Out to Lunch: Hummus and Pita Co.

There are tons of restaurants and delis near my office, but finding a healthy bite on the go seems like a tall order for my neighborhood.  So I decided to branch out and take a hike...literally.

I walked just under 2 miles, roundtrip, to head to the Hummus and Pita Co. as I've had such a hankering for felafel for a while now. 

And they totally delivered.  Well, they have delivery, but I walked.  I got felafel on a whole wheat pita with original hummus lettuce and pickle.  I love pickle.  Not the wisest choice on this particular sandwich though.  Otherwise it was perfection!  I also picked up an Izze Sparkling Clementine to drink and felt satisfied without being sick.  Such a great choice though, a word of warning: they have a sort of assembly line set up so be ready with your order or you'll be that guy holding up the line...and no one likes that guy.

Give it a try!  You won't be disappointed.  The photo above is from their website.  Sorry there are no pictures of my lunch.  I just looked at it and, suddenly, it was in my stomach.  I don't know what happened.

Beware the Fries of March

While waiting for the train this morning, I looked up and saw a sticker slapped to the subway column.  "Good Food," it read.  Maybe it was my tired brain making sleepy connections, but I liked the idea of that little red sticker.  It reminded me that there is "Good Food" all around us.  We just have to choose to eat it.

See, I am what you would call....not a morning person.  I am afunctional before 10AM.  Try as I might, I can't rouse myself for an early morning workout or even give myself enough time to do everything I need before I leave.  This has left me sans lunch way too often.  Just today I left my sandwich in the refrigerator.

I've tried many approaches to remedy this issue.  Preparing my meal the night before means it's getting left in my fridge or (worse) on the table until I come home.  If I take the snack approach and leave little packaged snacks to munch on instead of a regular meal, I eat the whole box within the first two days.  (Self-control is not my strong point.) Even waking up five minutes early (yes, just five minutes) means that I angrily slap my snooze bar and end up oversleeping.  Admittedly, I am the worst, but I always try to grab a nutritional lunch when I inevitably forget mine.

Working in Midtown Manhattan doesn't really help my hunt for nutrition though.  There are three McDonald's Restaurants within just 5 blocks of my office and there aren't many healthy options.  Temptation can be strong to eat the nutritionally-void patty puck just to stop your stomach from growling.  How do I stop myself, having admitted that I have close to no self-control?  Easy!

Fast food is not actually food.  Whenever I'm on the hunt for something yummy and I pass by a fast food joint, I don't even acknowledge the "restaurant" as a place to buy food.  "Overpriced toy store" or "Place you go to get fat" are what I usually call them in my head.  Instead I look for something grilled, something with veggies, something that looks like it was cooked today -- not two months ago.

So when you're looking for lunch think of good food not fast food. It's the difference between feeling good and feeling slow.

If you have any tips for me about how I can fix my lunch dilemma, please share them!  I'm always willing to try new things!