Ask HN: What do you snack on while coding?

27 points by mgdv 4 years ago | 48 comments

I'm finding that working from home often means vising the fridge/kitchen more

What are you snacks of choice while you hack away?

I try to avoid snacking whenever possible but you always have to plan for at least one trip to the kitchen per day. I can’t tell if there’s some subtext in your question about “healthy” snacks, but that’s what you’re gonna get from me.

Bell peppers are an awesome snack. Just sweet enough to stop the craving and I never need more than one.

I boil 6 eggs whenever I’m out and leave then in a bowl in the fridge. I love boiled eggs but rarely have more than 1 at a time, and I’ll never take the time to boil a new one in the moment. Boiling 6 at once takes care of breakfast and snacks for a couple days.

15 almonds is about 100 calories. When I want something crunchy and savory I’ll eat that with a bit of salt.

Yogurt. Again, it’s one of my favorite snacks and 1 cup is a bit under 200 calories.

Stay hydrated. It’s amazing how often you’re actually slightly thirsty but feel like you need food. I keep a liter of water at my desk.

If I find myself hanging out in the kitchen for any longer than 1 item, I go for a walk or stretch for a few minutes. I need to physically distract myself to give my body the time to realize it just ate something.

When I absolutely need sugar, I try to reach for an apple but it often transforms into a handful of Mike and Ike’s.

nihilist_t21 4 years ago | |

+1 on the bell peppers. Delicious to snack on.

s-lted 4 years ago |

I think snacks are dangerous. Eat while your attention is elsewhere, grow obese, suffer ill health.

And going away to prepare a meal gives me time to step back and think over the bigger picture of whatever I’m in the middle of.

Mountain_Skies 4 years ago |

I used to snack on salted unshelled sunflower seeds. The process of sucking the salt off the shell, breaking the shell open in my mouth, separating the two, spitting out the shell and swallowing the sunflower seed was just the right level of physical distraction to block out most other external stimuli while not breaking my coding concentration. These days I don't snack but if I did, I'd probably go back to sunflower seeds. The pile of chewed up shells is a bit unsightly, even if you have a paper towel to sit them on before dumping them into the trash, so that's something to keep in mind if you share your workspace with others.

incanus77 4 years ago |

My go-to is cashews. I used to eat raw, unroasted, unsalted cashews, but during the pandemic, I developed a sensitivity from eating too many, I guess? (tingling mouth/tongue, elevated heart rate) so I’ve recently started roasting them myself, which takes care of the relevant (natural) bacteria. Put them in a pan for 15 minutes at 350F. They taste much better than store bought roasted nuts, too.

Other favorites:

- Cheddar cheese

- Beef/turkey jerky

- Salami or other thin-cut cured meats

It’s important to watch salt intake, though. Cheap stuff generally has more.

And then every afternoon, after 3 or 4, coffee and a “coffee snack”, usually a fig newton or other fresh baked good.

firstSpeaker 4 years ago | |

Do you have any issue with weight gain or something along that line?

incanus77 4 years ago | | |

No, I don't think from snacking, anyway, though also since just before the pandemic started and I was spending more time at home, I started exercising regularly, too.

bravetraveler 4 years ago |

Not much of a snack eater personally, in the odd situation where it comes up I'll have a banana or something.

Caffeine though, that's my weakness

jsiaajdsdaa 4 years ago | |

> not much of a snack eater

> caffeine is my weakness

I think these two statements are related!

bravetraveler 4 years ago | | |

Almost certain you're right :) Only exception is the nicotine, but I'm working my way down!

kevinventullo 4 years ago |

High carbonation sparkling mineral water. It gives that same “hit” as sipping a can of soda, but is much healthier.

brezelnbitte 4 years ago | |

The hoppy sodas too can be a nice replacement for beer though my dentist told me to cut back on sparkling water bc the high acidity can cause excess wear on your teeth. I sort of listened.

Cerium 4 years ago |

I drink a lot of tea. Snacks are usually fruit or nuts. I reserve unhealthy snacks like chips for a rare night of late work.

jstx1 4 years ago |

Water and coffee in the first half of the day. Water only in the second half. Snacks don't work for me at all.

NoSorryCannot 4 years ago |

I avoid eating before dinner time, say five o'clock in the afternoon. I try not to keep snackable foods in stock.

I kind of gave up on this when the pandemic began and my weight went out of control. Then, I would have said peanut butter pretzels. I'm back on the wagon now.

mikro2nd 4 years ago |

Alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol.

huehehue 4 years ago |

I stopped grazing when WFH started, since I don't care to replicate the office's snack stash.

I signed up for a premade meal service, so I throw a box in the microwave and eat whatever's inside (e.g. salmon/rice/veggies). I end up eating like 3 lunches a day this way, but I'm trying to gain weight so it works out.

grue_some 4 years ago |

Bugs

maerF0x0 4 years ago | |

Let this be the joke thread.

