snack tips

Does anyone have any ideas of quick snacks to eat? I am trying to follow the principles of clean eating and eating every 3 hours. I can do this just fine at home, but when I am working (I am a ER nurse that works 12 busy hours) I find it hard to sneak away and eat because of needing to attend to the needs of my patients. Instead I always grab whatever is close by which is always junk. Any suggestions?

Sun. Dec 23, 4:41pm

I think the only way I would survive that is preparing and packaging snacks before work. I can only imagine how busy you are and having things readily available might help. I would do things like peeled and sectioned clementines, little bags of nuts or dried fruit, sliced apples, a prepared veggie wrap, etc. If you have refrigeration - a peeled hard boiled egg, veggie slices and a little container of hummus...Hmmm...I mean whatever foods make your list - just prepared ahead of time is what I'm thinking...

Sunday, December 23, 2007, 4:52 PM

actually, refrigeration never needs to be an issue. An insulated lunch bag and a cooler will keep anything cold enough for 8 hours. I know many nursing shifts are 10-12 hours, but that would just mean you have a room temp snack (like granola, jerky, or an apple) at the end of your shift.

Sunday, December 23, 2007, 6:45 PM

I know how you feel! I am a HS student without a lunch break and then go straight to work until about 6-9 some nights.

Some ideas:

- Carrot sticks and 1 oz gouda cheese
- all natural PB on saltine crackers (if you can manage to not get them shmushed)
- PB on light wheat bread with banana sliced up inside (cut this in half or quarters before hand, makes it easier to eat and finish later if necessary)
- crunchy veggies with hummus (pack ice packs around it to keep it cold and crunchy)
- peeled hard boiled eggs.

that's all i can think of for now =]

Monday, December 24, 2007, 3:53 PM

there's an article on web MD you may find helpful :)

http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/100-calorie-snacks

and just an excerpt

"100 Calorie Snacks: 20 Choices

Need some ideas? To get you started on the road to calorie-controlled snacking, our experts offer some suggestions for healthy 100-calorie munchies:

1. Half an apple with 2 teaspoons of peanut butter
2. An orange and a few dry-roasted nuts
3. 10 cashew nuts
4. 10 almonds
5. 2 ounces of lean roast beef
6. Half a small avocado
7. 3 ounces cooked whole-grain noodles with 1 fresh tomato and 1/2 ounce hard cheese
8. 1 seven-grain Belgian waffle
9. 4 mini rice cakes with 2 tablespoons low-fat cottage cheese
10. 3 ounces low-fat cottage cheese and 3 whole-wheat crackers
11. 1/4 cup fat-free ranch dressing with mixed raw veggies
12. 6 Wheat Thins crackers with two teaspoons of peanut butter (or any nut butter)
13. 1 small baked potato with 1/2 cup salsa and 2 tablespoons of fat-free sour cream
14. 1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce with 1 slice of whole-wheat toast, cut into 4 strips for dunking
15. 1/2 cup frozen orange juice, eaten as sorbet
16. 2 large graham cracker squares with 1 teaspoon peanut butter
17. 3 handfuls of unbuttered popcorn, seasoned with herbs
18. 4-6 ounces of no-fat or low-fat yogurt
19. A 5-ounce tossed salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and 1/4 cup fat-free dressing
20. Half a "finger" of string cheese with 4 whole-wheat crackers"

Monday, December 24, 2007, 5:59 PM

I work in an ER and usually bring fruits and Weight Watchers yogurt. I religiously have a snack at 11a and 2 or 3p. and also have lunch, which I buy or bring from home.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007, 6:22 AM

I have to eat every three hours, and I have to answer phones all the time - a mouthful of food is not helpful! I put things in bite size pieces

I use the snack-size baggies to pack my snacks and then eat them as I can fit them in between calls and other stuff:
fill one with bit size pieces of celery, another with bite size pieces of cucumber. Any veggie you like raw will do. My goal is to have at least two servins of veggies at work, besides the V-8
low sodium V-8 in 6 oz cans
Cubes of poached chicken in approx 2 oz portions
1 oz raw cashews
light string cheese stick
3-1/2 reduced Fat Triscuit crackers
Kavli thin rye crisps (100%whole grain, low sodium and good for my blood sugar)
tangerines or clementines - i peel them and put the segments in the baggie
Apple wedges cut into bite size pieces
Premeasured portions of shredded wheat minis or Puffins corn bran cereal

As the others have suggested, an insulated lunch container with a couple of blockes of Blue Ice keeps my stuff very cold for many hours.

It is a matter of planning and preparing ahead. I cook the meat on day off and pre-portion for the week, wash the veggies so they are ready to cut up, measure out half-portions of the cereal, the crackers, etc. into the baggies so they are ready to go when I am packing up my lunch before work.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007, 5:59 PM

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