Smart Snacking
If you are like the majority of people these days your schedule is downright packed. You may be going long periods of time between meals or worse yet skipping meals altogether.
This type of eating can lead to feeling sluggish and yes----HUNGRY!
A quick trip to the vending machine, a candy bar here a doughnut there, can help temporarily relieve a craving, but you’ll find that you’ll be hungry and tired again soon after.
You want to snack on foods that help contribute to overall healthy eating and provide fuel (whole grains, fruits, veggies and some protein) for getting you through your busy day with energy to spare.
With a little advanced planning and some creativity you can achieve just that.
Here are our picks for Smart Snacking:
- Apple, banana or celery with peanut butter
- Nuts/dried fruit (trail mix) ideally homemade, but if store bought watch for salt added or M+M’s and other chocolates.
- Yogurt - add granola, nugget cereal or dried fruit to jazz it up.
- string cheese and fruit or veggies
- peanut butter or cheese, whole grain crackers, if in a pinch, the vending machine crackers will do
- hummus, veggies
- 1/2 sandwich
- edamame (soy beans) (can be found in freezer section of grocery store)
- whole grain cereal, milk (low fat regular or soy)
- Oatmeal made with milk (low fat regular or soy), or water
- Bean based soup with whole grain crackers
- Hard cooked egg and 1 slice of whole grain bread or crackers
- Granola bar and string cheese or yogurt or milk (low fat regular or soy)
- Graham crackers and milk (low fat regular or soy)
- Cottage cheese and fruit
- Low fat flavored milk or soy milk
- Energy bar if you are really pinched but make sure that it’s not a candy bar equivalent – stick with the more basic ones that don’t have chocolate of any kind. They are better than nothing, but often not satisfying for very long
What ever your snack choices may be, remember to fuel up regularly about every 4 hours, and don’t skip meals.
Got a healthy snack idea you’d like to share? Send it to one of the Student Health Dietitians and we may add it to the list.
If you have questions about smart snacking or other nutrition topics please call one of the Student health Dietitians at 681-WELL.