Home » Forums » New York City » Midtown Eating
"zone" friendly lunch options
Posted: 1:46 pm, June 12th, 2009 in Midtown Eating
4 Comments | RSS comments feed for this topic
ADVERTISEMENT
4 Comments
-
cheap and healthy does not really go together. the only other thing i could think of is Pump Energy Food, which is pretty much the same as Energy kitchen.
-
Yeah, I second the Pump restaurants. All the food is high proten, high carb (good carb /low GI), low fat.
I'm surprised about the comment about the salad bar. I was going to actually suggest that. Some of the better buffets (variety cafe, cucina) often have lean meats and undressed veggies. As for nutritional information, I wouldn't count on a salad bar doing that. Just get acquainted with what food's cost calorie wise.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
That's a great place to find out what's in your food and could help you navigate what options to stick to at a salad bar. I tend to go to Cucina and stick with the meats and veggies.
-
a lot of chains have low cal/fat options, like cosi, pret a manger, le pain quotidien, or maoz once it opens, though i don't know of many that list full nutritional content. but you always have options in terms of specific types of foods, like requesting salad dressing on the side, and good delis always have low fat or fat free options (raspberry is often fat free, and plain oil and vinegar or basalmic has no carbs).
for no carb, you can also go to delis that have hot food bars, those ones that charge you by weight, and select your own. you don't know the exact nutritional info on these, but if you stick with steamed or grilled veggies, obvi not with any sauce, you're prob safe, or usually any of the chicken or fish dishes that look like they're not drenched in sauce or breaded or fried. also fruit smoothies made with lowfat or fatfree yogurt are pretty filling and a good healthy option, but make sure theyre not adding ice cream or syrup or anything like that.
sushi with brown rice is also great for a diet, but make sure it's actually fish, not eel cus that's super fatty, or any of the mixtures, i.e. spicy tuna sometimes has mayo or other fatty sauces. soba noodles are also very healthy and should be fairly cheap. both of these are standard japanese and you should be able to find for less than $10.
i usually dont worry too much about nutrition labels unless it comes to granola/energy bars or anything pre-packaged. with lunch food, it's more important to consider the type of food you're eating and the ingredients with which it was cooked, rather than trying to figure out the numbers.
-
Not sure who does any "no carb" diets (other than morons who come up with their own "diet" plan based on something they misunderstand from tv or overheard from a friend).
Ketogenic (Low-Carb) diets involve consuming carbohydrates, albeit, a restricted quantity of them. Anyone doing a "no carb" diet is doing it wrong...
Reply
You must log in to post.
I know its uncool but what are some cheap healthy, "zone" or low carb friendly lunch options in midtown? I just ate at energy kitchen on 41st and 2nd and I like how they list not just the calories but the nutritional content of the food (protein/carb/fat). Most salad places use too much dressing, or don't have good low fat options. I'd love to hear of any places other people have found for those of us watching what we eat.