You’re in a new city, surrounded by a new culture. The best way to learn about your culture? Food, and lots of it. Hold it there, collegiette! While it may be summer vacation, you shouldn’t let yourself run wild with your new food options. Here are a couple of hints to make sure you don’t bust out of your jeans or your bank account.
Pack Snacks. Sometimes it may be the smarter choice to stay in and have a light lunch so you can catch up on your work. Yes this seems very boring and something you should prolong until your 30s, but sometimes it is necessary. Or maybe your job requires more on-the-go work and fitting in lunchtime isn’t really an option. If you are busy traveling around town, you need to make sure you are still eating throughout the day so you can still have energy to always give your best. But instead of stashing your purse with cheetos, here are some healthier options to keep your brain working longer and your pants fitting nicely.
- Sabra Hummus & Pretzel Chips: This little snack is perfect to fit into your purse. It is also perfect for salt-lovers. It’s low fat and includes 18 all-natural ingredients. It comes in three delectable flavors: classic, roasted garlic, and red pepper. With a calorie count of 250, this is a perfectly succinct snack that will leave you satisfied until dinner without feeling guilty.
2. Bars (Special K vs Fiber One): Meal or snack bars have been a staple of women’s diets since women have entered the career force. Its packed rectangular shape is also very compact and purse-friendly. Nowadays the problem is which bar do you choose? For instance, Special K offers three choices of protein, fiber, and cereal bars.
The protein bars can serve as meal-replacement bars (but are certainly not a sufficient lunch for a working collegiette). These bars average 180 calories and come in six great flavors (four of which include chocolate!). They come with over 10g of protein so they would be great for collegiettes needing protein while working out or those with anemic-like protein deficiency.
Special K cereal bars offer a lighter option for snacks in between meals. With over nine flavors ranging from chocolately pretzel to raspberry cheesecake, these are perfect light snacks. The bars average a mere 90 calories and can fill your taste buds with its amazing flavor choices. The Special K team says it wants to offer its customers taste choices ranging from fruity, nutty, sweet, and salty. The only drawback to this product is you can finish it in three-four quick bites, so savour the moments!
Fiber bars are the newest venture for Special K and they face tough competition against leading company, Fiber One. Fiber One bars have the added benefit of offering up to 20% of your daily fiber intake. That would take six cups of fiber powder-yuck! The company offers nine flours (four of which are 90 calories!). Most bars center around the company’s staple ingredient of oats.
Kelloggs, the parent company of Special K, tries out fiber with its highly popular FiberPlus Bars. These bars cover 35% of your daily fiber and is jam-packed with antioxidants including vitamin E and zinc. They come in four chocolately flavors and amount to 190 calories. For chocolate lovers, Kelloggs is definitely a better choice, though if you are a fruits & nuts fan, stick with FiberOne.
3. Yogurt
*Greek Yogurt: Stonybrook Organic Farms offers Oikos organic greek yogurt in single portions. This yogurt comes in 5.3oz cups of smooth &creamy or fruit on the bottom. Yogurt is a good source of calcium and protein with only 130 calories. This yogurt isn’t just healthy, but it gives back and helps with greening efforts! Stonybrook started as a nonprofit agricultural school and guarantees that 10% of its profits go to these local farmers. Furthermore, the company uses eco-friendly agricultural techniques by eliminating pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and synthetic hormones.
*Activia Yogurt: Dannon heralds its yogurt as the best yogurt available for your digestive system. Activia Light yogurts come in eight fruity flavors and cost a mere 70 calories! However, these yogurts are very small weighing only 113 grams. Furthermore, the yogurt doesn’t have all natural ingredients like Oikos; instead, it contains aspartame, an artificial sweetener, which has been taken on and off marketshelves with claims of links to cancer, multiple sclerosis, etc. If you’re in need of fiber, Activia Fiber has three great flavors combining peach, vanilla, and strawberry yogurt with grains of cereal. It contains 3 grams of fiber and amounts to 110 calories. Thus, if you are looking for a real source of fiber- bars are the way to go!
There are ways to snack healthy and stay on budget! It’s important to explore your surrounding culture, but don’t go too crazy by eating every new thing in sight! Stay on track by staying at work and eating a light lunch to hold you over and then treating yourself to a great dinner!