Maximizing Your Happiness and Success at Work

We are so busy with work these days. We get used to having a certain routine everyday, and after time, we are afraid to stray off that path. But to maximize your happiness and your overall success at work and in life, you must get out of your comfort zone, work on time management skills, and stay healthy while doing it. Read below to learn more:

1. Get out of your comfort zone: Try something new everyday!

Human beings are afraid of change (this has been scientifically proven). Getting out of your comfort zone by trying something new may seem scary, but this is only at the beginning. Change and lack of familiarity cause these fears to arise in us, however, by practicing something new as often as you can, you will make it a habit and lose that fear. You will start to see the benefits of getting out of your comfort zone as that fear turns into fulfillment and adventure!

Nothing contributes to our happiness more than shattering the delusions to which we cling.

An example of getting out of your comfort zone to try something new could be coming up to someone you’ve never spoken to, and starting a conversation with them. Most people want to meet other people, but are afraid of feeling rejection. If you come up to them and initiate the conversation, they will probably be excited and have a lot to offer to the discussion. People love talking about themselves — so make sure you ask questions about them! You never know who you can meet and who they may know, how they can help you, etc. By getting out of your comfort zone, you have just expanded your network with one conversation!

2. Don’t waste valuable time in meetings

If you work in corporate America, you know how much time can be wasted because of unproductive meetings.

To combat this, prepare ahead of time. If you’re leading the meeting, make sure that all of the meeting participants are on time and are ready to focus in the meeting. It helps when people don’t bring in their electronic devices and when they close their laptops — this ensures that everybody will be engaged and not distracted. Let them know that they can take notes on notebooks, as this is proven to increase retention, memory, and learning.

Another way to combat wasting valuable time in meetings is by keeping them organized and on a time-sensitive schedule. You can do so by making sure to send out an agenda with action items before the meeting, setting specific topics and goals of the meeting in mind before the meeting begins.

Lastly, if you are presenting or in charge of bringing any material to the meeting, make sure that it is open on your computer or email beforehand (such as presentations, emails, or other documents or files) in order to help make easy and fast transitions between presentations and save valuable time!

3. Stay active and healthy

What do most successful people have in common? They are fit and stay in shape. Many studies have discovered the direct correlation that exists between staying in shape and having a successful career. Working out, as well as nutritious eating habits, improve time management, boost mental performance and mental clarity, and improve employee morale, energy, and stress levels.

To stay active, make sure you can fit working out into your schedule. For instance, you can schedule your workouts in the morning by waking up earlier (if you’re a morning person) and going for a walk or jog in the park or around your neighborhood. Working out in the morning will surely give you a huge energy boost that will make you feel rejuvenated throughout the day. If you’re more of a night owl, you can do your exercise in the evening. The key is to find what works for you and do it consistently.

Hope these tips help you feel happier at work, and bring you great success in all of your endeavors!

e

Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail

Every new year, you will see your Facebook friends “checking-in” at the gym, posting pictures of the salad they had for lunch on Instagram, and tweeting every single step they took that day. That’s because each new year, we all want to start fresh. We want to learn from the mistakes we made the previous year. Everyone wants, and needs, a fresh start. The problem is how we all go about doing it.

New year’s resolutions are destined to fail, unless you frame them right. When you make a bold claim like “I want to get really fit, and go to the gym everyday” or “I want to find my passion”, you set yourself up for an unrealistic goal. Or when you make a list of 5 resolutions for the year rather than focus on 1, you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself to make them all happen.

Why new year’s resolutions fail — in a nutshell:

1. Scattered or vague goals: The less specific your goal is, the more likely you will fail (this has been statistically and scientifically proven). If it is vague, it is easier to make excuses to not achieve it. But if you make it more detailed, you will know exactly what you need to do everyday to make your goal a reality. For instance, if my goal is to “get fit”, this is an entirely impossible task I have set out for myself. There are about 1,000,000 steps I need to take (literally) before I can achieve that. If I make this goal more detailed, such as “walking my dog every morning to get my heart rate up”, I will know the exact actions I need to take everyday to make my goal possible.

To help myself even further, I can break my resolution up into mini-goals, like taking 5,000 steps a day or taking a spin class 3 times a week. Breaking your resolution up into mini-goals as well as adding specificity makes it more actionable, achievable, and honestly less intimidating for yourself. A good new year’s resolution would be to “incorporate more fruit and vegetables into your diet” vs. “to get healthy” or to “bike to work” vs. “to get fit”. These are tangible and specific goals that you can achieve everyday.

