Your running late to class once again, and you know the professor is definitely going to say something if your late for the third time this week!  Your rushing to make sure you have everything for class and your stomach starts yelling at you.

You’re pressed for time and you know that you have to eat but don’t really have the time.  What to do?? The third installment of Food is Your Friend is Healthy Snacks on the go. The main focus is eating while still maintaining a healthy weight and acquiring enough energy to not fall asleep throughout the day.

Let’s start with breakfast.  A quick and tasty breakfast treat is yogurt, any flavor, and you can even add a little granola to it if that’s what you’re into.  Another great snack idea is fruit.  Peaches and bananas are a good start. Fresh is preferred but canned peaches are sufficient as well.  Now that you have finally gotten through the morning without totally starving to death, you need another snack before your afternoon classes and you don’t quite have the time to have a full lunch.  A carton of chocolate milk will give you protein and give you long lasting energy.  The calcium will help to release the energy.

Chex Mix is ideal for an afternoon snack due to the carbs and starch, which are also full of energy, and carbs will help hold you over until you can sit down and have a real meal. One snack you should never forget is the classic, peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  The peanut butter will help with the protein and high calories will give you long lasting energy. The bread in the sandwich also has some of those good low carbs that will give you a full feeling until your next meal.

Whew!  Finally, you have made it through the day alive with class and all your extracurricular activities and now you have to study.  Don’t fear because I have a snack for that!  Now since it’s late, you don’t want to pile up on too many carbs or proteins because they will contribute to weight gain.  Proteins and carbs are complex molecules that take a while to break down and when you go to sleep those molecules will be stored as fat since your body doesn’t use much energy to sleep.

The best food to eat at night is fruit.  Fruit will give you natural sugars that you need to control the late night sweet tooth that we all know we get.  It is also low in carbs preventing the energy to be stored as fat while you sleep.  I know it’s hard to remember to eat sometimes when you’re in a rush or you have a lot of things to do, BUT always remember that food is your friend, and you should never leave a friend hanging. Until next time…