Healthy Snacks for College Students That Won't Break the Bank

One of my most read posts on the blog is called Inside My Fridge. This post unveils everything that I had inside of my college dorm room and would snack on when hunger hit! Since moving out of the dorms and recently graduating college, I am a bit more concerned about the food I put in my body. I figured I would clean up the list a bit for those looking for healthier snack options! 

Almonds - These are an easy, mess-free snack. I recommended buying them in bulk and pre-portioning them out into little baggies so you always have some ready whenever you're on the go! Tip: Buy them slightly salted to satisfy the craving for salty snacks such as potato chips. 

Almond Butter - Use up some of those almonds and make your own! It's so easy and can be spread on fruit, celery, toast or eaten by the spoonful. Tip: Use this easy to follow recipe to make your own in a flash!

Tuna - Tuna is cheap and so good for you! Because it's full of Omega-3's and they're supposed to make us smarter, it's the perfect snack for any college student ;) Tip: I recommend mixing tuna with guacamole or half an avocado with a little salt and pepper for a delicious snack. 

Greek Yogurt - This is an easy way to get that extra kick of protein throughout the day. There are so many delicious flavors. My personal favorite is plain-old greek yogurt because it's so versatile in cooking! Tip: Add a little granola on top for an added crunch! 

Cottage Cheese - Another great way to get some added protein into your diet! Tip: Top with a little fruit for a sweet treat.

Tea - Ever have those moments when you are craving something but just can't figure out what? Half the time it means you are dehydrated and tea is a great way to get those added fluids in ya with a little kick of flavor! Tip: Brew your own at home. If you want it sweetened, drizzle in a tiny bit of honey or stir with a fun honey spoon!

Popcorn - There are so many "better for you" versions of microwave popcorn that don't contain loads of artificial ingredients and butter. Whenever I get a late night snack attack, I'm always reaching for plain white popcorn that's slightly salted. Tip: Pop your own popcorn for an even healthier option. Also, Brewer's Yeast makes an excellent popcorn seasoning!

Fruit - Nature's candy! Just make sure you aren't adding any extra sugar or artificial sweeteners on top of it. Fruit is sweet on it's own. Tip: Wash your fruit before putting it away after coming home from the store that way it's always ready to eat.

Vegetables - Veggies are always a great option for when you are craving something crunchy. And the best part? You can eat as many as you want! Tip: Prep your veggies ahead of time so they're easy to access when a craving hits or you need something quick before class. 

LARABARS - These are my go-to when I am running late for work or I am craving sweets. They are also a lifesaver on the Whole30 Challenge! Tip: Make sure you read the ingredients if you are following a Paleo lifestyle as some contain peanuts!

Applesauce/Baby Food Pouches - You may feel a little weird eating one of these in front of your friends but they are a quick and easy way to get healthy carbs. Tip: Check the ingredients. Often times I find that the cheapest brand has the cleanest ingredients with no added sugar! 

Question of the Day

What is your favorite healthy snack option? 

Chase Charlie 5K

Each year on family weekend the university hosts a 5k race called Chase Charlie. Charlie Cardinal is our school's mascot and he always begins the run! He doesn't finish it though, just runs a few yards. I mean, I can't blame him - I would never be able to run in that costume, especially with those huge feet!

Before the race I met up with a guy from the running club so we could run it together. I only ran twice the week before the race so I wasn't sure how I was going to feel while running but I did feel pretty good, despite going to bed after 1 a.m. the night before and having to wake up at 7! (bad idea)

I finished the race in 27:20 (Garmin time) for a pace of 8:49. Since I hadn't ran in so long, my goal for the race was to have a sub 9 mile pace and I did it!

After the race we rushed back to my apartment so I could shower and get all cleaned up for a Dean's List Recognition Ceremony. My mom (who also came to the race, hence the awesome pics!), my dad, and my dad's girlfriend, Liz, all came to the ceremony. My sister came and ate the cookies that were served before hand and then headed out.

(mom & dad)

(dad & Liz)

(Stephanie & I)

I'm really glad they were all able to make it, especially because they all had over an hour drive. I really don't know why I always schedule races the days that I have something else to go to immediately after. After my half-marathon, I had to go home and shower and go straight to a wedding! Talk about craziness. Hopefully after my next half nothing important pops up!

