Sandwich Question

Boston

So week three and all is going well, however I'm having some trouble with this 6 meals a day lark, its just difficult to do it in work as I can't make anything there, it all has to be brought in. So today I brought in two sandwiches and had my six meals in total. However I'm looking for opinions on the nutritional value of them and maybe alternative suggestions.

Wholemeal Bap (I plan to replace this with Whole grain in future)
Mix Lettuce
Pure Cooked Chicken Breast
Shaw's Ham
Slight of Chedder Cheat
No sauces or dressing

Its a pretty solid sandwich I think, and seems to tick all the nutrition boxes. I'm think of adding spinach, which I've found I actually like.

Btw: All the exercise is having a weird side affect of destroying my complexion. I'm not to stressed about appearances but I'm starting to look in bits constantly( which Is ironic considering I've never felt healthier) and I think its creating a bad impression with those I work with.

PeakOutput

Boston wrote:

Btw: All the exercise is having a weird side affect of destroying my complexion. I'm not to stressed about appearances but I'm starting to look in bits constantly( which Is ironic considering I've never felt healthier) and I think its creating a bad impression with those I work with.

my skin got pretty bad for about a week and a half when i started training and eating right..........maybe it was just me but it went fairly quickly and is better than ever

Boston

I think its all the really hot showers after training. Lots of dry patches. I heard of this moisturise thing and ex-foliate thing, however I don't know. It's not my main aim so I'm not stressed, however they seem to be all about the prettiness in work.

siochain

sounds like the body is clearing out the stored up toxins. It should clear soon enough.

ali.c

siochain wrote:

sounds like the body is clearing out the stored up toxins. It should clear soon enough.

Yup sounds like that, but make sure you are drinking plenty of water too!!

Boston

4 pints a day or there about?

allabouttone

no worries. it will clear up soon. and yes definitely drink lots of liquids!

ali.c

Boston wrote:

4 pints a day or there about?

if your skin is acting up, i'd aim for 3litres or so if you can manage it

Hermione*

Boston wrote:

I'm think of adding spinach, which I've found I actually like.

Spinach, rocket, watercress are all of greater nutritional value than lettuce, and taste far yummier too imo! I'd also suggest maybe substituting the ham with some good off-the-bird turkey from a deli; ham, especially from a packet, can have a high water content, which means less protein.

rubadub

Dunno if you are trying to loose weight, if you are keep an eye on the calories. A bap on its own is about 280-350kcal. I see guys in work who are "watching what they eat", yet would eat 1000kcal in one sitting, half a vienna roll as a sambo.

Dunnes have 1kilo of turkey mince for €6 at the moment (2x500g packs). Also I got some dunnes soda bread and IMO it is much nicer than mc cambridges. I also noticed a while back that mc cambridges contains some "wheat flour" as part of the ingredients which I presume is white flour (dunno if somebody can confirm that as it is always promoted here and I though it was all wholegrain, the main amount is).

You can read the packs in supermarkets to see just how "diluted" meats are, the dunnes turkey mince was 24 or 25% protein, and under 1% fat. AS mentioned some hams are full of water, some are only 60% ham

Degsy

Processed ham is muck.Full of fat,fillers and chemicals.You'd need to eat a pound of the stuff to get any protein at all and thats not even mentioning the salt content.Buy some chicken fillets,lean steak or as rubadub says,a bit of turkey mince.Processed meat is not good for you and is hideously expensive to boot.

HammerHeadGym

Yeah, screw the lettuce, there are much better veg out there like tomatoes for instance and don't be too afraid of sauces, a good quality vinagerette, that's high in good fats, will help you burn more fat and keep you healthy.

MicraBoy

Boston, my staple lunch is chicken breast, spinach and then some combo of veg like tomatoes/baby carrots/green beans depending on whats in the fridge. I'll add some parmesan or feta too. It is ok to dress your salad with olive oil or avocado oil. Personally I like pesto (make sure you buy one made from extra virgin olive oil not sunflower oil - prob need to go to a deli or make your own its easy). Another good dressing is balsamic vinegar (buy expensive stuff for taste), olive oil, salt pepper and lemon juice.

You can make up and bring in that lunch without any further preparation. Buy one of those lunch boxes with a separate container for dressing. I also don't reckon processed ham is adding anything to your meal except salt.

I don't think its a great idea to be having two sandwiches unless they are in the pre/post work time zone. Although if you are not eating more carbs later in the day you might get away with it. Anyway that's just an idea for a handy substitute meal.

P.S. Moisturize FFS!

rubadub

HammerHeadGym wrote:

Yeah, screw the lettuce, there are much better veg out there like tomatoes for instance

I use lettuce just for a bit of texture in sandwiches, iceberg.

I also use it as a direct replacement for bread, making a "iceberg wrap", if you are careful taking off the leaves they come off in a nice scoop shape that you can fill with chicken & sauce, wrap up slowly and it is a great bread substitute with negligible carbs/calories added.

Sleepy

Boston wrote:

I think its all the really hot showers after training. Lots of dry patches. I heard of this moisturise thing and ex-foliate thing, however I don't know. It's not my main aim so I'm not stressed, however they seem to be all about the prettiness in work.

I found that about two years ago when I was doing a lot of swimming. Would recommend the Sanex range of shower gels, using them for the last few months and they're helping

Dragan

At the risk of turning this thread Metro, anyone with skin problems should check out the Nivea range for men.

My skin used to be very, very dry.....my hands would get so dry they would crack and bleed for **** sake, the Nivea stuff has sorted me right out.

ali.c

Dragan wrote:

At the risk of turning this thread Metro, anyone with skin problems should check out the Nivea range for men.

