

Ask HN: What do you eat, hackers? - tyng

Ok this question is inspired by the "Ask HN: What do you drink" post (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1825389), as I'm really interested to know whether the stereotypical pizza delivery and sushi around the corner the standard food for hackers, or are we eating things much cooler/healthier/exotic? What do you guys love to eat?<p>I'll make a start: cafe around the corner is often my choice for lunch, and I'd order things like fish &#38; chips, chicken caesar salad or stir fried with rice. I generally avoid focaccia for lunch because it gets me sleepy in the afternoon.
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coffee
This week wasn't great for me, but here's what I had:

 _Monday:_ Coffee, Whole Wheat Bagel, Apple (fugi), Subway Turkey Sandwich (no
mayo, no oil, no cheese), 24oz Beer, Cliff Bar

[1,497 calories]

 _Tuesday:_ Coffee, Whole Wheat Bagel, Cookie (1), Large Chicken Breast,
Brussel Sprouts, Cucumber & Tomato salad

[1,052 calories]

 _Wednesday:_ Coffee, Cookie (1), Whole Wheat Bagel, Subway Turkey (no oil, no
mayo, w/cheese), Glass Milk, Apple (fugi), Large Chkn Breast, Green Beans,
Cucumber & Tomato Salad

[1,792 calories]

 _Thursday:_ Coffee, Whole Wheat Bagel, Whole Wheat Bagel w/2 eggs (sandwich),
Chinese food

[1,542 calories]

 _Friday:_ Coffee, Whole Wheat Bagel, Glass Milk, 3 large fig bars (Whole
Wheat), Pint Beer, Chinese

[1,872 calories]

 _Saturday:_ Coffee, Whole Wheat Bagel, Apple (fugi), Large Chkn Breast,
Cucumber & Tomato salad, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Homemade Pudding (low sugar)

[1,353 calories]

 _Sunday:_ Bran Muffin, Coffee, Homemade Pudding (low sugar), Subway Italian
w/cheese, Apple (fugi), Glass Milk, Cucumber & Tomato Salad

[1,592 calories]

Not my best week as far as food diversity, but it was a busy week. I usually
try to eat a larger volume of diverse food that I cook at home (lower calorie
count), if I can...

~~~
tyng
Wow, you keep track of calories for every meal? how do you manage to do that?
any tools or resources?

~~~
golgo13
My wife uses the Lose It app on her ipad. Seems to be working for her as she
has lost around 10 lbs!

~~~
coffee
I've tried Lose It, it's a great app but it doesn't do what I need (like most
weight lose app's).

It's very focused on weight. If you're not on the extreme end of being
"overweight" - tracking how many pounds you weigh is not the correct approach
to staying fit and trim. Instead, you need to track body fat % and muscle %.

Most people go on diets, weigh themselves, find they have lost many pounds and
proclaim victory. Only later do they find that they have gained that weight
back, and them some. This cycle typically continues and that person never
finds success.

------
daemianmack
Having my food be smart energy packets reduces the excitement of sitting down
to dinner. On the other hand, it's been indispensable for getting back in
shape -- this combined with working out 4/5 days a week and I'm down to 190
from 210 a year ago, and 245 four years ago.

Breakfast: Shake -- strawberries, blueberries, bananas, Greens Plus superfood
powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, soy milk.

Lunch: Usually turkey and field greens and a couple apples. Occasionally PBJs
on high-protein bread. Sometimes Thai or Vietnamese pho.

Dinner: Once or twice a week, NY strip medium-rare in a cast-iron pan.

A ton of salmon, three or four nights a week -- fresh, canned.

Tilapia. Been replacing this with pork cutlets lately.

Mix and match any of these with steamed broccoli, baked tomatoes, cauliflower,
brown Basmati rice, cottage cheese.

No butter, no sauces -- salt, pepper, sriracha, habanero powder etc. for
seasoning.

It'd be possible to add a lot more variety if I wanted to take the time to get
creative with it.

------
patio11
A typical day for me is smallish chicken and egg sandwitch for lunch with
rice, beef, cheese, and a salad for dinner. I don't often eat breakfast.