2. Too many goals at one time: The more goals you make for yourself, the more your willpower will suffer. How many times have you tried to cut out ALL fatty foods, or tried a juice cleanse, or tried to hit the gym everyday, until you gave up and binged on fatty foods only and gave up on the gym completely? This happens way too frequently, and it’s because we use an all-or-nothing mentality. Either I’m eating healthy AND exercising, or I’m not doing either. Either I’m eating healthy all day or I’m not at all. Either I accomplish going to the gym everyday, eating healthy, and walking more, or I don’t do either.

The problem with the all-or-nothing mentality is that as soon as you make one “mistake”, you are done for good. This is the real issue with setting too many goals — it perpetuates this all-or-nothing mentality. There is also a chain reaction associated with this mentality. When you break one, you are more likely to break all. A good way to avoid falling into this trap is to focus on one resolution, and break it up into mini-goals or steps if you wish, rather than making 5 resolutions. You can always add onto this list later if you please.

3. Why the hell not: We put so much pressure on ourselves every new year to achieve these new year’s resolutions — we post about them on every social media platform imaginable, and we tell all of our friends and family members. Don’t get me wrong, these are great motivators, but they also put every action you take under a microscope, becoming gossip that everybody’s talking about rather than a goal you are pursuing for yourself. Humans are interesting creatures in that humans like to see other humans fail.

As soon as you “fail”, you feel guilt and shame. Compare this guilt and shame to that of an addict. The worse an addict feels about a minor relapse, the more likely it will turn into a major relapse. I like to call this the “why the hell not method”. If you decide to stop smoking cigarettes for the new year, and you relapse and smoke one, this one setback turns into a storm of setbacks. “Should I smoke another cigarette?” … “Why the hell not, I already messed up.”

This ties back to the all-or-nothing mentality, making you feel ashamed and guilty. This is why new year’s resolutions are often not achieved — because we make ourselves strive for perfection. But no one is perfect. It’s OK to not be perfect, and it’s OK to have small setbacks or deviations in your journey. That’s why it’s called a journey – there are many roads — some bumpy, some curvy, some completely unpaved, but in the end, you will reach your destination if you just keep moving forward.

If you’re reading this, please do yourself a favor. Take the list of new year’s resolutions you made for yourself and light it on fire (ok, it doesn’t have to be THAT dramatic). Look at the goals you have written for yourself and see if you can prioritize which resolution is most important to you. Now, make it specific. How do you want to get fit? For how long do you want to study each day? In what ways do you want to be more organized?

Also, look at the why. Why do you want to achieve this goal? If the reason has to do with someone else, like losing weight for your boyfriend or getting a reputable job for your parents, then burn the page (you can actually do it this time). Any resolution that has to do with someone else is NOT a good motivator. At the end of the day, you want this goal to be for yourself — to achieve true satisfaction in your body, in your mind, and in your heart.

You can now let out a big sigh of relief — the pressure of achieving your nearly impossible new year’s resolution is off your shoulders. Instead, let’s take this new year and focus on becoming better versions of ourselves, for ourselves. We can do it!

e

Dealing with Disappointment

I came across this post from JillFit Physiques on how to deal with disappointment, and it just made everything seem so clear to me:

Truth: No one reaches adulthood without disappointing someone.

Whether it’s a parent or grandparent, a spouse or partner, or a close friend or family member — people will not always agree with our choices.

And if we think about it, we can see it from their point of view. It’s only human that they’d want us to remain in our safe zone. It’s safer for them because nothing has to change, and they perceive that it’s safer for us too. They want to keep us from making mistakes and ending up in pain. Of course they do, they love us and don’t want us to struggle. 

But that’s also an impossible task. None of us get out of this life without some real struggle (whether we go looking for it or not), and eventually, many of us will get to a point where we need to go out and do something for ourselves, something that speaks to our soul. And though that can be scary for all involved, it’s also just part of the journey.

And the outcome is disappointing others. It’s inevitable. And you might never convince your friends or loved ones to be on your team, but you can always practice kindness and understanding, and then do whatever you were going to do anyway. If you can’t convince them with words, your actions and outcomes will speak volumes.

And the irony of this is usually the second you don’t need anyone else’s approval anymore is usually about the same time they come around.

#MondayMusings

–Reposted from JillFit Physiques

We are not crazy. We are passionate.

