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> Eat a bowl of cereal in the morning (and I mean something like oatmeal or raisin bran rather than some sugary crap) and it barely matters what else you eat (other than calorific content)

I think you are seriously overestimating the nutritional value of a bowl of cereal, even a relatively healthful one. You may not see the worst of the consequences until you reach your 30s but they will still be accumulating.

For me time spent cooking is incredibly creative and relaxing. Similar to a walk at fresh air it gets my body in motion and thus helps my brain think.

You don't need much in terms of kitchen equipment & if you're located in an urban center (rather than a suburb) there is probably a super-market within a couple of minutes reach.

Buying some groceries & cooking a simple meal as described in the article takes me at most half an hour (usually less - a lot less if I still have enough groceries from previous days and I just need to cook it) - which you can probably afford to take & is likely to be good for you anyway (simply taking a half an hour break that is, regardless of the quality of the food).

   That of course is a cafeteria type situation.
   Like I said, on a smaller scale, catered 
   meals are a cost-effective doing this on a 
   smaller scale. Your best bet would probably 
   be to hire a cook rather than outsourcing 
   the entire process (eg someone in or just 
   out of culinary school).

That would not be within the means of many bootstrapped startups.

It is so much cheaper to cook your own food even if you take into account buying the supplies. I have a cutting board ($5), a small non stick pan ($20), a medium non stick pan ($30), and a 6"-8" diameter 4" deep pot with a lid. I have some nonstick spray, some spices, a knife or two, a spatula, flipper thing, and tongs.

My total investment has to be under $100. I've been using the same stuff for 5 years now. I assume you have a toaster, a microwave, and a coffee maker already.

You'd be surprised the difference in your day between having a bowl of cereal to start off, and having a bowl of cereal, an english muffin, and a bannana. That doesn't take any extra time to do (toast the muffin while you eat the cereal).

For lunch I make myself a sandwhich and throw in some other stuff. Sure, that takes 2 minutes.

Dinner is the only meal you actually cook. You definitely save money cooking yourself. Compare $7 to $15 for chinese, sushi, pizza, burgers etc to $3-5 per meal. If you can cook pasta (boil water, add sauce, its the same as ramen. throw some freezer meatballs in the oven at the same time and your're done), chicken (throw a little olive oil in a pan, put it on medium, flip once in a while, cut it and make sure there is no pink left, don't over cook it) and steam vegetables (boil a little water, put the lid on top, steam it to taste) you can eat 3-4 nights a week really healthy with some variety.

Then fish is just a variation on cooking chicken, you just do it quicker. Your variety comes from the spices or condiments you throw on the chicken.

Total time is around 1/2 hour per day including cleaning up and eating. Each of those meals takes under 10 minutes.

> 1. Fact is, in your teens and early 20s your body can digest pretty much anything. Eat a bowl of cereal in the morning (and I mean something like oatmeal or raisin bran rather than some sugary crap) and it barely matters what else you eat (other than calorific content);

Can, vs. should. I'm 25 and already feeling my metabolism slow down. Working at a desk isn't helping matters. Your brain really does function better with proper nutrition and exercise.

>2. Eating the same thing every day gets real old real fast;

In my experience, I can eat the same thing for about a week before getting bored. Pizza and Ramen get pretty tired immediately, if you are used to real food.

> 3. There is an investment required in cooking in terms of equipment, etc;

How much $100 bucks? $300? You need a good pot, a good pan, a good knife, a cutting board, and some utensils (spoon, spatula, tongs?). Tupperware is also important.

> 4. Cooking takes time between shopping, cleaning and the actual cooking. That's time that could be better spent doing many other things.

I consider cooking downtime. I use it to ponder stuff, or to just think about work problems. Trying to make something new (to me, at least) that tastes good is a very interesting creative process. There is all of this interesting reflection about what certain things will take when they are cooked together in a certain way.

For me to cook, it takes 1 hour shopping, 1-2 hours cooking, 1/2-1 hour cleaning (once a week, sometimes twice). Cooking and cleaning can be pipelined, as a large chunk of cooking is waiting for something to simmer/boil/bake, and the kitchen sink is in the same room as the stove. I make enough food for a week.

> 5. Even getting something for lunch can be a huge time sink and minimally takes half an hour unless you're eating out of a hot dog stand right outside your office.

Stick whatever you made in the microwave; eat. you can still sit with your colleagues should you desire. Besides this, my best work is done cooking, showering, commuting (in my brain). The idea that you can (or should) be working all of the time (and still be sane, and normal), strikes me as odd.

The other night, for example, I made chicken simmered in a red wine and caper sauce with artichoke hearts, baby corn on spinach (seasoned-- I cant remember how). I did the chicken, artichoke, and baby corn in a large pan, spinach in a pot. Most of the time investment was listening to my iPod waiting for things to be done. I ended up very self-satisfied (as I'm sure you can tell), and it tasted good, to boot. Ingredients were not expensive considering what I used, and what I got out of it.

Simmered chicken dishes are easy to do, so are stir-fry, stews, chili, soups, baked chicken, anything grilled (if you have a grill), black beans and rice is also very adaptable, meatballs are extremely easy (I like the McCormick seasoning packets). To boot, my girlfriend loves it when I cook for her, and it is a lot cheaper than taking her out to dinner (though I still take her out to dinner anyway).

A startup won't have the means for a cafeteria, but I've worked in several "startup hub" type buildings where a cafeteria can be shared between several startups. It's more economical than a local restaurant for employers and employees alike. As an added benefit it provided a good networking space for people in different startups to mix.

This is another point in favor of using a house or apartment as a startup office. I would be really reluctant to do anything else until I needed space for more than about 30 people.

Come to think about it, this is what I remember most about visiting the Youtube campus, the lunch was spectacular, and crowded to the point of forced socialization.

I work at a university, so have a number of options, but it still doesn't compare to what Google had available.

> I'm lucky enough to work somewhere that has almost legendary catered meals (Google)

No, it's truly legendary.

> mussels, beef stroganoff, garlic whipped potatoes, green beans, steamed broccoli and a pineapple and blueberry salad

Hm, that sure beats the spinach and cottage cheese I just mixed together and called a "salad". But hey, dinner took 40 seconds. Now a quick check of HN, and back to work I go...

You should try taking a 10-15 minute break (no media allowed). It will refresh you and give you more productivity for the rest of your work day.

Add a dash of olive oil, some unsalted slivered almonds, and some Italian seasoning, and you might be surprised what you can get with another 40 seconds.

For young people who have nothing in kitchen equipment, this "minimalist kitchen" would be interesting:

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/the-minimalist-kitchen.htm...