It’s that time of the year again; we are finally into our last week of classes for the fall semester. The Christmas market in town is proof that all the fun things going on surrounding the holiday season are so close and I’m sure we all can hardly wait, but one huge thing stands between us and a Christmas ham: exams!

I understand, as a student, just how stressful and exhausting this time leading up to our exams can be. We are spending long hours in the library and not leaving until we know we’ve completed our tasks for that day..and that is tough! What I find the most difficult personally is staying motivated and focused when my body feels expended. When I feel this way, I tend to take a break to just decompress, grab a snack or coffee and head back to the books. The worst thing you can do is go and take a study break and eat things that will actually make you more lethargic and unfocused. I’m writing this brief blog post to just offer some ideas for healthier, more energizing snacks than just a Smokey’s muffin that you can easily pack for yourself to bring with you studying.

Ideas:

• Hummus and vegetable sticks (carrots, celery, peppers)
• Apples, peanut or almond butter, and granola
• Frozen fruit with yogurt (just freeze fresh blueberries, raspberries, or anything with yogurt and voila!)
• Homemade trail mix however you like with mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts), dried cranberries or raisins, maybe some chocolate chips if you’re feeling crazy
• Avocado toast (add literally anything..go sweet and top with strawberries or make it more savory and opt for chickpeas, tomato, and onion)
• Hard boiled egg and a fruit (banana, apple, orange)
• Roasted edamame and chickpeas
• And if you have a little more time on your hands I will link a website here that has loads of really yummy protein ball recipes that are perfectly filling and energizing snacks for long days studying!

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/food-recipes/healthy/g4892/protein-ball-recipes/

P.S don’t forget the Hub kitchen is open everyday for you to prepare these yummy snacks or leave some things in the communal refrigerator or freezer!

Ok, that’s all I’ve got for now, but think positive, eat well, get sleep, study hard, and good luck on those exams!

Michaela