sugar. A sandwich and a bag of chips is standard American fare to the point of being folklore. That's the part I'm trying to break out of here.

That is the general perception and it is true for ready made foods. Those are junk pretty much everywhere in the world.
HOWEVER, you can buy your own groceries on the weekends and take vegetables and fruits to school/work.
Doing so is actually cheaper than buying the garbage at fast food restaurants and cafeterias.
Carrots, celery, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and many other veggies last a long time packed in zip lock bags, based on personal experience.

 

[mushy]

My story is, I lived in Manhattan and walked everywhere thus keeping myself from becoming a fat blob.  I then moved to the burbs and slowly became softer and softer (plus I ain't getting any younger).  What I've done about it is very similar to the other advice here but mine is a two pronged approach:

1.  Cut soda completely.  I brew iced tea in large quantities.
2.  Avoid things that say "diet" or "low fat" or "net carbs".  These items are bullshit in shiny wrappers.
3.  4 to 5 small meals a day.  Keep the metabolism up buy constantly feeding it.
4.  Drink at least 1.5 pints of water the minute you wake up.
5.  High protein, low carb.  
6.  Make what carbs you take in GOOD carbs.  Embrace whole grains.  
7.  A high carb home cooked meal will ALWAYS trump a low carb frozen dinner. (Mmmm... Home made pizza)  Just stick to quality ingredients.
8.  Cut portions.  Don't eat the whole pizza at once.  Put less on your plate and you will be surprised how full you are at the end of the meal.  A good part of appetite is visual.
9.  Move your body.  Doesn't matter how you do it.  Move 10% more than you do now.  Next month move another 10% more.

BJ's Wholesale club has been very helpful.  One of my small plates usually consists of nuts and a cheese stick when I don't have time for more.  It's quite satisfying, quick, convenient, keeps for long periods of time and when purchased in bulk, always available.

That covers the first prong: changing habits.  The second is to change your attitudes toward food in general.  It's not hard, especially for for folks like us.

On a makeover show, the person is complaining that no one takes them seriously at work because of the way they dress.  The host of the show shows them why you can't wear sweatpants and sneakers to the office and they always come back with the same response:  "But that outfit is comfortable," thus making everyone at home want to smack him/her.

Convenience in food is not a virtue.  This is why America is fat.  Strangely, I have to say that giving up what I was used to has completely rekindled my love for food.  I cook now.  I search for fresh ingredients.  I look to how previous generations ate and lived before there was processed foodstuff.  You know what?  IT'S ALWAYS BETTER.  What I've found is that most food is worth the extra work as I'm sure your homemade pizza blows the pants off of a Dominos ubereasynightmarepie.

I'm not one of those people, I assure you.  I'm no health nut.  This post may come off sounding like Richard Simmons, but I assure you I'm not. I like bacon so I cured and smoked a porkbelly.  It was life changing and I still lost weight while I was eating it.  Do you have any idea what commercially bought bacon is injected with?  

It costs more and takes more time.  Sounds like most projects you'll find on this site. Folks around here don't much discuss the pros and cons of DIY audio.  They just do it because they do.  Get to that place with food and both your life and your health will improve.  I promise.

 

[clintrubber]

Not quite what you are asking, but what is also good for weight loss is a 2 liter bottle of spring water with the juice of a lemon in it drunk throughout the day. 2 big helpers with weight loss are good hydration and lots of sleep.

Hi,

Hadn't heard about the influence of sleep, interesting, how's that working here ?

(No pun intended, I don't mean that sleeping 23 hours a day will obviously limit the time you have available for eating)

 

[Svart]

Doing so is actually cheaper than buying the garbage at fast food restaurants and cafeterias

Sadly this isn't true.

I bought a loaf of bread(good quality whole wheat, no processed wheat which is PURE carbohydrate), sandwich meat(boar's head, low sodium, low nitrates low nitrites, etc.), some oranges, milk, mayonnaise, chips and cereal.  Note that this is only for breakfast and dinner.