I snack on fresh bits from HN.

rendall 4 years ago |

I don't snack, because I'll get fat. I saw a guy who snacked on carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes throughout the day that he brought to work in the morning. Even though I think that's pretty cool, I never picked up that habit

JSONderulo 4 years ago |

Just coffee these days. I feel like I stopped snacking in the last 2 years. I snacked much more when we were in the office. lots of trailmix, wasabi peas, M&Ms, and bowls of cereal. I always had wet wipes lol because of snacks.

tluyben2 4 years ago |

I actually forget to eat (including snacking) while coding. It is not good as when I come out, I eat fast and more than I should. However, I have not been able to break these habits in the past 3 decades.

superfamicom 4 years ago |

I've developed a routine of walking to my local grocery store (Metropolitan Market) and getting a soup from their lunch counter / deli area and sipping on it while I work.

yakubin 4 years ago |

My most common snack is a green sour apple (granny smith) sliced into 8 semi-equal pieces with the core removed. I put them on a small plate and subconsciously eat while thinking.

cf100clunk 4 years ago |

Depends if the keyboard I'm using is easily cleanable. If not, I avoid anything crumbly, drippy, or apt to leave orangey-coloured dust on my fingers.

Mountain_Skies 4 years ago | |

Impress everyone with your chopstick skills, picking up spherical cheese puffs with the chopsticks, while leaving your fingers clean. Given the texture, weight, and deformability of cheese puffs, it's probably a lot easier than it looks.

cf100clunk 4 years ago | | |

Okay I gave chopsticks a try and it messed up my workflow. Before:

1. Type on keyboard and use mouse as needed. 2. Grab snack bite with left hand that leaves orangey-coloured dust on my fingers. 3. Move left hand back to keyboard.

After:

1. Type on keyboard and use mouse as needed. 2. Move right hand off keyboard or mouse to location of chopsticks. 3. Pick up and use chopsticks to grab a snack bite. 4. Put down chopsticks. 5. Move right hand back to mouse or keyboard.

See, no orangey-coloured dust, but no profit! Maybe I should build a foot-pedal-activated snack launching catapult or trebuchet.

errantmind 4 years ago |

I don't snack. I avoid carbs until I eat my one meal a day.

The closest I get to a snack is the heavy whipping cream in my coffee in the morning.

dragosmocrii 4 years ago |

Ever since I started wearing my Invisalign trays, I do zero snacking. I feel great though, since my eating habits are better

muzani 4 years ago |

Water/tea. Anything else seems like it could be an unhealthy habit. Even the tea is pushing it because of the sugar.

elevanation 4 years ago |

Mini-carrots and/or mini tomatoes.

Pyrodogg 4 years ago | |

I really like carrots because they keep very easily and have such as satisfying crunchy freshness. Mini tomatoes are great when you alternate them with a few tiny mozzarella balls.

I also drink lots of coffee.

samorozco 4 years ago |

Snacks typically make me feel drowsy or lose concentration. I will typical eat gum if I need something.

cypherg 4 years ago |

if you're body says it's hungry, feed it.

i like mixed nuts, hummus, dark chocolate covered almonds, bananas, apples (great air fried with cinnamon), tons of sparkling water, coffee, date rolls, cliff bars, dark chocolate, spicy sichuan peanuts, dried mango

edit: almost forgot fancy cheese!

trinovantes 4 years ago |

Almonds, crunchy and healthy

(yes I'm aware they're pretty bad for the environment)

giantg2 4 years ago |

My favorite snack while coding is homemade beer and wine.

kleer001 4 years ago |

Tea, water. Sometimes a digestive biscuit with said tea.

wheelerof4te 4 years ago |

Just cofee. I don't eat during the coding sessions.

philip1209 4 years ago |

"Simply Gum". I like the fennel flavor.

BlueTrash 4 years ago |

grapes old grapes that you can drink

(but really i do love grapes) maybe celery or baby carrots. the high water content keeps me awake

for1nner 4 years ago |

hummus with:

- veg

- pita/bread

- crackers

- cheese

- fruits (olives, dates, apples, pear)

easy, riffable, modifiable (add olive oil, garlic, lemon zest, fresh pepper, jam). Pretty healthy.

fknorangesite 4 years ago |

Nothing.

jsiaajdsdaa 4 years ago |

pizza, french fries, ice cream, chips, doughnuts, chocolate, pretzels

fistfucker3000 4 years ago |

Non caffeinated tea

ejss 4 years ago |

coffee in the morning and a decaf in the afternoon

drost 4 years ago |

Cheese and salami

1MachineElf 4 years ago |

peanut butter filled pretzel bites