jthuang
01-13-2004, 15:25
In light of all the health and fitness threads here, I thought it would be a good opportunity to ask the cognoscenti at GT about the above topic.
Scenario:
I am trying to be more healthy (new year's resolution). I'm doing okay so far but I can do better. I am 5'7", 145 lbs, 28" waist. At last measurement by electro-impedance (1 year ago) I was 16% body fat. Cholesterol in the low 140s. I work out 2-5x per week with weights and cardio -- typically 1 hour weights and 30 mins cardio. But I should be able to do better.
I always get hungry around 4-5 PM in the afternoon. I eat a healthy and rather sizeable lunch but I always get hungry around 4-5 PM. My job does not permit me to get home for dinner until around 7-8 PM.
The result is that I'm usually raiding the snack machines around 4 PM daily. Needless to say, there isn't much that's healthy in those machines. The healthiest option in our machines are baggies of Herr's sourdough pretzel nibblets. They're lowfat but I'm sure there are healthier options.
I'm looking for something I can buy and keep in my desk for the afternoon snack. I don't need something with the survivability of a MRE (although I did keep some MREs in my desk at one time) but I don't want something that will spoil if left there overnight.
So what do you guys do when you get hungry at work and want to avoid snacking on the junk food that typically populates the nearest vending machine?
Here's what I've tried so far:
1. Buy an extra bit of fruit at lunch. I've bought bananas from our company cafeteria and let them sit on my desk until 4 PM. I'd get other fruit besides bananas but all the other fruits are pre-peeled and sliced. So they're a bit harder to keep fresh during the afternoon.
Problem: I'm still hungry after I eat them, so I go raid the snack machine.
Problem #2: our company cafeteria doesn't do a good job with fruit. On Monday the bananas are nice and green. But as the week goes on, those bananas get very bruised and overripe. It's like they take a baseball bat to them in the night. So later in the week, the bananas are so beat up that they're not worth buying.
2. Buy a soft pretzel at lunch. Low fat but pretty much empty calories as soft pretzels are just processed white flour and salt.
3. Pop Tarts. Not healthy. Too much fat (10% RDA saturated fat in each one).
4. (Best candidate so far): Clif Bars. I buy a box of twelve bars and leave them in my desk. They're relatively low-fat (not fat-free). The natural ingredients are a nice pick-me-up during the afternoon.
5. MREs. Yes, before y2k and MREs were plentiful I would buy cases of the MRE entrees from CDNN and stash them in my desk. These are definitely not healthy so they're out.
6. Rice/popcorn cakes. Problem is that I can eat an entire bag in one sitting and still be hungry.
7. Plain dinner rolls. Prolly too many empty calories/carbs.
8. "The Second Lunch". I typically pack my sandwich and supplement it with soup and salad from the cafeteria. My normal sandwich is lean turkey or ham on whole wheat bread with some lettuce and maybe a slice of onion. For a while I would pack a second turkey sandwich for the afternoon snack. But it got boring after a while.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. This is really becoming a problem for me b/c I generally eat a very healthy diet except for some weekend meals and the daily afternoon snack.
Scenario:
I am trying to be more healthy (new year's resolution). I'm doing okay so far but I can do better. I am 5'7", 145 lbs, 28" waist. At last measurement by electro-impedance (1 year ago) I was 16% body fat. Cholesterol in the low 140s. I work out 2-5x per week with weights and cardio -- typically 1 hour weights and 30 mins cardio. But I should be able to do better.
I always get hungry around 4-5 PM in the afternoon. I eat a healthy and rather sizeable lunch but I always get hungry around 4-5 PM. My job does not permit me to get home for dinner until around 7-8 PM.
The result is that I'm usually raiding the snack machines around 4 PM daily. Needless to say, there isn't much that's healthy in those machines. The healthiest option in our machines are baggies of Herr's sourdough pretzel nibblets. They're lowfat but I'm sure there are healthier options.
I'm looking for something I can buy and keep in my desk for the afternoon snack. I don't need something with the survivability of a MRE (although I did keep some MREs in my desk at one time) but I don't want something that will spoil if left there overnight.
So what do you guys do when you get hungry at work and want to avoid snacking on the junk food that typically populates the nearest vending machine?
Here's what I've tried so far:
1. Buy an extra bit of fruit at lunch. I've bought bananas from our company cafeteria and let them sit on my desk until 4 PM. I'd get other fruit besides bananas but all the other fruits are pre-peeled and sliced. So they're a bit harder to keep fresh during the afternoon.
Problem: I'm still hungry after I eat them, so I go raid the snack machine.
Problem #2: our company cafeteria doesn't do a good job with fruit. On Monday the bananas are nice and green. But as the week goes on, those bananas get very bruised and overripe. It's like they take a baseball bat to them in the night. So later in the week, the bananas are so beat up that they're not worth buying.
2. Buy a soft pretzel at lunch. Low fat but pretty much empty calories as soft pretzels are just processed white flour and salt.
3. Pop Tarts. Not healthy. Too much fat (10% RDA saturated fat in each one).
4. (Best candidate so far): Clif Bars. I buy a box of twelve bars and leave them in my desk. They're relatively low-fat (not fat-free). The natural ingredients are a nice pick-me-up during the afternoon.
5. MREs. Yes, before y2k and MREs were plentiful I would buy cases of the MRE entrees from CDNN and stash them in my desk. These are definitely not healthy so they're out.
6. Rice/popcorn cakes. Problem is that I can eat an entire bag in one sitting and still be hungry.
7. Plain dinner rolls. Prolly too many empty calories/carbs.
8. "The Second Lunch". I typically pack my sandwich and supplement it with soup and salad from the cafeteria. My normal sandwich is lean turkey or ham on whole wheat bread with some lettuce and maybe a slice of onion. For a while I would pack a second turkey sandwich for the afternoon snack. But it got boring after a while.
Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. This is really becoming a problem for me b/c I generally eat a very healthy diet except for some weekend meals and the daily afternoon snack.