I’ve been making an effort not to reach for the 4 o’clock cookie. For a while there, I was either scrounging around the office for a sugary boost, or getting myself to a coffee shop for a sweetness injection. But lately I’ve been doing something revolutionary (for me). Actually having non-sugar snacks on hand so I don’t crash at 3 or 4. Janice Taylor, our divine weight loss blogger, has a terrific post on this very phenom. She suggests sunflower seeds from a shell. She says they’ve got vitamin E, magnesium, and selenium.

I’ve been relying on almonds, no nutritional schlubs themselves, with manganese, vitamin E, other good things like tryptophan. Janice doesn’t suggest this, but I’ve also got a chocolate bar on hand for when nuts just seem smug and irrelevant. But I’m making sure it’s an all-natural, dark, organic bar with mint. Somehow the mint disinclines me to eat the whole thing in one sitting because, well, meh, mint. And the fact that’s it’s high quality makes it also satisfying. Weird. But it’s working–haven’t had a cookie break in months. You? What are you munching on today?