When it comes to personal trainers, Zack Cahill of Aegis Training and Graeme Marsh of The Foundry are without question the city of London’s most pointy-shoed. But having worked for years helping the city’s high flyers regain their health, they also know a thing or two about eating well in the square mile.
In this article, Graeme and Zack will share their top lunch options, as well as how to customise your order so you can stay lean without resorting to, God forbid, preparing your own food. Because lets face it folks, Tupperware is a pain in the ass.
Zack says try- the GBK Man Burger. synonymous as it is with our golden-arched Olympic sponsors, the burger has a bit of a bad reputation. But as usual it’s all about food quality. Decent beef and fresh ingredients do not a health disaster make. The trouble with burgers is the bun. Two gluten filled patties worth of the baddest carbs in town are enough to make a regular burger a dietary disaster. So we’re going to order this bad boy bunless.
My favourite option here is the bacon avocado burger. It’s a man sized feed with plenty of protein and healthy fats, plus to quote John Travolta, bacon tastes good.
For extra awesomeness order the halloumi bites , not as a starter, as a side. Dump the halloumi on top of your salad. Party in your mouth right there.
Here’s Zack enjoying it…
What to order- the bacon avocado burger, with no bun, with halloumi bites on the side. Now, bear in mind no matter how much you stress the fact that you want the halloumi at the same time as your burger rather than as a starter, this will be utterly ignored. They’ll just bring it out when it’s ready. But hey, you can always try.
Graeme says try: The Giraffe Man Salad . If the idea of chowing down on burger, bacon, and halloumi doesn’t sit well with the red meat avoiding, fat-fearing folks out there, then this little number from Giraffe should be a winner. It’s full of healthy green stuff and is certified yoga-friendly. You’ll have to request the grilled chicken and halloumi (can you sense a theme developing?) as an added extra, so it is even suitable for those of the vegetarian persuasion (providing cheese isn’t also on your hit list). You get a decent plate of food for your hard-earned and the service is usually snappy.
Giraffe also do a very nice drop of Pinot Noir, a small glass of which makes the perfect accompaniment to this bowl of goodness. It gets our thumbs up as either a lunch or dinner and costs around £12 with the added chicken.
Zack adds “Giraffe is our go-to venue for a healthy dinner when we can’t be arsed cooking, which for me is about twice a week and for Graeme is every day and twice on a Saturday”.
What to order- the super healthy veggie salad, large, with added chicken and halloumi. And if you’re eating in the Spitalfields branch be sure to tell them the two bald, jacked guys sent you.
Not content with the current fare on offer around town, Zack and Graeme also felt it necessary to design their own lunches to their own nutritional specifications and persuaded some of the city’s finest purveyors of grub knock it up for them. Hence, we have our next few options….
The BLT Aegis Lunch- based on the corner of Great Eastern street and Curtain road , BLT are renowned for their cheery service and gigantic portions , making them an obvious choice for us to collaborate with when we decided to design the best lunch in shoreditch.
The Aegis lunch changes every day, rotating between red meat, white meat and fish. It is , however, always high protein, low carb, organic , cooked with coconut oil and gluten free. Honestly…How many health boxes can you tick??
And for the foundry, Graeme helped design -
The Poncho No.8 Slow carb Box:
“If low -carb/high-fat isn’t up your street then the Foundry designed ‘slo-carb box’ from the burrito boys at Poncho No.8 is the perfect grab ‘n’ go lunch. Poncho’s expanding empire has seen our creation join their menu at the new Soho branch and is a favourite at their Spitalfields location. A blend of chicken, veggies, and beans this little box is not only good value for money but provides more than enough calories to get the average city worker through an afternoon of cognitive effort. It is our recommended post-workout meal for its combination of slower releasing carbohydrate, protein, and healthy fat.”
There you have it. So next time you catch yourself reaching for a miserable white bread sandwich at your local coffee establishment, slap yourself on the hand and get thee to one of the joints we’ve mentioned. You deserve better damn it!
