The Worst Nighttime Cravings

One of my goals for this year is to not become as sedentary as I normally do in the cold weather, surrounded by a mound of paperwork. I don't follow New Year's Resolutions because I think the concept is silly because who actually keeps them past March? Nevertheless, it's a good idea for everyone to try to eat a little bit healthier, and it's become something that I've been trying to stick to for the last couple of weeks.

I don't want to become a calorie counter because I'm afraid that I'll become obsessive with it and need to know numbers for everything. Also, I can't pull the "Devil Wears Prada" diet and start exclusively eating cubes of cheese for meals. See, like most humans, I like food. But I really, really like food. I wake up and look forward to the breakfast I'm going to make myself and try and create more meals from ideas in my head than I really should. These don't always work out, but it sure is fun.

I also have a giant sweet tooth. Not necessarily chocolate, but just sweets. I'm a big fan of chewy candies like Fuzzy Peaches or jelly beans. Don't even get me started on Swedish Berries.

Instead of following some rigid plan, I'm following a few key tips given to me in an attempt to not become a library-dwelling troglodyte that feeds on scraps of food from previous animals (aka roomates' leftovers).

1) Give up the midnight snacks.
This is probably the hardest one for me because I love to graze throughout the day. It keeps me entertained while I work late into the night. Also, the really liking food thing comes into play.

2) Go for low-fat items that taste the same.
I'm the first person to say that if the "healthy choice" of whatever you're eating tastes bad, stick with the original. It's not worth the torture. But things like salad dressing or yogurt taste the same (sometimes better) to me, so I go for those.

3) Eat more produce.
This doesn't count the carrots and beans in the canned chunky stew that you had for lunch today. Combine real veggies with those low-fat dressings and you have a delicious afternoon snack.

4) Chocolate granola bars!
This is a new discovery of mine! Chocolate cravings are the worst to get rid of, and constantly popping Lindors isn't wise (although tasty). But I found these Nature Valley chocolate granola bars, and while they're still drenched in honey and not entirely healthy, they have some chocolate bits in them which can kill the cravings for a lot less calories than a Kit Kat.

Curses, now I want a Kit Kat.

I'm not going to make this blog about my healthy eating, but many students this time of year find themselves too busy to take care of their bodies, which in turn affects how we think and feel.

Bad eating+less sleep+stress=angry, moody students. And nobody wants that.