It is rare that I come across something on the internet that gives me goosebumps. But this blog post, written by Yann Girard, was magical. Everything that I couldn’t put into words he said with wisdom and grace. I’ve chosen a few things he wrote about, and I want to touch upon them and add my own experiences.

1. Believing that you have a reputation will only hold you back. Our “reputations” are stopping us from achieving our true potential. It’s true, I have to admit, I am constantly worrying about what my family members will think of my career choices, and what my social media networks will think of me. As Yann Girard put it:

Believing that you have a reputation will only hold you back from really experiencing and living a life you deeply care about. It will hold you back from doing the things you’d really like to do but people discourage you.

Who cares what other people think? We should try different paths, find ourselves, explore the great outdoors, travel for a year, pursue our dreams of being a Hollywood actor, and the list goes on. At the end of the day, it’s your happiness and your approval that truly matter.

2. There will never be a good time for change. This is so true. But we only have obstacles in our way if we let them get in our way:

There will never be a good time for change. It’s almost always a bad time to change things in your life. You might not have enough money. People might turn their backs on you and talk shit about you…change will never be easy. But if you wait for change to magically happen you’ll most probably be waiting your life away.

3. Creating projects will help you find what you’re good at. I completely agree with this one. If we have our hand at trying different projects, putting our own spin on them, and even pitching new ideas at the workplace or for our own start-up, we will find ourselves in the process.

If you wait until you have that perfect idea or until you know who you really are or what you really want to do with your life you will probably never start doing anything.

It’s only by starting to create things that you will figure yourself out and find your true purpose in life.

4. The world is guided by fear. Girard points out that every single person is afraid of taking risks. We all fear failure, and that’s normal. But what makes people go from ordinary to extraordinary is overlooking that fear and going for your goals. Take that fear and make use of it; let it be your fuel for success.

5. Be human and admit your flaws. In our society today, we feel the need to hide our true selves, to hide our flaws. But what makes us unique is our flaws. Instead of putting on a mask, we should aim to be more human.

People connect with people and not perfect machines. So put that mask away and be more human instead. Don’t be afraid to show your flaws.

Make sure it’s your own story you’re telling and not someone else’s.

6. Nothing in life is really a waste of time. Every experience, whether good or bad, makes us grow. Every project we completed (or didn’t complete), every journey we embarked on, every failure we experienced, and every rock bottom we have hit; these experiences make us who we are. They tell our story.

Nothing. Is. A. Waste. Of. Time.

Not the shitty job you worked at for many years. Not the bad relationship you’ve been in for many years.

It’s either a blessing or a lesson.

7. The best things in life are the things we never really planned. I love that Girard wrote about this as one of his lessons. I feel the same way in that almost everything that I have accomplished thus far that I am most proud of was something I never planned. So say YES to different opportunities that are presented to you. Don’t want to be a salesperson but you get recruited for that position? Try it out, go on the interview, see if you like it. Tying in to the previous point, every experience is worth it. I gained confidence, strength, and life-long friends from the experiences that I didn’t plan, from joining a sorority (me, a sorority girl? Not even close!), to me accepting internships for HR, PR, marketing, you name it! Take every opportunity. You never know where it will lead you.

8. You have to lose yourself to find your true inner self. At this point of the article, I got real goosebumps. That is probably one of the wisest pieces of advice I have ever received from reading one article. Life is a journey. Let yourself get lost. You will find yourself along the way.

You actually really have to lose yourself to find your true inner self. I still haven’t found it yet but I have the feeling that I’m on the right track.

9. There is no such thing as overnight success. Girard is absolutely right on this one. Everything takes time to build. Be patient, be open, be kind.

Everything in life takes a hell lot of time.

But in the end, what truly inspired me and gave me renewed energy and motivation was his blog bio:

This is for the people who look at the world from a different perspective. The ones who are restless. The ones who strive for change. The ones who see things differently. The ones who don’t accept the status quo. The ones who challenge current thinking patterns. The ones who break down existing barriers. The ones who make the impossible possible. The ones who build new things. The ones most people call crazy, but we call them passionate. This is for the people just like you and me.

Thank you to Yann Girard for a beautifully written article. I could not have said it better myself. Please follow his blog and read more.

e

Happiness is a CHOICE

When we stop chasing the world’s definition of happiness, we begin to see that the decision to experience happiness has been right in front of us all along.