70$/7 days=10$ a day not counting the packaging materials needed to keep the food fresh.

Dollar menu at McDonalds

Breakfast:
2x 1$ biscuits

Dinner:
3x 1$ doublecheeseburgers
1x 1$ sweet tea

6$ a day at Mcdonalds.

Where am I saving money making my own food? 

Keep the metabolism up buy constantly feeding it.

Note that this ONLY works if you work out as well.  Being lazy will always gain wait no matter how small your portions are or how frequently you eat.

This is why America is fat

Maybe.  There are TONS of possible reasons, either alone or in combination with other reasons.  One possibility is that obesity has become an epidemic in the last 15 years.  The CDC is tracking cases of obesity and when graphed on a map of the USA, there are obesity epicenters that are growing outwards, exactly like those of communicable diseases.  Couple this with the fact that there are sequestered reports of human viruses that cause lab animals to gain weight once infected starts to make a lot of sense..

 

[tk@halmi]

Doing so is actually cheaper than buying the garbage at fast food restaurants and cafeterias

Sadly this isn't true.

Hey, so what happened to your lunch? 
It may not be true for you because perhaps you live alone or have not figured out how to shop cleverly.
I have a family, a wife and two kids.
We spend $450 to $500 a month on food and we always have protein, fruits and vegetables on the table.
None of it is organic, but none of it is junk food either, just wholesome home prepared meals.
The average is usually $4 per day per person.

 

[Consul]

This is all great information, but unfortunately, it doesn't really solve the immediate problem: how do I pack up some interesting lunches that don't need to be refrigerated?

Believe me, I would love to go swimming, but I'm extremely self-conscious of my weight. It's the same thing that prevents me from going to the gym. I have every reason to be, as the last time I went to a gym, I was getting extremely dirty and disgusted looks from the female members who apparently only want to be looked at by the hot men. I wasn't even looking, either. I was there to see if the membership price would be worth it. I decided not.

As you can see, my opinion of the fitness crowd is very low.

The local Y is also hideously expensive: they decided to build a huge new facility, and swimming there is now more expensive than a day-pass at the local country club. That defeats the purpose of being a Y, if you ask me.

 

[Svart]

Ok so I can buy the cheap white bread for 1$ instead of the whole grain bread for 3-5$.  Enriched flour bread has no nutritional value and is a high source of bad carbs.  

I can buy a small 1/4th pound package of the cheap turkey or ham for 2$ instead of 7$ per pound of Boar's Head(the same amount would be more actually..).  The cheap meat has a much higher sodium content (bad for the blood pressure), and much higher levels of nitrates/nitrites (elevated amounts can cause cancers and birthdefects..).

Healthy cereal is always more expensive than the cheap enriched crap.

You said eating healthy.  What I chose was the healthy version of the "cheap" foods that people would buy.  Even the healthiest version of eating "cheaply" from the grocery store is still more expensive than eating some fast food.  Also, sometimes it's not about the base ingredients so much as the additives that are what get you.

I don't condone eating tons of fast food, I was simply showing that it does cost more to eat healthy no matter how hard you try.

And I usually hit a local deli with fellow engineers for lunch so I usually don't take my lunch.  ;D

 

[Svart]

This is all great information, but unfortunately, it doesn't really solve the immediate problem: how do I pack up some interesting lunches that don't need to be refrigerated?

Believe me, I would love to go swimming, but I'm extremely self-conscious of my weight. It's the same thing that prevents me from going to the gym. I have every reason to be, as the last time I went to a gym, I was getting extremely dirty and disgusted looks from the female members who apparently only want to be looked at by the hot men. I wasn't even looking, either. I was there to see if the membership price would be worth it. I decided not.

As you can see, my opinion of the fitness crowd is very low.

The local Y is also hideously expensive: they decided to build a huge new facility, and swimming there is now more expensive than a day-pass at the local country club. That defeats the purpose of being a Y, if you ask me.

