The Cost and Content of take out lunches
- ciaralitchfield
- May 15, 2014
- 4 min read
Many of us have a busy working week and bringing our own lunches isn’t always possible or practical resulting in us grabbing food on the go. It requires much less planning and you don’t need to set as much time aside.
With large chains all over the place you may find that you are ‘eating out’ more than you think. Eating out actually means consuming foods prepared outside of the home so even grabbing a sandwich counts. I decided to pester a few of my fellow commuters at Waterloo station last week and 86% of the 20 I randomly asked said they consume ‘take away’ foods or drinks more than 3 times during a working week. Those who didn’t said it was only because they were offered some kind of catering service at work (Lucky things!). In most cases commuters said they ate take out foods so much because they got up too early to eat breakfast so would grab something later. Their reason for skipping homemade lunch was because after work they didn’t have the motivation to get organised and make something for the next day. I suppose the 12 hour day grind is just a side effect of working in the city. While for many of these commuters money may not be at the forefront of their minds, eating out isn’t exactly easy on your pocket.
The cost
I make a conscious effort to prepare a healthy balanced breakfast and lunch for myself and such a commuter (My Boyfriend). He predicted that he could spend up to £20 a day on take out foods! The like of which would consist of a morning coffee, breakfast Croissant, Some kind of salad or sandwich at lunch time, another coffee and maybe a few extras such as a fruit salad or cereal bar.
I calculated how much we would spend making homemade breakfast and lunch based on a Sainsbury’s shop.
Breakfast:
1 x Kellogs cereal bar = 20p
1 x Homemade Bacon and lettuce sandwich = £1.73 (Bread x 2, Bacon rashers x 4 and lettuce with mayo)
Lunch:
1 x Pot of Fruit salad = 71p (Quarter of a melon and a kiwi)
1 x Chicken Caesar salad = £1.50 (Roast chicken slices, lettuce, croutons, Caesar dressing and parmesan cheese)
1 x Bag of salted popcorn 50p
1 x Bowl of mixed veggies = £1 (Carrots, cucumber, tomatoes and sugar snap peas)
Bringing the total cost to: £5.64 saving £14.36 a day!
The content
Take away foods, even if it’s just a coffee, are often higher calorie than A) you expect and B) than similar foods prepared at home would contain. Food labels are very confusing to many of us and in some cases are completely absent. This leads to consuming an unknown amount of calories and fat. In food diaries small on the go food items are often forgotten all together regardless of their nutritional content.
Making your food at home means you know exactly what is in it. This means no nasty surprises!
The best options
Some of your days may be manic and you need something quick or you may just want to treat yourself. Below I have written a short review on some of the most popular places to grab and go and the best options to go for.
Pret a manger:
Pret a manger is great for getting away from the mundane list of usual lunches and also have some lower calories options. The Jalapeno, tomato and soft cheese bloomer is a fresh spicy option at only 371 calories. The bloomer consists of 7-grains all contributing to healthy fibre intake. An even more adventurous option is the ‘Super-Veg’ sushi wrap. This wrap consists of Far Eastern inspired vegetables and roasted sesame dressing inside a grilled flat bread all rolled in nori (seaweed). This is one of the lowest calorie options at 292 calories.
EAT:
If sandwiches and salads aren’t really your thing try EAT. EAT offer a huge range of hot soups packed with vitamins, minerals and fibre. Some of the lowest calorie options include the Carrot, Cumin and Coriander soup at just 45 calories per 100g and the Spicy Moroccan Vegetable soup with 46 calories per 100g. With a small soup weighing 300g you can enjoy these guilt free options with the added extra of only 5%fat.
Starbucks:
Starbucks has a huge menu and all items aren’t always available making it hard to plan. Its one of those places where the salads compete with the sandwiches on calorie and fat content so be careful. One of the few angelic salads is the Thai & Mighty Salad which contains protein, carbs and contributes as 1 of your 5 a day. This salad contains 293 calories and 7.2g of fat one of the lowest items on the menu.
Itsu:
I don’t have a bad thing to say about this place but saying that it my kind of food. The no mayo smoked chicken and tangy tuna salad sandwiches come in at 149 and 177 calories. All sashimi options are also low, the salmon gogo is just 156 calories with 6.3g of fat. The ones to watch are the hot pots which are higher in fat and calories but are much more robust and would only be chosen as a heavy meal.
Overall its much healthier and cost effective to make your lunch at home. Having someone to double up with also helps. I feel that having myself and boyfriend to make lunch for feels more worth it so see if someone in your family feels like joining you. Leave lots of time and bulk make salads if your on a tight schedule.
