The Hazards of Late Night Snacks

Oh, the life of a college or graduate student. Late to bed, early to rise makes a student grumpy, hungry and tired.

Unfortunately, the normal go-to cure to a late night of studying (or errr, dare I say it, drinking) is snacking. While this MAY create a short term positive benefit, in the long run late night snacking screws up your metabolism and more often than not is the cause of weight gain.

Best ways to prevent late night snacking:
1) Eat more lean protein with each meal during the day. Protein keeps you nice and full without dragging you down.
2) Still hungry? Munch on veggies and fruits! Especially those green leafy ones! (No, potatoes don't count)
3) Craving sweets? Grab some unsweetened cocoa powder, heat up some water, add some no calorie sweetener (Truvia), and even a dash of unsweetened almond milk (or even a small bit of milk). Too hot outside? Add some ice cubes!
4) Still bug eyed? As a constant worrier and restless sleeper, I have recently found Yogi Bedtime to be awesome at helping me sleep.  

If you have to eat something:
- fruits/veggies
- handful of almonds or other nuts (NO SALT!)
- small protein shake
- apples & 2 tbsp of peanut butter

If you have GOT to have carbs or dairy:
- grab a few (no more than 5-10) whole wheat** crackers and pair it with a Baby Bell cheese (but you have got to make sure you limit yourself - I can definitely continue to snack once I break out the carbs)  
- whole wheat** piece of toast with 2 tbsp of peanut butter

**Note on whole wheat - do not go by the front of box/package labeling that states "Whole Grain" or something similar. Find the nutrition facts and look at the list of ingredients -- the first ingredient MUST say "whole wheat".

Hope this helps!

PS, I don't have a lot of advice on late night drunken munchies, other than to tell you to drink less ;-)