As you leave high school, everyone tells you how prepared you will be for college. I guess either everyone was a liar or my high school did an awful job of preparing me, though. In high school, students typically get home by 5, finish their homework by 10, and go to bed by 11. In college, students are not even home from their obligations by 10 on most nights. The homework starts at 11 and the bed time comes at some point in the wee hours of the morning. Besides the obvious sleep deprivation, students face another issue: late-night snacking.

I fell into the category of people that had a few misconceptions of “the freshman fifteen” coming into college. I assumed it was the result of unhealthy eating and a lack of exercise. After the first week of college, I found myself completely wrong on that assumption. Us students walk many miles a day between classes, sorority and fraternity obligations, dorm rooms, and other events. On top of that, we do not have time to just sit around and snack all afternoon. So how do us students gain the fifteen pounds if most of us are doing more exercise and eating less throughout the day than they did in high school?

Whether it occurs while cramming for a big test or binge watching the newest Netflix series, every college student faces the late night munchies. That is where everyone falls victims of gaining the freshman fifteen. Eating a bag of Cheeto puffs on  Sunday night, a bag of Hersey kisses on Monday night, two Insomnia cookies on Tuesday night, a big bowl of cereal on Wednesday night, and some Cookout french fries on Thursday night sadly does notjust cancel out the four miles that were walked throughout the day.

Staying up late might be unavoidable (toan extent). Getting the midnight food cravings might be unstoppable. One thing we can control, though, is what we eat at these points in the night. Against our better judgement, the food choice is usually something totally unhealthy and unsatisfying over a long period of time.

At this point in the night, we need energy to sustain us for the night, so a protein packed snack is ideal. Protein provides nutritional value and keeps you full for a long period of time, which will help eliminate the extra munching. Something sweet and salty, yet healthy and filling is often hard to come by in a college town full of unhealthy food choices. Think of all the possibilities in the store right down the road though. Go to Publix, get some tasty ingredients, and get to making your own delicious snacks. The possibilities are never-ending: trail mixes, smoothies, fruit and nuts, fruit sandwiches, sandwich rollups, and my personal favorite, protein energy bites.

Protein energy bites are nothing fancy. They contain simple, common ingredients that can be switched up to create a personalized snack. The healthy protein-packed ingredients like peanut butter and granola are valuable at this time of the night. The cranberries and chocolate help out the sweet tooth. Make this sweet and salty snack, keep them in the front of the fridge to enjoy, and keep off that freshman fifteen (or stop gaining if you have already reached the fifteen)!

Protein Energy Bites Recipe:

• Peanut butter
• Peanuts
• Granola
• Mini chocolate chips
• Dried and chopped cranberries

1. Slightly melt the peanut butter in the microwave.
2. Combine desired amount of all ingredients into several balls.
3. Refrigerate.
4. Enjoy whenever!

* ingredients and amounts can vary depending on what is desired