Snacks for the Fidgety

Snacks need to meet two criteria for fidget satisfaction.

1 - The snack must take time to eat.

2 - Snacking must keep your hands busy

This way your stomach has time to tell your brain that "I'm OK now. I have something in me." This takes about twenty minutes.

The keeping your hands busy can be calming.

Unfortunately for my diabetes, I'd rather eat, than knit, so a good choice of food here is called for.

Have you guessed my recommends here, yet?

- Pistachios. No explanation necessary.

- Unhulled Sunflower Seeds, a favorite distraction for tobacco quitters.

I never did get the hang of separating the seed from the hull in my mouth, like most sunflower seed fans do. Still, this takes enough concentration to be calming, even without keeping your hands busy.

- And I ESPECIALLY RECOMMEND a sack of Tree Nuts in-the-shell. (Nuts in the shell don't come with the salt canned nuts do.) Even peanuts in the shell will work here, but they are not quite as healthy for you.

Extracting the nutmeats out of the shell becomes very easy with a cone shaped nutcracker that has ridges on the inside of it's split cone. Even walnuts shell easily with this style nutcracker.

I've seen them in most grocery stores.

It is near impossible to gain weight with this snack, despite what any diet guru will tell you about nuts being high in fat. The type and balance of fat, fiber and protein in a nut discourages fat storage in the usual places on your body.

You will get bored, distracted or your hunger satisfied before eating enough nuts to have any impact on your weight.

You'll forget about being hungry!

I've lost most of my weight, over nine years, with this particular snack idea. Many, many, MANY pounds of nuts later!