I always have water available and sip it. I also eat small meals every 2-3 hours which keeps me from ever getting too hungry.

I'd have carrots, apples or anything healthy around to keep you from getting too hungry. I eat a snack when I have those long study nights (which is coming up because of finals). I also drink water and unsweet hot or cold tea (if you need the caffeine to study it's a bonus). I can understand the not smoking thing...it's hard to do when it was a clutch in hunger or stress. But you can do it! :flowerforyou:

I know somebody mentioned this already, but tea is a great way to keep relatively full (especially if water doesn't really satisfy cravings in terms of not having a taste). I try to stay to go for a lot of liquids to fill me up when I'm studying.

If you've been drinking tea for a while (i.e. black, chamomile, whatever), try switching to green tea. I've been drinking tea all my life and recently got into green tea. I wasn't a big fan at first, but it has really grown on me in the past few weeks. Green tea also has a ton of health benefits, and has nutrients linked to increased metabolism.

If you aren't a big fan of tea, ease into it. Don't go straight to the sugarless green tea, especially if you're a big fan of sweets. I'd suggest starting off with a [sugarfree vanilla, nonfat] london fog (basically ear grey tea, sugarfree vanilla syrup, and half a cup of steamed nonfat milk. They satisfy my sweet tooth and are a great alternative to sugary lattes (this is coming from a coffee addict). With time, you can decrease the amount of steamed milk you put in, then drink just earl grey tea with a spoonful of milk, then try to go for earl grey with just some sweetener. My suggestion is that you keep going from here once you're used to earl grey and try green tea with a lot of sweetener, and slowly cut the sugar out (since sugar and even no-calorie sweetener negates the positive effects of tea by slowing down digestion). It might take time, but the benefits are great!


One last thing---try hot water with lemon juice (as in freshly squeezed lemon juice, not lemonade). Not only have I found it to be surprisingly filling, but lemons help activate digestive enzymes and promote a faster metabolism.

Hope this helps!

I think a combination of all the advice above is best. A healthy snack available is the best option. As you're studying nutrition, I'm sure you are aware one of the biggest challenges isn't necessary the availability of needed information but the motivation and drive to make the right choices. Personally I think borrowing from the field of education and its research in behavior modification may be the way to go for the field of nutrition/medicine. However, I digress. It's great you're giving up smoking, and that you're striving to eat healthier. However, if you try to do too much at once you're going to get frustrated and want to throw in the towel. Allow yourself a healthy snack now and then, especially when you're going through moments where your body is burning more energy.

The human brain uses about 20% of the body's energy when it's in what I'd call idle according to Scientific America. It also increases its level of ATP (or energy uses) at different rates for different task. Since the variety of task the brain can perform are so many and to a degree abstract or difficult to record and quantify it's difficult if not impossible to record how many calories are burn for each mental activity. Needless to say though, when you studying the hard drive, ram, and processor within your skull are working at a faster rate and thus need more energy or calories. As a result you get more hungry so don't feel bad about the occasional healthy snack as you go through a stressful time during finals.

Tea! It's been mentioned above many times. I HATED tea until about a week ago, no lie. Happened across Zhena's Gypsy Tea in Berry Bellini. It's a green tea with hibiscus, raspberry, and peach. It turns your water pink and tastes like fruit! This is a great tea to try and start with. I add a little bit of sugar, but really it doesn't need it and once I get more accustomed to drinking tea I'll leave off on the sugar.

Also, I was able to find this tea at TJ Maxx! Only $3, though if you want to buy it online (where you're guaranteed to find it), amazon.com carries it as well as the product's website: http://www.gypsytea.com/ Note the tea is organic, the tea bags are even made out of hemp. ^^

Baby carrots, LOTS of baby carrots. And 100 calorie pack popcorn, and water water water. :-)

For a long time, I used to eat when I would read or study, which, after many years of doing this, created an association of food with studying. To break that association, here's what I tried:

1. Drink flavored sparkling water. They are zero calories and very little sugar - it's just CO2 and water with some fruit extract thrown in. I have gotten good ones at Costco.

2. Try taking one slice of cheese and folding it in half twice to get four equally-sized pieces. Put one slice each on a graham cracker (you use two full cracker sheets, broken in half). Eat that slowly, taking drinks of water between each bite.

3. Keep healthy snacks handy, such as baby carrots, cherry or grape tomatoes, or cucumber or bell pepper slices.

4. Cut up an apple into slices and grab a small container of peanut butter (you can just put a tablespoon or two into a small dish if you want) and dip your apple slices in the peanut butter.

5. Drink LOTS OF WATER.

I hope this helps, I still struggle with it, but having pre-portioned healthy snacks (100-calorie packs of pretzels or popcorn, etc.) definitely helps! Good luck!

I always keep glass of water around so that I will reach for that instead of an unhealthy snack. Also, hot tea seems to keep me from wanting to snack as well. It's ok to snack some though if you need to stay awake, just change the types of things you're snacking on and count out your portions beforehand so you don't over indulge. Things like yogurt, berries, carrots, celery, nuts, popcorn, apple slices or pretzel sticks (especially dipped in peanut butter) are all good healthy snacks and in moderation can be helpful in giving you energy to push through the long hours of studying, especially during finals time. Good luck on your exams and on staying healthy!

I usually skipped the studying and went to the bars. Then again, I think that could be why I gained so much damn weight in college. It may also be why it took me an extra year to finish up. haha

I will say, I was never a big snacker in college or around the house. My problem was I would drink so much damn pop. However, I agree with others- drink water(maybe put in some Crystal light to mix it up), eat fruits. If I have a snack- it's either Cantaloupe, or if I am under in calories I may have a few honey graham crackers. But I am just focusing on calorie counting more than what exactly I am eating daily.

During finals week I usually would snack on junk food, but during this past one I started stress eating celery.