Best snacks for the work day
68Are you sitting in front of the computer all day, either typing for the work place or at home, on HubPages and other on-line writing venues? Alternatively, do you have a job that requires you to be active all day, lifting heavy equipment? Perhaps you have to stand or walk a lot as a kindergarten teacher or a store sales associate. Perhaps you are a stay at home mom and spend so much time taking care of the kids, you forget to eat your own meals on time. Whatever you do, the ultimate point of this article is to advise you on eating healthy snacks throughout the day to keep yourself going strong!
Here are my top recommendations for healthy snacks for the work day. Follow this guide and you will be feeling good, alert and strong. This is geared to your busy day of 8-9 hours or more. Note, besides for breakfast, I do not mention actual meals. This hub / article is about snacks after all.:
Example Schedule:
6:15am rise
By 7:00am eat a balanced breakfast. No time you think? There's always time, you just think there isn't. But if you insist there's no time, just grab one hard boiled egg. (I do not recommend high sugar cereals, cereal bars or granola bars)
8:00am: arrive at work
Between 9:00 and 10:00am: eat a banana (Yes, that soon after your breakfast, trust me, especially if you had only the one hard boiled egg for breakfast.)
12:00pm: the light lunch of your choice
2:00pm: Indulge in another snack. I recommend a handful of nuts. Cashews are my favorite but peanuts, pistachios or almonds (a very healthy choice) are all suggested.
4:00pm: Yes that soon! Indulge in yet another snack especially if you are leaving work at 5 but have a long drive or public transportation commute ahead of you with possibly some stops to make before you can get home and prepare dinner.
This is amounting to eating practically every two hours, but very lightly. This eating throughout the day method might be a diet strategy you have heard before but it really does work for keeping your energy level up. Although these are all healthy snacks, this hub is not about dieting, calorie restrictions / counting calories.
The snack that I recommend for this time can be any one of the following. The one you choose might depend on whether you are sitting at your desk or walking about and how easy or messy it is to eat:
- a navel orange (with an easy peel), tangerine or tangelo
- a string cheese snack (pure mozzarella or cheddar) such as Polly-O string cheese.
- an apple
- half a cup of blueberries
- a handful of strawberries
- a handful of grapes
- a box of raisins
When you think your stomach is growling and you have no choice but to go to the office vending machine down the hall for sugary candy, a chocolate bar or salty chips, there are always alternatives.
It is really is a matter of returning back to the basics. Fruits, nuts and sparingly, cheese offer lots of options for healthy snacking. There are so many different varieties of each. Occasional low salt popcorn or pretzels are okay too.
If you are a teacher, take notice of the healthy snacks most parents try to pack for their growing kids. When the kids bringing their own lunch take out the boxes or brown bags for the lunch hour, there are lots of boxes of raisins and packets of string cheese. Take a hint from that and treat yourself to similar healthy snacks.
Brown bagging it is much easier than it seems for both lunch and day time snacks. It is worth the money saved on buying lunches and snacks that are far less healthy.
On the weekend, simply stock your home refrigerator with fresh fruits and cheese as well as the cupboards with tins or bags of nuts and boxes of raisins. Make sure you have ziplock bags and brown paper bags or a reusable lunch tote on hand to fill with what you need on Monday morning.
For items that need to be kept refrigerated, utilize the refrigerator in your work place.
Enjoy your snacks!
Best snacks for the work day in the News
- Ladies who lunch with satisfactionToday's News-Herald1 second ago
(ARA) - Lunch hour requires women to make a lot of difficult daytime decisions. If you're a working girl, do you grab a quick bite at a fast food place, so you can check off some of the items on your "to do" list? Or, do you eat out with coworkers and clients at a nearby restaurant?
- How to make your New Year's resolution lastToday's News-Herald24 hours ago
(ARA) - Failed New Year's resolutions are a dime a dozen. That promise to go to the gym every day dwindles to three days a week, then two days a week, before falling into "whenever I can make it" territory.
- The Pleasure Angle - First StepsFISHINGmagic4 hours ago
An angler since he can remember, Mark Hodson almost literally lives, eats and breathes fishing. A match angler in his youth, fishing for the junior Starlets, he turned to the dark side and joined the 'floppy hat' brigade in his college years.
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Comments
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, Candie V!
All really great suggestions. These are the things I generally eat during the day when I'm working. My body seem to do the best on a high protein diet, but I eat lots of fruits and vegetables too. Good hub. Thanks
I like all the opportunities for snacking, lol...it makes a lot of sense, though--keeps you from being so starved at meals that you overeat.
Thanks for these suggestions--everything you mentioned is usually in our house most days!
Hi Tamcor, thanks a lot for stopping by and leaving your comment. It's true that if you eat like this you will never become so hungry that you overeat at you main meal.
Journey,
This is excellent.Your recommendations are very doable. I can easily incorporate them into into my busy day. Off now to boil an egg. Thanks.
hehe, R Burow. Enjoy and thanks for commenting.
Excellent tips Journey, thanks a lot for an interesting hub :)
Hi kiran8, I appreciate your comment. Thanks for stopping by and talk to you soon!
Very good suggestions. Carrot and celery sticks would also be good choices. I'm also going to go boil some eggs now. LOL
Hi Peggy W, thanks for sharing your ideas. Yes, we can't forget our veggies! I'm more likely to drink them than eat them and often start off the day with a spinach smoothie that I write about in another hub. Talk to you soon. -Journey *
These are really great suggestions, Journey. I've stocked up on raisins, oatmeal, cheese, and eggs to ward off the junk food cravings. Hehe. :P
Hi Susan, thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment on this hub. It's so true that with lots of healthy snacks around, we are less likely to by the junk food.
Good snack ideas. I should take note. If you have healthy snacks to hand it does save you grabbing biscuits and the like.
Good ideas.. and only bring a handful of nuts to work.... because i f I bring the can I am eating them alllllll day!
Hi Ethel, thanks for commenting. Biscuits, we must just say no to the biscuits:-)
Hehe, that's right Ms. Chievous. I only bring a scoop wrapped in foil or in a ziplock bag. Thanks for leaving your comment!
great hub.... need to take note.........
I'm in front of a computer 12 hours a day 7 days a week and I'm in much need of a healthier diet. Thanks for the great information Journey, I'll be using your blueprint from today :)
Great tips! I'm also in front of the computer most of the time. And most of the time, I simply forget about eating snacks. I end up eating more for lunch and dinner. I'll try to have any of the snacks you mentioned within reach anytime so that I can reach out and grab them. On second thoughts, I'll just walk out of my work area to get it, more exercise that way =).
Brenda, ajm5050, and emievil, thanks for commenting! I'm glad this hub has reminded you to eat your snacks so that you won't be as hungry at meal time.
Hi Journey, great info and very healthy as well! Thanks for sharing.















Candie V says:
7 months ago
Fantastic! I've bookmarked it, I needed to get a different eating plan going! Thank you!