Healthy snacks/munchies?

I would say raw veggies and hummus would be good. Or popcorn, as long as it's not the kind that comes with a bunch of oil and crap all over it. Just put on some salt or spices on it and you can mix up the flavor without adding much that's unhealthy.

Otherwise pretzels, pickles, raisins, or other dried fruit, nuts, jerky...
But with everything, make sure that you don't take the whole package out when you study. I find that if I portion off only as much as I want to eat I don't accidentally eat more than I thought I would, so put your snack in a bowl or on a plate and don't go get more.

I also snack while I study, so those are my methods...

 

It sounds awful, but a glass of milk with some granola is really good. I buy a granola cereal or two, mix them together (maybe with raisins) and make a big tub of it. Pour some into a cup, and pour milk over it and drink it or eat it with a spoon. If it is cereal try to read the nutrition label to make sure its actually good for you. It sounds terrible and boring I realize but I promise its pretty good.

Also with snacking I've heard a great tip...the only time you need discipline is when at the grocery store. Basically, rather than have to debate what to eat at home, don't buy junk at the store so your forced to eat healthy at home. Try to eliminate the option of eating unhealthy. And nothing is wrong with moderation too.

Also try eating fruit. Simple enough, but people still don't do it.

 

I'm going to answer as if you were concerned about weight, in case some readers are.

Even though they are higher in calories, nuts are a good choice because the fat and protein are better than carbs. Fats tend to be more satisfying than sugar in the long term and don't make you hungrier as carbs can. Dried fruit ends up giving you way too many carbs per handful - each piece can be a whole piece of fruit and it adds up quickly. If you eat dried fruit, do it in a mix with nuts. It's also important to get enough water - half your weight in ounces (100 pounds = 50 oz per day). If water is boring, drink unsweetened herbal/decaf tea. There are other raw vegetables too, like sweet peppers and jicama. I love green beans and cook extra to have leftovers for snacking.

 

Pepitas (hulled pumpkin seeds)

 

When I was in school, I also liked to snack while I was studying. What worked for me was to keep a bottle of water nearby. When I had the urge to snack, I would first have a swig of water. Most of the time, that killed the urge to snack. If the desire to snack persisted, then I would have some low-salt nuts followed by more water. If that didn't kill the snack urge, then I'd take a break from studying to either have a meal or do something else for a while because it was apparent that I was procrastinating instead of studying.

This also broke me of a Doritos and snack chip habit because, as you discovered, it is next to impossible not to polish off the bag once you open it.

 

Kale chips:
Baked Kale Chips Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Sweet potato chips (make a greek yogurt dip if you're feeling fancy):
Sweet Potato Crisps Recipe - CHOW

Carrot chips:
Carrot Chips Recipe - CHOW



...I really like chips lol. The sweet potato and carrot chips are really good with curry sprinkled on them. All are very healthy and easy to make.

 

Pretzels, popcorn, and pickles are my trifecta. All of them are pretty low in calories and good. Even the cheesy kind of popcorn has a surprisingly low amount of calories, depending on the brand, just avoid any that's really buttery.

 

If you're like me, half of the time you aren't hungry but just like having something in your mouth rolle. In which case chewing gum works quite well. Sometimes I just chew on a popsicle stick - chewing on anything seems to make me focus more easily.

 

I was about to suggest kale chips... YUM! Roasted kale in general is delicious. I also snack on dried fruit, rice balls, carrots, and edamame.

 

I tend to eat a ton of fruit, because it's healthier than a lot of other things, and sometimes, eating a larger apple, tougher pear, or peeling an orange takes longer, and tricks me I to thinking I've eaten more. I also love eating popcorn because its fairly low in calories, and even eating an entire bag(of the kind I have at least) is under 200 calories or something crazy like that. Frozen blueberries or frozen almonds/pecans are also really nice. Because they're frozen, they take longer to eat, and are pretty healthy things. And like some other people have mentioned, keeping a low calorie drink by your side(i.e. water or diet coke or the like) keeps the desire to snake abated.

 

Pre portion the snacks and put them in baggies when you get home from the store. That way you are not eating the whole bag, it just feels like you are. Try it with carrots, celery, cereal, dried fruit and a fruit, nut and grain mix.