Hmm.  I can't help with the psychiatric portions of this but I can say that I don't like going to the gym either.  Once I'm there and actually working out, I have a fairly good time.  Don't pay attention to those people who are looking at you or not.  You owe them nothing, you are doing this for yourself.  Remember this.  One day you'll be looking like you want to look and you'll feel tons better both physically and mentally.  You can then look at those people who judged you and know that they are hollow people who only care about what's on the outside and that you're better than them.

As for the lunches, you have your mind made up it seems.  Although I disagree with your choices as weight loss foods, I can say that at least they are a much better in the health department.  Try to keep any veggies away from oxygen and open air.  That causes them to brown.  You'll notice that the "fresh express" type of ready-made salads aren't packed with regular air, they are packed with pure nitrogen.  that's how they stay fresh, nothing biotic on earth can live in the pure nitrogen and the nitrogen doesn't brown the leaves.  Eventually the porosity of the plastic allows some exchange of oxygen and nitrogen but it takes a while and this is why they still brown but take weeks instead of days.  You might try one of those cheapo vacuum sealer thingies.  It might work, it might not, I don't know I've never tried one. 

The YMCA was just an idea.  The point was to find SOMETHING like it, to find something that you can enjoy somewhat.  Think of it this way though, if you are self-conscious, you'll be mostly underwater and nobody will see you but I'll wager a bet that they care less about what you look like than you do.

 

[Consul]

Believe me, I haven't made up my mind about anything. In the end, I was really just hoping for another creative recipes thread. I should've known better, too. Engineers don't solve small problems. They like to look for and solve root causes.

 

[JohnRoberts]

You're a little early. most people go on diets in Jan..  I hate it at the gym for those first few weeks after new years before the new people give up on their resolutions.

The math behind dieting is too trivial to repeat and you already know how you gained weight.

My advice about diets is don't try... and any thoughts that exercise will burn off those excess calories is wishful thinking.. I ran 5 miles this morning, but thats only some 650 kCal, not even a big Mac. Don't get me wrong exercise is good, but for other reasons, wait till you get old, exercise gives you an excuse to feel sore in the morning.

I would instead propose a more holistic approach to your personal health that is a variant on Kaizen, or "continuous improvement". Instead of coming up with some unrealistic goal to radically change your eating behavior cold turkey, identify your worst food or life style practices and chip away at them one at a time. The simple goal is just to improve and eat better foods this week than you did last week and so on. You have the rest of your life to get it right.

The web is a great resource for nutrition and dietary information, while there are tons of misinformed wing nuts too, (just like here). While its too much of a PIA to do forever, it is a good practice to document what you actually eat, and load that into one of the cheap or free computer programs that compare nutrients to RDA. Do this for a while and you will get a sense of how specific foods rank wrt nutrition goals.

Before worrying about losing weight, I would target getting full nutrition. In this pursuit of improved nutrition you will learn which foods are nutrient dense with low calories, and which foods are energy dense with low nutrients.

Make small changes but try to be aware of everything you eat... READ THE LABELS... so many supposedly heathy processed foods contain stuff, you wouldn't even feed to conservative republicans.

#1 get full nutrition first.

#2 then move toward more nutrient dense, while lower calorie foods, avoid empty calories, and foods with no nutrition or negative benefits.

3# exercise to maintain good health, strength and flexibility but don't over do it or have unrealistic expectations.

-----
Dieting is incredibly difficult, you can't stop eating completely so you need to develop discipline and habits to not over eat.

Good luck...  Proper diet is a lifetime pursuit, so take your time and don't expect any easy solutions.


JR

PS: regarding lunch there are several options. My typical lunch is a salmon stew (chowder?) that I cook up in big batches once every two weeks or so and freeze into modest portions. You could carry a frozen serving to work, and re-heat it in a microwave if you have one at work. The standard brown bag is a sandwich and piece of fruit. An apple or orange and sandwich will keep without refrigeration or heating. The obvious advice about the sandwich is to go light on mayo or butter. Whole wheat or rye vs, white, but it's all relative. Just needs to be slightly better than what your doing now.