10 Minutes of Meditation

In our busy lives today, we are constantly multi-tasking which can be so exhausting on our physical and mental health. I have learned from my own work experiences that it is really difficult to prioritize clarity in the mind because we need to always be thinking about work. But let me tell you, I have found that I perform WAY better at work when I give my mind a rest for just 10 minutes a day.

I try to blog about the simplest, fastest, and easiest techniques to increase health and happiness in the workplace, and in turn, in your life on a holistic scale. By downloading the app Headspace, you can get 10 free meditation sessions for 10 days. You do have to subscribe after that, but let me tell you, it is worth it. The app talks you through the different steps of clearing your mind and focusing on your breathing and the way your body feels in the present moment. A soothing and calming voice guides you through the phases step by step.

1. Make Yourself Comfortable: Before you start your meditation session, be sure you find a comfortable space. I usually like to meditate outside, under a tree or in the shade. Make sure you are sitting up with a tall posture, but feeling comfortable and calm.

2. Deep Breathing: The 10 minutes start with some deep breaths, where you close your eyes and get to focus on breathing and providing your body with serenity and quiet. The app guides you through deep breathing, allowing you to focus on where your breathing is centered. Focus on how your chest moves up and down. This is a very calming feeling.

3. Awareness of Environment: After you have closed your eyes, the app navigates you through the environment around you. What noises do you hear around you, and how can you actively listen to the noises without getting distracted and out-of-focus? What are the smells around you?

4. Scanning the Body: The app guides you through scanning your own body, imagining what parts of your body are in pain and feel heavy, as well as the parts of the body that feel comfortable, relaxed, and well-rested. After you scan your body, you evaluate your mood. How do you feel in this present moment? Do you feel relaxed and peaceful, or restless and distracted? This allows you to connect your mind and body together, creating a mindful spirit and an aware being.

5. Focus on Breathing: This last step has been most crucial to me in terms of helping me focus on my breathing, regardless of the overwhelming thoughts that may want to consume my mind. The app guides you through counting your breaths, each inhale counting as one breath, and each exhale counting as another. Count your breaths until you get to the number 10, and then start over. Why do this? This trains your mind to focus on your breaths, and your breaths only. When you get to the number 10, your mind has trained itself to go back to 1, no matter how distracted or stressed you may be. The result is a mind that can focus solely on your breathing.

6. Unwind and Stretch: Make sure to stretch and slowly open your eyes. Take your time getting up, as your body adjusts to the environment around you. How did that session make you feel? Did it bring thoughts to light that you hadn’t thought of before? Does your body feel more connected to the mind?

Overall, Headspace has really helped me prioritize just 10 minutes of my day for mindfulness, relaxation, and most importantly my mental health. Give it a shot, and let me know how it goes for you!

Get meditating,

e

Clean Eating Challenge

Feeling lethargic, sluggish, and sleepy? I don’t blame you. I feel this way all the time, especially when working a 9 to 5 gig, and barely moving my body! We sit at work with our exhausted eyes glued to the computer screen, and our tired bodies glued to our chairs. But how is it possible to eat healthy when you are so tired, and your body just craves junk and sugar to keep you awake and sane?

Buzzfeed Life edition just posted this short and neat little article about clean eating, which they define as:

a two-week detox plan that’s all about eating real food in order to have more energy.

Sounds doable right? Well, that’s because it is! Rather than limiting yourself and having your body go into starvation mode, this meal plan makes you focus on eating real food – food that is good for you and won’t leave you feeling sluggish or hungry. That includes chocolate (yeah you heard me right!), sugary fruit, and protein. The plan breaks down your meals into 2 weeks, and provides you with recipes and a list of ingredients to make your meals. Simple enough, yeah?

Now this plan is not only about food, but it’s also about water. The plan encourages you to drink at least 6 glasses of water a day, and AVOID caffeine and alcohol. If you must drink caffeine (I will definitely be needing some), you are allowed to drink up to 3 cups of green tea per day or as necessary.

I know you’re probably thinking, how am I going to have time to prepare this food and prioritize this dietary change for 14 whole days? I’m about to break down some key steps and tips so that you know exactly what to prioritize:

1. Buy all of your food ahead of time – Buy on Saturday before the start of Week 1 and on the following Saturday before the start of Week 2 – and cook most of it on those days too.

2. Bring a water bottle with you wherever you go. Make sure you are taking small sips of water throughout the day. If you have trouble tracking your water intake, there is a cool app called Waterlogged which can help you do that.