Question

Do you ever make plans after a big race or do you like to relax the rest of the day?

School First

Yesterday was one of those days where school came first.

Even though my body was craving endorphins, my mind was telling me that I needed to study. And even though I did not want to admit it, I knew it was right.

At 8am this morning I had a test in Statistics and tomorrow I have a test in my Speech Sound Disorders class therefor I have been studying like crazy the past few days. Yesterday I had planned to run 6 miles but it didn't get done. The only "free" time I had was at work and I don't really consider that to be fun or relaxing. When I got off of work I had thought about hitting the treadmill but it was nearly 10pm and I figured I wouldn't be able to fall asleep right away if I did that so guess what I did instead? Yep you guessed it - I studied even more.

On top of stressing about these tests, not being able to go on a run or workout yesterday made things more stressful than they should have been. Running makes me feel so good and if I can't run or workout for a few days then I feel like crap. I thought about replacing today's strength workout with a short run and then getting back on schedule tomorrow with an 8 mile long run but I don't know if that's a good idea or not. What do you think?

I never want to see another formula in my life.

The best thing about yesterday was definitely the Peach Chobani I picked up for dinner. Talk about delicious!

Blog Update

Starting tomorrow afternoon I will officially be on Spring Break! While I don't have any plans to go anywhere sunny, I will be hard at work doing some blog related things! You may see them on the blog page itself or it may be some behind the scenes blog work! As of today I just updated the sidebar of my blog and you can now subscribe to the blog via email. If you want to be updated when a new post is up on the blog just enter your email address in the box on the sidebar and voila! I promise you won't get tons of spam or anything like that - just an update on the posts :)

Quick Survey

Also if you have an extra two minutes can you please take this survey? It will really help me with future blog posts! Click here to take the survey

Question 

Should I run today to make up for yesterday and still do the 8 mile run tomorrow? I'm trying to stay on schedule with my training but it's definitely harder some days than others.

Apartment Searching

I know that I said I would choose a winner on Thursday for the Chobani Giveaway but Thursday was cram packed with apartment searching for next year so I am going to announce the winner today! But first let's talk about the apartment searching..

We had two different apartments in mind after searching the internet. My friend Jenna and I went to check them out so we could get a tour of the rooms, the different amenities, and the price range. Both apartments we looked at were really nice but one was a bit bigger than the other and came with furniture while the other had smaller rooms and you had to pay an extra fee to have it furnished.

After the tours, we came back to school and wrote down a list of pros and cons of each place and did the math to see how much we would be paying. Overall, we are going to save thousands either way because we won't be living in the dorms anymore. We ended up liking the smaller of the two apartments plus it was a better price. We are going to go back soon to sign a lease and hopefully they haven't filled up by then. The guy working there told us that they only had about 5 more units available so cross your fingers that we get there in time!

Giveaway winner

The winner of the Chobani Giveaway is....

Congrats to Nancy! Please email me at trufflesntreadmills [at] aol [dot] com with your shipping address and a contact phone number and we will get you your variety box of Chobani Yogurt!

I will try and pop in over the weekend and let you in on the awesome news I received the other day! Have an awesome weekend everyone :)

The New Late Night Option

It's the weekend! Who's excited? I know I am!

Before I get started with last night's adventures I want to point out that today is Alex and I's 10 month anniversary! I can't believe we have only been dating that long because it seems like it has been way longer. Needless to say I am incredibly happy with this man and have enjoyed every moment with him!

Last night's dinner was delicious so I figured I would share it on the blog today. I had a wheat wrap with turkey, red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, and of course avocado! I am loving avocado lately and have been putting it on everything.

After work I headed over to Alex's house to hang out. Earlier this week a new bakery opened up in "The Village," the little area off of campus that has shops, bars, and restaurants.

The new place that opened up is called Insomnia Cookies and they had a coupon floating around Facebook this week to announce their grand opening last Sunday and to offer us a free cookie! We hopped in the car and headed over to use up our coupons and it seemed like everyone else on campus had the same idea because the bakery was packed with people. They had a "Free Cookie Line" for people who weren't buying but just grabbing their free cookie so we were in and out of there in less than 5 minutes. Alex and I both got the Double Chocolate Chip cookie and it was super warm and gooey.

