It is tough to stick to your healthy habits when you are chained to a desk job for the most part of the day. A 9 to 5 job, especially, compels you to choose easily available (and better tasting) junk food options such as samosas, kachoris, packaged namkeens, and chips, over other healthy variants.

Of course, binging on such foods does bring comfort to an otherwise ordinary day, but they are also notorious for being high in sodium, saturated fats, and sugar, that do you no good. As the saying goes, ‘A minute on the lips is equal to a lifetime on the hips,’ consuming junk and fried foods as a quick fix for hunger pangs, can only spell disaster. Not only for your hips but they can also have long-term effects on your cardiovascular, digestive, and overall health.

If lately, you’ve found yourself in a tizzy to choose healthy over junk food, here are 5 food options that will help you kickstart your healthy snacking habit at work:

1. A Small Sandwich

A small sandwich can make for a perfect snack at work. Choose whole grain bread instead of white bread and pack it up with lots of veggies. A sandwich like this offers plenty of vitamins and minerals and should come in at less than 300 calories. Another great recipe for a snack sandwich is the peanut butter and jam sandwich.

 

2. Fresh Fruit and Nuts

Sometimes the best snacks are the simple ones. Take your favourite fruit and just add a handful of nuts for a healthy mid-noon snack. This fruit and nut combo contains less than 200 calories, plus you’ll get plenty of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats. For starters, you can match apples with walnuts, bananas with pine nuts or Chilgoza, and pears with almonds.

 

3. A Salad

A cool, crisp salad with your favourite dressing can help you keep the hunger pangs at bay until dinner time. You can pack one container with your favourite mix of greens, dried fruits, fresh veggies, and nuts. Pack the salad dressing separately in another container, so that the greens and veggies won't get soggy. A small garden salad like this is low in calories and has a lot of vitamins, minerals, and fibre.

 

4. Instant Oats And Raisins

Oatmeal does make for an amazing breakfast option, and there’s no reason it can’t work as a healthy snack. While cooking up a batch of steel cut oats in the office pantry may not be recommended, you can certainly microwave and cook a packet of instant oatmeal and add raisins or kishmish for added flavour, fibre, and iron. Before choosing ready-to-make oats, be sure to read the ingredient list closely and look out for any unwanted sugars and flavours.

 

5. Puffed Rice Or Murmura

Murmura is a light snack that you can eat at any time of the day. The beauty of this ingredient is that it can be incorporated into other dishes or can be had on its own. A cup of puffed rice is low in calories and rich in carbohydrates, protein and a small amount of dietary fibre and iron. For those looking to spice it up, roast the murmura with a little oil, salt, and turmeric for a tasty snack.