Healthy snacking

I've tried this year to change my eating habits for the better, and that includes snacking. It's so easy to fall prey to temptation when I am in our staff room at work. I happen to love Payday candy bars, and now Three Musketeers has a dark chocolate-mint candy bar that looks completely yummy that can also be found in the vending machines in our staff room. It takes a lot of willpower not to just give in and have something really unhealthy, but I'm doing my level best to do just that. What has helped satisfy my sweet tooth is that recently, a co-worker introduced me to SoyJoy bars, and I really love them (I keep a stash of them in my desk drawer at work!). They provide good soy protein and can be found in four really good flavors. I happen to like the berry flavor myself. At first, I had a hard time finding them, but now I find that the new Streetsboro Super Wal-Mart carries them. Yes, I dislike shopping there at all, but since they carry SoyJoy bars, I will probably only go there to get those and nothing else, since I can't really find them anywhere else locally. They make for a perfect snack upon arriving at work, a little early morning healthy protein boost to start my day in addition to my good breakfast of cereal, yougrt and organic free trade coffee. Now, if I could just dissuade my co-workers away from their beloved chips and pop and other unhealthy snacks I see them consuming at their desks. They gripe about their weight and yet don't seem intent on giving up their bad habits. Well, I am making a sincere effort at healthy snacking, so at least I am trying my best to do my part to bring down our health insurance rates, but I'm just one person and not likely to make a big dent in things around work.

Another one of my favorite snacks is a result of having gotten some of these for Christmas, along with a lot of other delicious organic goodies, and that's Kashi Honey Almond Flax granola bars. I also keep a stash of these at work as a mid-day snack for when I feel myself fading a bit. It gives me just enough of a protein boost to make it to lunch time. They're also high in fiber and Omega 3, both of which are good for you, so I am eating snacks that provide healthy nutrients for my now aging body. Given that my workouts are pretty intensive, I feel like I need more protein in my every day diet, and between SoyJoy bars and these granola bars, I feel like I am at least getting some good protein during my workday to give me a little energy to go on between meals. These are also a bit hard to find around the area, but alas, they can also be found at the new Streetsboro Super Wal-Mart, in addition to the Giant Eagle over in Tallmadge, which seems to have a really good organic foods section. Our local Acme used to have a good organic section, but they are under construction as they expand the store due to the closings of other grocery stores in the area. Sadly, as a result of said construction, they got rid of their organic section and don't intend to return it to its former volume. It will return, they have told me, in a greatly reduced size, which makes no sense to me, since I thought that it encouraged people toward healthier eating habits. If there's one thing we do not need right now in this country, it's more obese people chowing down heavily processed foods, but they are cheaper adn Acme largely caters to the college crowd since it's proximate to the KSU campus. Organic foods are more expensive and less desirable for the college aged crowd, but they are the very people who ought to be eating better. Well, maybe the Kent Natural Foods Co-Op, now being the only source of organic foods in Kent, will benefit from being the sole purveyor of healthy foods and will expand accordingly to accomodate a growing demand for organic and natural foods, in the wake of all the tainted foods that have been the subject of so much news of late. One can only hope.