After we grabbed our cookies we headed over to his sister's house to visit for a little bit. When we got to their house we saw that they a box of cookies and brownies delivered to them a few minutes before we got there! The brownies were realllly good and I would highly recommend those if you ever pass by one of these little shops.

The neat thing about Insomnia Cookies is that they deliver until 3am. There is another late night pizza company near campus that delivers pizzas until some crazy time like 4 or 5am on the weekends too so I think they are up against some pretty sweet competition! 


Have you ever had Insomnia Cookies before? What do you think of the idea of having fresh cookies delivered to you at 3am?

G.B.L.

A quick way to sum up today would be G.B.L!

I am watching Jersey Shore right now and they are always saying G.T.L. - Gym Tan Laundry - but because I didn't go tanning I figured G.B.L. - Gym Blog Laundry - would be more fitting for this post!

Yesterday when I was getting ready to get dressed to go workout I noticed that I only had 2 clean sports bras in my drawer! You know you need to do laundry when you only have 2 clean ones! I was going to try and hold off until next weekend when I went home but there was no way I was going to wear the same sports bra every day for a week and a half. That's just gross.

Now don't think that I was just going to wait to take my laundry home so my mom could do it I mean that is part of the reason. Laundry at school is expensive and you have to pay with quarters.

Just to do two loads of laundry it cost me almost $5! I think that laundry should be included in the room and board but of course it's not. It's just another way for them to make a little extra cash off of broke college students.

Workout

Instead of waiting for my laundry to get done and then go and workout, I threw my clothes in the washer and headed to the workout room which is conveniently the next room over in my dorm. After I completed 2 miles on the treadmill I went and switched my laundry over to the dryer and then came back and worked on arms. I didn't go too crazy today and just did some basic arm workouts. I can already tell that my upper body is getting stronger as today I was able to do 20 regular pushups and last week I could only do 10! Woo-hoo!

Fun Fact

And in case you didn't know - today is National Peanut Butter Day! Eat up!

 

(Image Source)

Here are a few yummy recipes to celebrate!

No Bake Peanut Butter Protein Bars
Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie
Mini Chocolate and Peanut Butter Dessert Shooters

Also, right now I am at 95 Twitter followers! Can I get 5 more!? Let's get to 100!

When do you know that you need to do laundry? Do you wait until you are completely out of socks, do you have scheduled laundry days, or do you wait until the hamper is piling over?

Catch Up Day

Happy Monday everyone! Were you all lucky enough to have the day off today? Classes were cancelled but that doesn't mean studying could stop too. I woke up this morning and ate breakfast while I wrote a paper. I wanted to get it out of the way early that way I wouldn't have to worry about it tonight. I also had some reading to catch up on and had to take a quiz for my online class.

Look at this cute little key chain my mom got me. Giraffes are my favorite!

It also doubles as a USB! Isn't that cool? I have never seen anything like it.

After I finished my homework I headed downstairs to the treadmill. Today was going to be an off day but I thought that I should throw in a little bit of speed work. My run consisted of sprints on the treadmill. I have honestly never done them on the treadmill but I really liked doing them on it because of how consistent the pace is. I did a 5 minute warm-up at speed 6 then began the jog-sprint intervals. I ran at speed 6 for 1 minute then sprinted at speed 9 for 30 seconds. I repeated it until I had done 6 sprints. I was going to only do 5 but am glad I threw in that extra one. I finished with a short cool down and some stretching.

After my run I grabbed some food. I had a salad, rice with veggies, and some fresh strawberries. The strawberries were definitely the best part.

 

Do you like doing speed workouts on the treadmill?

Finally Finished

Finals are finally over!

The day began with waking up at 7 and then, of course, studying. I took a little break between studying so I could pack to go home. I always feel like I over pack when I go home for just a weekend because when I compare my weekend trips to my 3 week vacation, I have the same amount of bags, just more clothes stuffed in them!