My skin used to be very, very dry.....my hands would get so dry they would crack and bleed for **** sake, the Nivea stuff has sorted me right out.

ROFL, nah only kidding, actually nuetrogena (sp) is really good too. The do lip stuff, mosturiser and hand cream, AFAIK. Plus the ads always have fishermen on them so its not that metro.
Are you outside more now? because if you are a decent mosturiser with spf (at least 15) in it really is the way to go!!

Jesus Wept

ali.c wrote:

ROFL, nah only kidding, actually nuetrogena (sp) is really good too. The do lip stuff, mosturiser and hand cream, AFAIK. Plus the ads always have fishermen on them so its not that metro.
Are you outside more now? because if you are a decent mosturiser with spf (at least 15) in it really is the way to go!!

All those lonely nights at sea? lol.... it's not metro, you're right there.

Hermione*

For a moment there, I thought I was in fashion and appearance!

MicraBoy wrote:

You can make up and bring in that lunch without any further preparation. Buy one of those lunch boxes with a separate container for dressing. I also don't reckon processed ham is adding anything to your meal except salt.

Staying o/t though, where do you get these MicraBoy? I end up bringing my salad dressing into work every day, and it's a bit of a pain; it'd be quite sweet to be able to leave it at home without paying the price of wilted salad!

Boston

Hermione: I buy and cook my own chicken and turkey fillets It's both too much hassle and expense to go to deli for what is often very processed.

rubadub: Weight lose is not a primary aim at the moment, health is. I just finished final year and my body has taken a serious knock in the health department. However these baps are 195 Cals each and 40g Carbs 7g protein, which seems a good ratio from looking at other similiar goods.

I buy pure or pretty much as pure as you'll get fillets of chicken and turkey from a buckleys in town. I don't think I'm going to find a better source of whole protein.

Degsy: Shaws Ham is pretty decent when compared to the absolute crap out there, but I agree its not where close to home cooked ham, so yea, I think I'll go back down that road.

HammerHeadGym: I like my food plan, thats why there's no sauces.

MicraBoy: Good call on the tomatoes, I'll start into them. The dressing I don't care for. I just don't like strong flavours at all at all, even passive ones I find hard to take.

I have one sandwich before I leave work and hit the gym. The only large portion of carbs I have after that is some rice about two hours later with my dinner. They don't seem that full of carbs if the pack of the packet is anything to do by, but yea two a day is probably bad, just for the shake of variety.

I've never moisturised, i'm unsure what's involved, and I find it disconcerting that I now have to. Will give the Nivea stuff a try

Hermione* wrote:

For a moment there, I thought I was in fashion and appearance!

Staying o/t though, where do you get these MicraBoy? I end up bringing my salad dressing into work every day, and it's a bit of a pain; it'd be quite sweet to be able to leave it at home without paying the price of wilted salad!

I have one. It has three compartments which can be sealed off from one enough. It appeared in my house one day and I took it.

Hermione*

Boston wrote:

Hermione: I buy and cook my own chicken and turkey fillets It's both too much hassle and expense to go to deli for what is often very processed.

I would do the same, and for the same reason. It's why I bring lunch to work; I get much nicer food for less money.

Boston wrote:

I have one. It has three compartments which can be sealed off from one enough. It appeared in my house one day and I took it.

Sweet! Tupperware is rarely so unwanted in our gaff; three girls all bringing their lunch to work means there's practically names written on the containers:rolleyes: I must get one like yours from somewhere. That sounds sooo handy.

MicraBoy

Staying o/t though, where do you get these MicraBoy? I end up bringing my salad dressing into work every day, and it's a bit of a pain; it'd be quite sweet to be able to leave it at home without paying the price of wilted salad!

I got mine in Tescos. It's a normal enough sandwich box except there was a fork and knife, and small tub for dressing which all slot into the lid.

Hermione*

Thanks MicraBoy

hardtrainer

Why are people always so fast to slag off the humble sandwich? There are plenty of lunchtime choices but few are as handy and healthy as a well made sandwich.

People seem very quick to point out the carbs and calories in breads, but a good wholegrain bread is a good source of protein, fibre and good quality carbs. Carbs are good, people. You will struggle to grow muscle if you neglect high quality carbs.

To the OP, the sandwich you are eating really is a nutritionally sound meal. Definitely aim for a whole grain bap as opposed to just wholemeal and you're laughing. As for processed meats. You're more likely to have useless added fat and collagen in a chickenbreat than you are in a quality sliced ham. This I can say with great confidence as I have regular contact with folks who test meats for 'plumping' activities, which are particularly common for bulk meat products (like packs of prepacked chickenbreasts, oyster thighs etc) and don't be fooled into thinking that your butcher is selling you chicken which is just that...it's not uncommon for chicken breasts to be plumped out with water and collaged and pork fat. Lets not even get into the poor quality of non-organic chicken...the typical nutritional values for chicken meat don't apply to those...they have much much higher fat since they are grown up with high energy feed to reduce the egg to meat time.

For cooked ham, there is always a fair amount of water in it, that goes for the stuff you cook at home too. When you salt meat (like ham is), that causes the water it's cooked in to be drawn into the meat during the cooking process. Some of that water is lost again, but a lot of it is retained. So just because they say on the packet that there is water as one of the ingredients, that doesn't mean they are doing anything to pull a fast one.

As for moisturising, I find nivea really interferes with my skin and makes me break out. The new L'oreal Men Expert stuff is what I use and I find it really good. Thats a personal thing though.