 

I would recommend hummus and pita or pita chips. Also yogurt with granola is quite tasty. I'm not entirely sure on this but I've heard that pistachios and almonds are pretty good as well. Also organic trail mix is a plus

 

Granola bars and almonds with a glass of soy milk is great. The soy milk helps especially since I feel satiated for a longer period of time after drinking it.

Also, tea helps a lot for controlling appetite, but it requires discipline. When I feel hungry, if I can manage not grabbing a snack, I boil some water and make some tea and nurse it while studying. Pretty quickly I lose my appetite and don't need to eat anything for some time.

 

You could always make the hot tea, but place some ice cubes in it to cool it down to about room temperature or below, depending on how cold you want it. I like hot tea, though. =D

 

I guess this topic is right up my ally- I'm allergic to most candies, sweets and heavily preserved foods, so I have to eat healthy. xD

Rule #1: Always have something to drink when you start to feel snack-y. That usually ebbs hunger for a short while. This rule is also useful if you only eat 3 meals a day because then you've usually got 4-6 hours between eating, and that's a long time to go without having anything in between.
Rule #2: Go back to basics. By that, I mean nothing that's been packaged, in bags, or manufactured by people in any way. You want to look for stuff that's been picked strait from the tree or dug up from the earth.
Rule #3: Eat before you go grocery shopping. That way you don't buy foods compulsively!

For whatever reason, my family cooks a lot of Nordic and Mediterranean dishes, so there's generally a lot of pasta, fish, olive oil, hummus, greens, and potatoes (so. many. potatoes). Those are both fairly healthy diets on their own, so if you look up Mediterranean dishes and/or traditional Swedish dishes and snacks, you'll find a lot of good options (and you know it's good if it's Italian, because Italians do it better! xD //is Italian x3)

I'm also a pescatarian and never eat red meats, so I guess I'm a bit more limited when it comes to suggestions, but I'll try! ^.^

Ideas for snacks (although I usually have these as meals and eat about every 3-4 hours unless my family easts together):
- Cheerios with sliced banana
- Greek yogurt and granola
- Crackers with creme cheese topped with smoked salmon (I LOVE THIS ^3^)
- Apples. Just, apples. (a friend of mine once told me that it takes your body more calories to digest an un-skinned apple then an apple can give you. Don't know if that's true or not...)
- Bowl of blueberries, cherries, grapes or raspberries
- Orange or tangerine- usually with something like Hawaiian bread or toast
- Greens (like broccoli, snow peas) and Agaricus/white mushrooms or Shiitake mushrooms (I like to steam them)
- TUNA!!! (But you're not supposed to have too much of it. Mercury levels and whatnot.)
- Baked potatoes!
- Pumpkin seeds
- Almonds (If you can't handle them plain, these taste great salted or covered in dark chocolate- or both.)
- Raw tomatoes (it's a bit of an acquired taste... you can always have them with hummus :3)
- Hummus with anything. (In my experience, great with raw vegetables, not as great with berries. xD)
- If you're a huge chocolate lover and are just craving for chocolate one day, choose dark chocolate. I know some people hate the stuff (I LOVE it!), but it's way healthier for you then milk chocolate. And rose-flavored dark chocolate is amazing. .O.

Okay, I'll stop there because I'm, like, salivating all over my keyboard here. But If I've got any more suggestions I think of later, I'll add them.
I can also post brands for companies that make drinks and juices with less preservatives later, if you'd like. Although, if you have a Trader Joe's near you, most of their drinks (and foods for that matter) are pretty good.
In my experience, avoiding boxed liquids is usually best. And water 'tastes' good with anything!

And you'll find once you start eating healthier, you gain more energy. And then you actually want to go out and exercise! So you can kind of kill two birds with one stone. ^.^

 

I second this.

One day, my Dad went grocery shopping right after karate, and he bought almost an entire cart full of juice.

 

I completely agree. I have a boring office job, so all I want to do is EAT while I work. To kill the craving, I just drink water.

Snacking is a killer, especially with people like us that can't eat just a few saltine crackers. StormySea has some good suggestions, I would just watch the portions. Don't sit down with a bag of something and promise to only have a handful. Instead, put it on a small plate to physically limit yourself.

 

Have you tried the other trick of buying the bag of snack stuff, taking a couple from the bag and then giving away the rest to coworkers? There's something about spending a dollar on a bag of snacks then giving them away that seems to stop the need to eat more.