Healthy Eating.. Even when you're Really Hungry

When I'm really hungry (and I mean burned 1000 calories before 9AM hungry), the last thing I want to do is think. Unfortunately, coming up with healthy, interesting, new ideas of things to eat requires quite a bit of thinking.

Fortunately, I have a couple of sidekicks. First off, I have an invaluable book: Culinary Artistry.

Steamed kale? Boring. Steamed kale with a drizzle of garlic oil and some lemon juice? Delicious.

Plain honeydew? Old news. Honeydew with lime juice? News.

Sure, none of these combinations are absolutely brilliant, but they do take a significant amount of thinking out of the process.

My second sidekick: lists. I currently have three lists: breakfast ideas, lunch ideas and snack ideas. (We plan dinners on a weekly basis, and hope to never need a list.) To make sure I get enough of the right nutrients, I oftentimes plan out my meals the night before, drawing on these lists and things we have in our pantry to make delicious food.

It makes the 20-minute ride home infinitely more bearable to have plans for rye crackers with avocado and tomato waiting your return.

To save you some time and energy, I thought I'd share one of my lists with you! These snack ideas are sorted into sweet and savory, as well as they can be. Also, they are meant as snacks for somebody who trains for upwards of 5 hours a days--consume with caution.

Sweet:
fresh fruit
instant oatmeal
plain yogurt
ants on a log (with dried blueberries!)
chocolate milk
milk + cereal
chocolate squares with nut butter
applesauce
granola (w/ milk or yogurt)
rice cakes with peanut butter or nutella
smoothie
graham cracker w/ yogurt, banana
chocolate covered anything
strawberry + cream cheese sandwich
teddy grahams + cream cheese (thanks, wlcrew!)
biscotti
muffins + quick breads
chocolate yogurt (mix sweetened cocoa powder into plain yogurt)
trail mix
granola bar

Savory:
nuts
carrots + hummus (add curry powder!)
rye crackers + avocado + tomato
popcorn
cheese sandwich w/ mustard
salad
bagel pizza
grilled cheese
snap peas + goat cheese
roasted chickpeas
jicama stick + dip
strawberries + goat cheese
cherry tomatoes + garlic oil
crackers + broiled cheese and grapes
oatmeal + broiled cheese
pita pocket + veggies + cheese
tomatoes + parmesan + breadcrumbs, broiled
pasta + parmesan + butter
hard-boiled eggs

What are your go-to snacks? How do you prepare for the worst--hunger?

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or emailing me at piquantprose [at] gmail [dot] com.

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