The Art of Smart Snacking

For most people who do sedentary jobs sitting in cubicles with the computer as the best friend, snacking has become a favorite time-kill. Most days when I am not running between the two buildings at work for meetings, I find myself voracious an hour or so after lunch. I find myself walking subconsciously towards the vending machine for either a soda or a bag of chips. It is equally bad for people who stay at home or work from home, only that you can prevent yourself from ransacking the vending machine which is filled up with evil snacks galore. If snacking for boredom is not a killer enough, snacking without realizing only makes it worse.

But did you realize that this addictive snacking business can be turned into a healthy choice rather than trying to stop yourself from snacking. Studies say that smaller and more frequent meals are healthier than one big ass meal, provided you are eating healthy in either case. Some healthy foods you can munch on at work are whole grain cereal bars, whole grain crackers with low-fat cheese, veggies with low fat cheese dip, mixed fruits chopped etc. If you have a microwave at work you can also get yourself some canned soups. Be careful that you balance out the daily sodium intake in other foods that you eat during the day, because most soups are high in sodium. You can, however, get low-sodium soups. Unsalted nuts are another way to kill boredom. [timepass batani]. Bags of air-popped popcorn are another big-time favorite. It is healthy as long as you pick the ones without butter. Yes, they make those too. Isn’t that some news?

My favorites are animal crackers and veggies with a dip. I close my eyes before I pick a cracker and by running my fingers around it try to guess the animal. If I guess it right, I eat it right away; otherwise I put it back in the bag. This is a great way to entertain myself while filling my dear tummy up. I was even thinking of patenting this to all bored software programmers, but I did not want to publicize and let the managers find out about the reason for my permanent smiling face.

But seriously, this is the time of the day to get your intake of fiber and vitamins. Use the food pyramid to add what you otherwise miss during your day. When you are at work and bored and hungry even veggies sound delightful. You can make it flavorful and less boring by adding some exciting dips. Hummus can serve as a good dip too and it is a good source of protein. Most grocery stores sell hummus in decent sized containers, but did you know it is a cinch to make it at home? If I can make it, anyone can!!

The next time you feel the urge to scarf up some chocolate or some other sugar just distract yourself with a box of precut fruits that you packed in the morning from home. There is a real big difference between naturally occurring sugars and added sugars. If any snack that you get from the vending machine has sugar in the first couple of ingredients run for the hills and don’t look back. They take you directly to hell. Excess sugar in your diet can lower your immune system, increase your Triglyceride levels [remember heart attacks] in addition to a lot of other bad things. It is really interesting to note that our body cannot really differentiate between natural and added sugars. Then what is the big deal you might ask. The difference is that natural sugars come padded with some good stuff like fiber, antioxidants etc, whereas added sugars are nothing but calories. Otherwise known as dead food!!
One good way to ensure you snack well is to plan for snacking also well in advance. Take veggies, fruits, snack bars etc from home. Not only will it save you money, you also know exactly what goes into it. Some people keep a big box of animal crackers or pretzels at work, but it is difficult to teach yourself discipline of limit. I would say, if you can buy snack size bags in bulk in grocery stores, nothing can beat it. Otherwise pack pre-measured amounts into zip lock bags. You can make boring things exciting by adding unconventional stuff, like a cupful of raisins or dried cranberries into your pack of crackers etc.

Anyways, enough said. Snack wisely. Eat healthy and exercise.