~~~
mrschwabe
Dude, that's when your brain needs food the most. Anybody can eat a fucking
banana in the morning, seriously it takes like 40 seconds

~~~
jpr
Yet another one brainwashed by the breakfast mafia.

------
iuguy
I try to get a mix of lunch types in. Having said that, lately I've been
getting a lot of sandwiches for lunch, and there's a subway next door to the
office.

At home I quite like eating decent salads. Some finely chopped red onions,
tuna, rosemary, thyme and parsley mixed in with some rocket, a few leaf veg, a
teaspoon of mayo, a teaspoon of mustard and some olive oil are damned tasty,
pretty filling and very healthy.

I've also discovered Quinoa recently and am using that instead of rice at the
moment, just trying it out - quite nice stuff.

------
Skroob
I like to cook, so I've got a diverse diet because I'm always trying to make
different things. Lunch yesterday was shrimp sauteed in garlic and olive oil
with egg noodles and a little butter, dinner was a quick beef stew I put
together with some mediocre top round steak and red potatoes. Breakfast this
morning was toast with strawberry preserves.

I have a list of a dozen or so dishes that I cook on a regular basis, to keep
costs down and to try to eat healthier. I only have two red meat dishes on
that list, a steak dish and a chili (that I will often use some ground pork in
as well if I have it). I use a lot of chicken, and I'm trying to incorporate
more seafood, but my wife is very picky about it. She likes tilapia, which I
find boring, so I don't use it much. She doesn't like salmon, so I never use
it. I'm keeping my eyes open for fresh wahoo and mahi (we always called it
dolphin in Miami, but people everywhere else think flipper).

I don't usually cook much for lunch. I prefer an easy sandwich or leftovers
from dinner the night before. I'll also go out for lunch a lot, if for no
other reason than to get out of the house. I rarely eat breakfast, but I'm
trying to eat more oatmeal. I like it a lot and it's good for you!

------
lovskogen
Trying to treat meals with as much focus on quality and taste as the design or
code projects I do. Too often I fall back on doing some really quick dinners,
e.g frozen stuff in the pan.

Meals should be prepared with a calm mind, full focus and thought. I love
getting each seasons specialities. The fall in Norway has great mushrooms,
lamb and fresh apple juice.

I'll make a mental note of becomming more food savvy.

------
cixa
I like to cook and spend a fair amount of time in my kitchen. I eat a lot of
yogurt: full-fat and no flavorings. Lots of beans: garbanzo, fava, kidney
beans etc. Rice, eggs, lentils, vegetables and couscous.

I also bake a fair bit. Here is a dead simple cake recipe:
<http://cixa.org/about.php>.

I have a pretty high metabolism so I snack during the day on fruit: pears,
bananas, apples. Dried fruit: cashew-nut, almonds, walnuts, prunes.

I have increasingly become become vegetarian over the last year after having
eaten fish and meat for the last decade. In a previous life I was vegan for
sixteen years.

This has less to do with calorie-counting or religious dogma than the gradual
awareness of things; mindfulness, if you will.

The manner in which meat and fish are raised, butchered, transported and sold
in the west is disgusting. This has led me to eat a mostly vegetarian diet.

------
drinian
Food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

~~~
tyng
I got a friend who also eats raw plants for lunch everyday, I tried it for a
few days, raw capsicum is juicy and delicious!

------
mrschwabe
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and supper like a pawn.

Then anytime during the day - I highly recommend fruits (my favs are apples,
organges, bannanas, mangos, kiwis).

And for a great snack, raisins are win

------
jwdunne
Only ever pizza if I don't have time to prepare something. I like simple
foods, like chicken salads (I agree that caesar is nice), traditional british
roasts and what not. I love Indian food too.

~~~
tyng
I wouldn't touch pizza even if I had no other options - bad experience from
eating nothing but pizza for a whole week at college

~~~
jwdunne
I think that'd put me off. If I can help it, I won't. Too greasy. Greasy food
gives me headaches.

------
hugopeixoto
Chocolate cereals & milk for breakfast. For lunch and dinner I usually start
with soup and then random meat (beef, pork, chicken or turkey) with rice and
salad (lettuce, tomato and onion).

------
invertedlambda
Quinoa and vegetables. Good brain food.

