Snacks!

[sarahmichigan]

As part of my effort to eat mindfully instead of compulsively, I always have snacks at work. I proceed on the philosophy that if you rate your level of hunger from 1 to 5, with 1 being "starving-- I want to eat my arm" and 5 being "so stuffed I have to unbutton my pants", you should try to always stay between 2 and 4. Feeling overstuffed is unpleasant, and feeling ravenous tempts you to eat too quickly and consume too much when you finally do get to eat.

If I have something yummy but nutritious in my drawer, I'm less tempted to raid the company snack bowl or buy something over-processed and high in sodium from the vending machine. I keep some over-processed stuff in there, occasionally, too, because if I'm really craving chips, I'd rather buy them myself cheap than spend 65 cents for a piddly portion. (In other words, I'm a tightwad, too.)

Snacks I tend to keep on hand include: cup-o-ramen noodles (shrimp), dark chocolate kisses, unsalted walnuts, crackers, granola bars, salt 'n' vinegar chips, and a mix of cheez-its and cashews (my favorite snack mix, ever). I also stash cheese and fruit in the fridge at work on a semi-regular basis.

Right now, I have mozerella string cheese and reduced-fat cheddar in the fridge. In my snack drawer, I have: lightly salted cashews, dark chocolate, a granola bar, BBQ crackers, and this completely awesome Kroger brand trail mix that has unsalted almonds and walnuts, raisins, banana chips, and dried pineapple, cranberries, papaya, and apricot. It's really low in sodium, unlike many other commercial trail mixes, and delicious.

What do you keep in your snack drawer/candy dish at work?

Comments

You asked what I have at my desk...

[aedifica]

- 94% fat-free popcorn
- oatmeal packets (I eat breakfast at work)
- various sorts of Nabisco 100-calorie snack packs (they do various salty crispy snacks, various sweet crispyy snacks, and fruit bit thingies)
- Thai Kitchen noodle bowls (very yummy, I use them for lunches sometimes)
- honey for tea
- multiple varieties of (mostly herbal) tea
- a can of Campbell's Soup At Hand

- a Latin dictionary
- a C++ book
- an A+ study guide (study guide for the A+ certification)
Oh, but those aren't snacks, are they. :-)

I try to bring fruit to snack on as well. I was doing really well in the middle of the summer (nectarines!) but I've been falling off lately. Apples make me feel hungrier, so even though they're everywhere in the fall they're not a good snack option for me.

Re: You asked what I have at my desk...

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

Yes, herbal tea and soup is good, too. My ramens and soup tend to be a little high sodium, but as long as I moderate sodium in the rest of my meals, I figure it's OK to indulge.

I keep meaning to bring a can of garbanzo beans to work to snack on. I love them plain. Oatmeal packets are another great idea. We have a hot water spigot at work that makes things like cocoa and ramen noodle cups really easy and quick to make.

Re: You asked what I have at my desk...

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

Thinking in C++?

Re: You asked what I have at my desk...

[aedifica]

Actually I've totally forgotten what C++ I once knew. I brought the book in when I was taking a C++ course in our online learning center, but the course was a lot harder than I'd anticipated, so I've let it drop (since programming is not a part of my life these days).

Re: You asked what I have at my desk...

[pstscrpt.livejournal.com]

Thinking in C++ is the name of the book I learned object oriented programming from. I really like it, but I can see how the title's misleading when not quoted.

Re: You asked what I have at my desk...

[aedifica]

Ah! No, mine is Programming and Problem Solving in C++.

Working in a coffee shop

[theal8r.livejournal.com]

I try really hard to keep away from the goodies we sell (usually I fail). When I was teaching I kept cheese, douche chips, olives, red twizzlers, and if I was feeling really indulgent, oreos.

Re: Working in a coffee shop

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I'm almost afraid to ask, but what are douche chips?

Re: Working in a coffee shop

[theal8r.livejournal.com]

salt-n-vinegar -- sorry, college days holdover and lazy typist .

[razzle.livejournal.com]

I used to keep ramen, pickled baby corn, almond-rice crackers, dark chocolate, and these insanely good toffee-covered almonds from the produce market. Recently I rediscovered fruit leather, which has always been one of my favorite quick snacks evah!

[jenx.livejournal.com]

Luna bars. I LOVE THEM. And now they have less sugar and more fiber - and no artificial sweetners.

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

They sound great. It always dismays me that most so-called "fruit and grain" bars have virtually no fiber. For f**k's sake, they're made of fruit and grain- why would they have zero fiber?!