Up to your eyeballs in work, you churned through
the day hardly noticing the hours rush by and lunchtime
come and go. Then, before you knew it, hunger hit.
And, now, here you are, scanning the packages in
the vending machine desperately looking for the least
nutritionally offensive of the group to get you through
the next meeting, as well as help fuel you up for
your late-day Spin class.
Granted, the best way to avoid this nutritional
quagmire is to pack a healthy snack. But junk food
happens. So here are our picks for making the most
of a desperate situation.
Craving something salty? Choose:
Kar's Smoked Almonds - Providing
35 percent of your daily value of vitamin E, and
15 percent of magnesium and copper, 2 grams of fiber
and 6 grams of protein, this well-balanced snack
is only 170 calories, with 1 gram of saturated fat.
Coming in a close second are salted, roasted peanuts,
also a healthy choice.
Rold Gold Honey Wheat Pretzels -
With only 200 calories, 1.5 grams of total fat and
virtually no saturated fat (0.2 grams), these pretzels
are a great combination of sweet and salty. Most
varieties of pretzels are relatively healthy vending
machine options.
Avoid: Potato
chips, corn chips, cheese-filled crackers and peanut
butter crackers, all packed with saturated fats and
calories. Also, pass on the microwave popcorn. Though
popcorn may seem light and healthy, the high fat
and calorie count of the vending machine varieties
make them anything but.
To satisfy your sweet tooth, choose:
Fig Newtons - For 200 calories,
only 4 grams of fat, and 0.5 grams of saturated fat,
they provide 3 grams of fiber and 40 grams of carbohydrate
to fuel your afternoon workout.
Sunkist Mixed Fruit Snacks - Made
with real fruit juice, they give you 100 percent
of your daily value for vitamin C. And at only 80
calories per pouch, you can have two and still not
break your calorie budget.
Avoid: Candy-coated
chocolates, caramel-filled candy, malt and nougat
candy, and hard candy. They're nothing but refined
sugar and empty calories.
Must have chocolate? Choose:
York Peppermint Patty -
With only 160 calories, 3 grams of fat and 1.5 grams
of saturated fat, it's one of the best vending machine
choices you can make. The outer chocolate layer will
satisfy your sweet tooth, and the cool mint filling
will save you from about 150 calories, 13 grams of
fat and 7.5 grams of saturated fat over other choices.
Hershey's Chocolate Bar with Almonds -
For slightly more calories (230) and 14 grams of
fat, you can justify it because of the calcium (8
percent of your Daily Value), 5 grams of protein
and healthier fat profile than most other chocolate
snacks in the machine.
Avoid: Most other vending
machine chocolate bars and chocolate-covered peanut
butter cups. There's nothing sweet about the calories
and fat they offer.
Jonesin' for a cookie? Choose:
Nature Valley Crunchy Granola Bars - Eat
both bars and your snack still comes in at just under
200 calories, and only 1 gram of saturated fat. Flavors
include peanut butter, original and cinnamon. Same
counts for all varieties.
Animal Crackers - This childhood
favorite is still a great vending machine choice.
For 240 calories and no saturated fat, these fun
treats will fuel you up with carbohydrates.
Avoid: Two-to-a-package
cookies, fruit pies and danish. Same story, beaucoup fat
and calories.
New York-based nutritionist Lauren Wallack Antonucci,
M.S., R.D., specializes in helping both competitive
and recreational athletes reach their health, weight-loss
and performance goals. She can be reached at lawallack@juno.com
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