------
theprodigy
After morning work out meal: protein shake blended with bananna, blueberry,
and flax seed oil

Supplements: Multivitamin gummies

Breakfast: Kashi + rockstar

Lunch: I usually eat out- Subways, Thai, greek, sushi, Indian whatever my co
workers and I feel like.

then afternoon Rockstar drink

Afternoon snack-power bar

Dinner- Some greens, lean meat, protein shake, and fiber drink.

I try to eat health throughout the week, but on weekends I usually eat mexican
food.

------
junglefever
For breakfast, some fruit if I'm feeling healthy. A bacon or sausage bap if
I'm not.

For lunch, chicken or prawn sandwich from a local deli most of the time. If I
have money I'll go for lunch to a bar or restaurant with friends.

For dinner, pasta and tuna (so cheap and easy to make) or a pizza if I'm lazy.
I try to avoid takeout but working late means this can easily happen.

------
joubert
Ostrich or bison for red meat.

Fish

Oats

Fruit

Yoghurt

Almonds

Eggs

Protein shakes

Salad

Cheese

Wraps

~~~
pierrefar
_Ostrich or bison for red meat._ Yes definitely; very under-rated IMHO. Any
meat lover should at least try them. You may not like them (I find ostrich a
bit too dry) but the are different enough to warrant investigation.

Also wild boar meat.

~~~
tyng
Brilliant, where do you get that stuff anyway? In restaurants or home made?
Would love to try just for it's rarity.

~~~
makecheck
Can find ground bison at the grocery store just like regular ground beef (in
Austin). Also, you could get either of them in a burger at a Fuddruckers.

~~~
tyng
Well, I'm in Australia, and the nearest thing I could find in our supermarkets
is kangaroo meat, sliced and packed

~~~
bobf
Have you had kangaroo meat? How is it? (Hopefully you won't say "tastes like
chicken".) There is a great butcher I visit who often has frozen kangaroo
meat, and I've considered trying it.

------
bigohms
A mix of everything, with an overall emphasis on eating more and more green.
I've recently declined my consumption of processed meats (subway cold cuts,
ham, hot dog, bacon, etc) on reading more and more about sodium nitrite use
and its effects.

~~~
tyng
sodium nitrite? please enlighten us :)

~~~
bigohms
Nitrosamines (a known carcinogen) found and consumed in regular and high
quantities of processed meats (as sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite) can
increase risk of stomach and pancreatic cancers by 67%. Specific carcinogenic
qualities of nitrosamines are increases when exposed to carbonization by
application to heat sources (direct and indirect such as frying, toasting or
baking).

<http://chemicallypure.com/nitrosamines>

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16550597>
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16865769>

------
esponapule
Mostly Vegan, 100% vegetarian

------
deutronium
Green Thai Curry (I bought a big tub of green curry paste which makes it a bit
cheaper)

Soup (homemade mushroom soup, or Heinz Tomato)

Falafel (made from a packet) in pita bread with lots of humus

------
nodata
Breakfast: Quail eggs and truffles. Lunch: Pizza Hut. Dinner: Lentil soup.

------
kaitnieks
Mostly: boiled potatoes, sour cream, meatballs, bacon chop, yogurt, bananas,
pancakes, pasta, rice, sausages, brown bread with honey.

All of my friends prefer baked potatoes or fries, not me.

~~~
tyng
How often do you switch restaurants? Same place almost everyday or must always
be different everyday?

~~~
kaitnieks
Always the same place with some exceptions. I like familiar environment that
makes me feel comfortable.

I'll add one more thing - the dining place is not the closest to my house and
I'm walking to it every day. I make sure to walk instead of driving, no matter
what the weather is outside. Now my body is addicted to these daily walks and
demands them. I recommend this to everyone who can't or won't work out - at
least find a place to walk to every day - the further the better.

~~~
tyng
I hope you aren't walking near peak hour traffic - exercising near traffic
will make you inhale more polluted gas (from cars) than usual, which will
actually damage your health

------
andreshb
Cereal

Fruit Juices

Burritos/Tacos

Pizza

Sausage

Cheese

------
punnned
Dumplings Cheese Pad Thai Salmon Sushi Gourmet Sandwiches

~~~
tyng
A very diverse range of selections, I'm impressed!

------
pavel_lishin
I actually eat very few hackers, but thanks for asking.

~~~
katieben
(:

------
gaak99
Bi-rite Creamery cupcakes.

Delish.

(SF Mission)