3. Make it portable. Bring a lunch box to work with you to make your snacks and meals portable.

4. Print out the food schedule so you can keep track of what foods you will be eating on what day.

5. Keep a food journal. Write down when you didn’t stick to the food plan, so you can make up for it the next day.

After eliminating all junk, processed, and heavily-caloric items from your palette, you will start to feel energetic and ready to go about your day! It doesn’t hurt to give it a try, so go for it! And if you find yourself swaying off the path, don’t be so hard on yourself, and just pick up where you left off.

I’ll be doing the clean eating challenge alongside you, so send me your feedback!

Always the best,

e

CONFIDENCE: It Will Change Your Life!

Each time we face a fear, we gain strength, courage, and confidence in the doing.

This quote inspired my blog post today: gaining strength, courage, and confidence.

Do you look around at confident people and wonder how they were born that way? Newsflash: they were not. Like other skills, practice makes perfect, and there are many steps you can take to become more confident in yourself and your abilities. Whether you want to feel confident for a job interview, a speech you are making in front of your colleagues, or in a fitness class, I have a few tips that may help.

1. Practice Makes Perfect

For those of you who fear giving a presentation or meeting new people, practice is exactly what you need. When you go up to give that presentation or meet that person, nerves tend to get in the way, causing loss of words, jumbled sentences, unnecessary pauses, and a shaky voice. All of these aspects tend to take away from the true knowledge and talent that YOU have to offer. By practicing and repeating your elevator pitch or speech, you will engrain the necessary information in your head so when your mind blanks, that information will still be delivered due to instinct: your body will remember it. Crazy enough, the more you present in front of the mirror, ask yourself practice questions, and study your body language, the more confident and courageous you will feel with what you can offer.

2. Use the Nerves

Nerves exist for a reason. In fact, you just have to know what to do with them to be successful. When you feel nervous, take that feeling and steer it into a helpful direction. Rather than psyching yourself out or doubting yourself, know that feeling nervous is okay, and use it to empower yourself. You can even tell the new person you’re meeting that you are feeling a bit nervous, or your audience members that you get a bit shaky before presentations, and they will sympathize with you. It is only natural to feel that way. Use it to your benefit!

3. Body Language Speaks Wonders

Your body truly portrays your feelings. If you feel nervous, your body will shake, your heart will beat quickly, and you will slouch from a lack of confidence. You can combat all of this by tricking your body, letting your mind do the work. By standing tall with your chin pointed high, people around you will read your body language as though you are a confident, strong, and courageous person – and they will treat you like one. You can trick the people around you and yourself this way, and soon, you will actually feel more comfortable and confident in your abilities.

4. Your Audience Doesn’t Know Anything

Although picturing your audience in their underwear has been a joke for years when it comes to public speaking, picturing your audience as unknowledgeable could be more beneficial. Your audience does not know any of the information that you will be telling them. They are here to learn from YOU and you only. You have their undivided attention, and you are their teacher for the day. They can’t outsmart you or judge you because YOU have all of the information, and it is your job to deliver it. Know that you are in charge of the information, so feel confident with your ability to deliver it.

5. Have FUN!

Why do we feel a lack of confidence? Most of the time, we are afraid of being judged by people. Guess what? We are our toughest critics. Most people don’t notice how much you are psyching yourself out or how hard you are on yourself. They also tend not to notice little nervous quirks that we notice ourselves doing. Last but not least, we care so much about what strangers think of us…but guess what? You will probably never see those people again. So quit caring so much about what they think and live your life!

Don’t let a lack of confidence tear you down. You have all the tools in your toolbox to be a confident, courageous, strong, and successful professional and person. Take these tips, and put them to good use!

Good luck, and go practice!

e

Walking Meetings

Have you ever wondered how to make meetings at work more fun? A large portion of our workday is filled with long and boring meetings, leading to decreased energy levels and lowered productivity. After reading this article entitled, “Walking Meetings: So Much More Productive Than You Think“, I was completely convinced about the benefits of holding walking meetings with colleagues. This is a simple, effective, and fun way to bring exercise into your daily routine as well as take a physical and mental break.

According to the article, walking meetings are so much more productive than we think. The first point that author Amy Chowdhry makes is that walking meetings reinforce your company’s core values, vision, and culture. Now, this seems like a strange point to make because walking seems unrelated to the company’s goals and visions, but I was very convinced by the author’s explanation.

Chowdhry states that communication with other employees in a one-on-one setting will give you the opportunity to discuss the company’s future and praise or punish team members for their values. I definitely agree with this analysis of walking meetings as a means of communication about high-level company core values, vision, and culture.