 

Yes, I know I have a lot of Vera Bradley bags. I just can't help it. They are so cute and functional! I even have my eye on some of the new colors, like Ribbons, which is one of their breast cancer awareness colors.

After my final, which I feel pretty good about, I waited on my sister and her boyfriend to finish up so we could pack up the car and head on home. But before we could leave they had to grab some lunch. While they did that, I grabbed a Pomegranate Pick-Me Up with a boost of energy from Jamba Juice.

 

And then we were off! Let's just say that on the ride home my passengers weren't very enthusiastic..

 By the time we got home and unpacked the car we were starving. Mom suggested we go to a local Mexican restaurant called Mi Pueblo. We found it a few months ago and it is definitely one of our new favorites. It was nice being able to go out to dinner with the whole family as it is hard to schedule things around all of our work and school schedules.

I feel like I am a salsa-expert and this salsa definitely surpasses my expectations!

For my meal I ordered the Chicken Quesadilla Suprema. It had chicken, cheese, green peppers, beans, and tomatoes and was served with guacamole, sour cream, and lettuce on the side. It was really good!

 Overall, this was a great way to celebrate the end of a long and stressful week!

How do you celebrate after a long week?

I Found Some Free Time

Sorry I've been away the past few days. Finals week has been hectic but I have managed to get a few workouts in and relax a little bit. I still have one more final to take on Friday and then I am out of here and headed home for a long, relaxing, much needed, three week break. Can you believe that this is seriously the first time all week that I've had a chance to actually sit down and write a post for you guys?

Here's what's been going on these past few days:

On Monday between studying and finals, I wrapped up all of the Christmas presents that I have bought so far. I still have to buy gifts for my brothers and a secret Santa gift but other than that I am done with Christmas shopping.

I wanted to do something fun for Alex this year when it came to presents so I decided to get him 11 little presents and 1 big present and call it the 12 Days of Christmas. I love this idea but I know that it is going to drive him nuts not being able to open them all at once. He already keeps begging me to let him open 1 present early or jokes that he is going to open them all at once and not tell me. (Which I would never know if he did that or not because I won't see him too often over break as we live over an hour away from each other) but I really hope that he sticks to the plan!

I also came back to my dorm room and found this envelope taped on my door. I had no idea who it was from but my first guess was that it was from our RA.

But I was wrong! It was a Christmas card from our custodian! She is one of those sweet old ladies, the kind that you want to be when you're older, the type who always has a friendly smile and would always have a plate of fresh cookies on the table for when guests stopped by. She always says hi to us when we pass her in the halls and all week has been telling us good luck on our finals! I just love good-hearted people like her who give to people she barely knows.

 

Elf 4 Health

As you can see on the sidebar of my blog, there is an Elf4Health button. You can go read more about what Elf4Health is and sign-up by clicking here. Every week there are different challenges. This week began Round 2 and Week 3. Each week there are different daily challenges for you to do.

This week's challenges are:
Monday - Track your water intake and drink more!
Tuesday - Clean out your fridge and pantry of unhealthy things
Wednesday - Eat as many veggies as possibly by 2pm instead of saving them all for dinner
Thursday - Buy coffee for the person behind you in line
Friday - Workout with a buddy - or even your dog!
Saturday - Donate to a holiday charity in your area

As for Monday's challenge, I drank more water. I had been working on this goal for awhile now so this challenge was right up my alley. Because I live in the dorms, I wasn't really able to do Tuesday's challenge. I did throw out some candy that I had stashed up in my room, but as for my fridge, the only things in there are water, yogurt, and hummus.

Today's challenge was a yummy one! I started out my day with a wrap that was loaded with chicken, scrambled eggs, and lots of veggies. I also had a strawberry smoothie to wash it down.

After my workout, I stopped by Quiznos and chose to do the Choose 2 option. I opted for a salad and a grilled flatbread.

I got the Harvest Chicken Salad. It was made up of Honey-Dijon Chicken Salad, Granny Smith Apples, Grapes, Dried Cranberries, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Pumpkin Seeds and I topped it off with a drizzle of Acai Vinaigrette. This was my first time having this salad and I loved the sweetness of flavors and the crunch of the cucumbers. The dressing was pretty sweet so I didn't overload with it.

