When it comes to snacking, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirl of a busy day and just grab what’s handy. You snag the remaining muffin from the staff meeting to quiet those late morning hunger pangs, or make an afternoon visit to the vending-machine for a bag of chips or candy bar to get you through till dinner, or worse, through your evening workout.

When you fail to plan snacks, you set yourself up for poor food choices when hunger really grabs hold. Once you’re ravenous, it’s too easy to succumb to the receptionist’s candy dish or the leftover cookies in the conference room.

As an athlete, you should treat snacks as opportunities to fuel your busy life and workouts properly. Snacks also allow you to fit healthy foods into your diet that don’t normally make appearances at mealtimes. Plan ahead and use snacks to get vital nutrients you may otherwise miss out on, such as bone-building calcium in low-fat dairy products, vitamin- and antioxidant-rich fruits, and protein-packed nuts and beans.

Follow these simple guidelines for better snacking, and to increase your energy and athletic performance in the process.

You awake to a 5 a.m. alarm and are out the door for a run at 5:15. Afterward, you quickly get ready for work, skip breakfast because you don’t have time, and find yourself starving two hours later and reaching for a cheese danish.

Avoid this predicament by eating before and after your morning workout. Take the time to eat a small, carbohydrate snack of 100 to 200 calories before you head out for your workout. Since you haven’t eaten for several hours, your glycogen (muscle energy) stores have been depleted. Eating a small snack such as a piece of fruit, a few graham cracker squares, a small energy bar, or eight to 16 ounces of sports drink will give you energy for a quality workout. If you’re afraid of getting an upset stomach, start with sports drinks or other snacks you know have worked well for you in the past.

After your workout, eat a breakfast of carbohydrate and protein within 30 to 60 minutes. Studies show that those who wait two hours to eat after workouts store 50 percent less muscle glycogen. That’s 50 percent less energy to fuel the rest of your day. Cereal with fruit and low-fat or nonfat milk, whole wheat bread with peanut butter and jam, or low-fat cottage cheese and fruit are all good choices for a morning, post-workout recovery meal.

Morning exercisers may have more than three to four hours between their recovery meal and lunch, so a mid-morning snack is in order. A combination of protein and carbohydrate, such as low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese and fruit, is a nutritious choice that will tide you over until lunch.

Lunch and dinner are also often separated by long stretches of time, another good opportunity for a healthy snack. Easy-to-make, bring-from-home snacks to keep you energized until dinner include hummus and whole wheat pita, tomato soup and whole grain crackers, or low-fat cheese and fruit.

You eat lunch at noon or 1 p.m., begin craving sweets or caffeine mid-afternoon, and head to the gym after work — starving! By the time your workout is over and you’re ready for dinner, it could be as late as 9 p.m. Instead of wondering why you can’t resist the office candy jar and why your training sessions are lagging, plan your snacks carefully to avoid afternoon junk-food binges and to energize your evening workouts.

Content provided by Women's Running, article written by Lauren Wallack Antonucci, M.S.R.D.