Subsequently, the article discusses how walking meetings can boost morale among employees during rough times. I have personally experienced this myself at a previous company that I interned for. When our CEO changed in the middle of the year, many employees were worried about losing their jobs and concerned about the future of the company. As I was taking a walk with my coworker, she expressed feelings of optimism and had an upbeat attitude. As the article explains, gaining insight on your coworkers’ thoughts and emotions can be contagious, boosting morale around the office.

Another great point in this article that convinced me to participate in walking meetings is the promotion of wellness in the company. As I have mentioned in my previous blog post about the importance of walking, getting outside and moving will give your body a much-needed break from the stress of work and provide numerous health benefits. Not only will it be beneficial to your physical and mental health, but it will also inspire other employees around the office to do the same. When all your coworkers are staying active and healthy, it will increase the productivity of your company, leading to a healthier and happier workplace.

The last point in this article that truly sold me on the importance of walking meetings is being able to demonstrate compassion and empathy. When you have a one-on-one meeting with a coworker, it allows you to get outside of the workspace and connect with your coworker on a human level. Walking and talking truly “forces you to slow down, listen intently, and take time to engage with employees at a very real and human level”. I completely agree with the empathetic and compassionate effect that walking meetings can have, and I would definitely encourage them!

After reading this article, I gained in-depth knowledge about how walking meetings can change the culture, morale, wellness, and employee relations in your company. I recommend reading this article as a young professional looking for advice and guidance on how to get out of the office and connect with your peers on a human level.

Now get out there and walk with your coworkers!

Should You Eat the Candy or the Fruit?

Snacking healthy is tough. Should you go for the candy bar lying on your desk or opt for the fruit bowl instead?

In order to refrain from eating from the secretary’s candy bowl in between meetings, pack your own snacks. This blog post will teach you all about which snacks to pack to work and where to find them. For a more extensive explanation on healthy snacks, tune in to my video tutorial that can also be found on my healthy routine blog post.

These snacks are some of my favorites, and they are widely accessible, affordable, and absolutely DELICIOUS:

Special K Bars: These bars taste like dessert, but they are only 90 calories! They can be found in stores such as Ralph’s, Vons, Safeway, and Costco. They are also available to order on Amazon in bulk. Be careful not to eat more than one since they do have sugar in them. They are also tiny in size and are conveniently packaged for you to take with you to work! They are a great alternative to chocolate and other unhealthy candy lying around the office.

Peanut Butter and Apples: Sliced Granny Smith Apples have the least amount of sugar when compared to other apples. Combine sliced Granny Smith apples with 1-2 tablespoons of unsweetened peanut butter (not the mainstream brands that are full of fatty sugars). The best brand I have found so far is Whole Foods 365 Unsweetened Peanut Butter. Click the link to read a review of the peanut butter if you’re skeptical of its deliciousness.

Almonds: These nuts are filled with healthy fats, keeping you full throughout the day. I personally love the almonds from Trader Joes because they come in individually wrapped packaging, so you can just throw them into your bag before work starts. Each package is 100 calories so it is perfect for the workday.

Carrots and hummus: The combination of carrots and hummus is delicious! You can buy baby carrots that are already peeled, cut, and washed at Trader Joes, Ralphs, Vons, and Safeway. Throw 10-15 carrots into a Ziploc bag and bring a case of hummus with you! Hummus comes in a plethora of flavors, from garlic to tomato basil. Although it sounds strange, pairing the carrots with the tomato basil hummus is my favorite combination yet. Many people do not know that hummus is actually made of garbanzo beans, so by eating hummus, you are eating your vegetables. Pairing hummus with carrots is the perfect, nutritious snack to have at work!

String Cheese: One string cheese is only 80 calories, and it is full of protein and calcium. If you are watching your weight, there are also skim and fat-free cheese sticks available to purchase. My favorite brand is Horizon Organic (on the right hand side), as it does not compromise the taste for the health. There are plenty of flavors available, from Mozzarella to Colby cheese. Feel free to pick your favorite!

Overall, these are my favorite snacks because they are low in calories, affordable, and delicious! When you are packing these snacks in the morning, aim for 3-4 100 calorie snacks from the list above. You can substitute the snacks above for some of your favorites, but be sure each snack is around the 100 calorie mark. For more 100 calorie snack options, visit WebMd’s 100 Calorie Snacks page. There are tons of great snacking ideas and recipes on there.

Good luck with your snacking!