For my grilled flatbread, I ordered the Sonoma Turkey. This has turkey breast, all-natural cheddar, tomatoes, seasonal lettuce blend and chipotle mayo. The chipotle mayo is probably one of my favorite dressings there even though it isn't that healthy for you. But hey, it's finals week and I'm stressing out over tests so I can eat what I want, right? 

Also, notice the book in the background? Yep, no time to even sit down and eat without studying.

Workout

Monday was a rest day since I did my long run the night before.

Tuesday I attended one of the free fitness classes that school offers during finals week. At the end of each semester they have a Fit-Free Week so students can attend any fitness class they like in order to try it out and relieve some stress! Last semester I did the Pi-loxing class and it was a good workout. On Tuesday I couldn't remember which class I had attended last year but when I saw Pi-yo on the schedule, I was sure that it was the same class due to the "Pi" in the name. I was wrong though and the class was pure balance and stretching. I was a little upset but I needed a good stretch.

Today I attended another free class called Croxxtraining. I was so glad I did because I got a great all over body workout that left me super sweaty. Here's a sample of two of the circuits we did. I am going to call the first one: Calf Burner. Because that's exactly what it did. It made my calves burn but it also made my heart rate skyrocket.

 

After that workout, we did this circuit.. 

It was just as bad as it sounds.. And yes we did it for 15 minutes straight. If you complete this circuit you can change the time period to make it longer or shorter depending on your level of fitness. We were told to take breaks and get water as needed. I didn't completely stop but I had to take a short pause between workouts. This may have been one of the hardest workouts I have done lately but I loved it. I always love how I feel after a good workout and after sitting and studying for so many hours this week this workout is just what I needed.

Sorry for the long post but I had a lot to say since I've been away from the blog!

When you don't have a lot of free time, how do you fit in a workout?

Weekend Recap

Hey everyone! How was your weekend?

Friday was such an enjoyable day for me as all I did was relax and stretch! There was no workout on the schedule for me that day so it was nice having a day off. After a long day of classes I headed off to do a little holiday shopping. I did half of my shopping online but needed to go to the stores to actually pick things out for a few other people. I still have a little bit more to do but as of right now a good portion of it is complete.

Later that night Alex came over and we went and played ping-pong. At first we were playing for fun and then we started playing to keep score. An hour later we had a cracked ball and a score of 17-21 (I think). He won of course. Compared to him, I am not that good. He took it easy on me though when we were actually playing for points and didn't power hit the ball too often, which I am very thankful for :) It was a fun night together doing something different.

  

(Source)

On Saturday I had planned to do a long run but it didn't happen. Finals begin on Tuesday so I went to the library to finish a paper and a presentation for Monday. I was there for about 6 hours working on the paper and doing some other studying along with some internet browsing of course. By the time I left it was dark and rainy outside and I didn't want to complete a long run on the treadmill. The rest of the night consisted of relaxing and hanging out with friends.

Today Alex and I were at the library once again. I have finals on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday so I am going to be more focused on studying than blogging this week. I will still try and write some short posts for you all to enjoy so the blog won't be completely bare all week. I was at the library for 9 HOURS today. Alex keeps joking that the library will probably start charging us rent because of how often we are there! I am just ready for finals week to be over so I can head home for a nice three week break.

My cousin, Waseam, (seen here) and his girlfriend, Carling, were heading home from a Colts game and made a pit stop to come and visit Jancee and I! I haven't seen Carling in almost a year and I love spending time with her so seeing her was nice.

(photos courtesy of Carling)

Workout

After my long day of studying and sitting, I decided a long run was much needed since I couldn't get it in yesterday. I completed 5 miles on the treadmill in my new shoes! Around mile 4.5 I felt dead and just wanted to stop but I pushed through it and finished the 5 miles. The only thing I don't like about running on a treadmill is the boredom I get if I am running more than 2 or 3 miles. Luckily for me, I was able to get a treadmill that had a TV built in and watched some of the ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas. I don't have any complaints about the shoes except after a few miles they started feeling really snug, so I think I might see if I can return them for the next size up.

 Did you do anything fun this weekend? How do you beat treadmill boredom?