Reply With QuoteI've made salads for lunch, but put chopped-up chicken in the deep freezer overnight. By the time lunch rolls around it's thawed out but still cold. I imagine it'd work fine with any cooked meat that way.
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Blue Collar/ Lunch Box Eatin'
I've always had it pretty easy when it comes to eating and access to food. I taught some college for awhile and lives close by where it was easy to go home for lunch and make snacks for the afternoon. If nothing else, I had easy and cheap access to the cafeteria system which had pretty good options. I then worked from home for several years which was obviously easy followed by a job in a butcher shop which had a full kitchen and we ate like kings.
For the last couple of weeks I've been training for a new job working for a railroad company. It's long days where we are almost always going to be out on a remote section rail line with no access to anything for 10-13+ hour shifts. On the training rides I've done so far attached to crews, these guys just don't eat much.
1. My energy levels just suck if I don't eat regularly. One aspect of this job is that the most dangerous and concentration oriented aspect comes at the end of the shift when we switch and couple rail cars for the next day. After a 10 hour day, I'll be attaching brake lines for a couple of hours in a busy rail yard with lots of noise and activity, so energy and concentration is paramount.
2. Since these other guys seem content to eat a can of microwave ready soup and a bag chips for lunch, I feel like I'm going to need some quick and discreet meal options. I'm going to need to be able to get some calories down without the appearance of taking a break.
Right now, I have a good sized lunch box and 2 24 oz thermoses. I'm thinking I'll fill one thermos with a milk+oatmeal+ peanut butter+ whey and drink that in 2 sessions or throughout the day. In the other thermos, I'm thinking I'll make a big pot of bone broth based soup each week and bring that to eat with a sandwich for lunch. I'll also bring a banana, avocado, cashews, and maybe have a few protein bars on hand, though I'd like to avoid relying on those daily as I get sick of them.
Anyway, looking for some suggestions for guys that are eating out of lunch boxes all day. I do have access to a microwave on the train, but I've never been a fan of the texture of microwaved food and prepared microwave meals are like 300 calories and rather pricey. (If there are some options for microwave meals for athletes, I'd be interested to know more). I'm also concerned I'm going to get sick of eating the same thing and that preparing these meals is going to really bog me down on my days off.
Normally, they want you to work 3 days on, 4 off, with the option to pick up another shift. I think I have them on board with spreading my shifts out to Tue, Thur, Sunday with the option for Saturday to cover a shift when needed. I don't think there is a way to fit in training sessions on the same day as work, so this still allows me 3 training sessions a week and a day off for outdoor activities.
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I've made salads for lunch, but put chopped-up chicken in the deep freezer overnight. By the time lunch rolls around it's thawed out but still cold. I imagine it'd work fine with any cooked meat that way.
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Good idea. ThxOriginally Posted by I_iz_a_fatass
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We did some training on throwing switches today. Many of the switches we deal with are very old, spring loaded mechanical switches. Once you pop them, you have to pull the spring loaded lever over and lock it in place. I was training with a group of 4 men. I was the only person strong enough to get the switches locked in place. Granted there is some technique as should be obvious to any person who considers leverages and our 70 year old instructor could handle the switches just fine, but some of these guys struggled for 10-15 minutes to throw a switch. The instructor thought it best to let them figure it out for themselves: sit back in your hips and use your body weight. I'd say you needed about 100 pounds of force for a couple of them.
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I think that is a perfect reason to eat your lunch instead of a can of soup. Soup is what I eat if I'm out in the cold and want to warm up, or if I want an appetizer at a restaurant. It isn't a meal.For that 10-13 hours, I'd have to eat at bare minimum 2 times. Probably 3. If I didn't have time to sit down and have a good hardy breakfast, I'd do a protein shake with at least 50 grams of protein to start the day, then I'd have at least two portions of chicken or other meat ready for a quick meal during the day. And maybe a shake in the middle of the day.
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Poser, that is quite a change. i had brief experience with the tracks and railcars. Very hazardous work as you know. never let anything come before your personal safety.
I work at remote job sites with guys, I consume 3 - 4 times more food than they do during a day. It's tough to do when guys are satisfied with a small sandwich and chips, but you have to work your plan. You will find a way that works. Wish you the best, be safe buddy.
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So far, I've been eating as big of a breakfast as I can stomach first thing in the morning -usually about 4 eggs, a banana, an avocado and a bowl of cereal at 5 am. Around 8, once the train is underway, I'll eat a banana and a protein bar (depending on the conductor, this can be frowned upon, but it has yet to be a problem -there is another guy that brings a breakfast burrito to eat around this same time).
I've been brining a 24 oz thermos of milk+oats+peanut butter and protein powder. I'll usually drink this in 2 sessions: once in the mid morning and once during the mid afternoon. For lunch, I've been eating a giant sandwich and a thermos full of broth based soup -sometimes just bone broth so I can drink it quickly. In reference to the cold, our usual lunch stop elevation Is at 9,300 feet so it's seldom above 60 degrees and early afternoon storms are frequent, almost daily, so I've often been out throwing switches in the rain just before lunch. I'm making a big batch of collard greens in beef broth today to eat the next couple of shifts.
So far, I've been making it through the day without getting hungry -the soupy oats seem to be key to quick calories. They usually have a case of cheeto bags and some donuts available for the crew, but I seldom partake in either. I'll tell you one thing, I reliably sleep like a baby after each and every one of those shifts. I slept 11 hours last night without waking up a single time.
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Might try a breakfast burrito as a sandwich as well (the big kind, four eggs, bacon potatoes, beans and cheese). Most of the places around here are open at the butt crack of dawn, and prices aren't too bad. A lot of protein and carbs in a pretty dense and quick meal. I use them a lot when I'm going to be out all day without access to any food places (read: out in the boon docks; I just stop in and pick one up on the way out of town, and toss it in my pack).
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