Reason #863 Why We Love WaWa

As an always-on-the-go intern at a small newspaper, I rarely ever stop to eat food.

I’m either too busy to pack a lunch in the morning, too busy to stop during the day, or too intimidated/focused to ask for a chance to go grab something.

But sometimes, scrounging out of the vending machine gets old. Luckily, there is a WaWa situated on the way to the office and also en route to the town where many of my assignments are.

Meet my lunch.

For under $8, I had a medium coffee and a custom salad made with mixed greens, shredded carrot, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and dried cranberries. It came with my choice of dressing, pictured here as fat free raspberry vinaigrette, which came in a little single-serving packet. The cheese was a bit bland and the overall portion was way too big, but it was a decent and surprising lunch.

As far as convenience stores go, WaWa is one of the easiest for eating healthy on the go. In addition to the ready-made items like hummus and pita, fruit salads, and cheese and cracker plates, you can order from a pretty hefty deli menu.

There is an option to create a salad based on a bunch of different veggie, meat and cheese options. Or, choose from three standards: Caesar, Greek, or something called a “Philly Steak” (probably best to steer clear of that one).

In those cases when you’re just “eating to live,” as Brandon would say, there are actually ways to eat healthily from a convenience store. I can’t say that it’ll be good, but there are a few better options that just scarfing down a Twix and Diet Coke.

It can be pretty miserable to eat processed and packaged food, but if you’re smart about it you’ll be fine. Read your labels and choose fresh when you can.

• Most convenience stores will at least have some sort of nuts or trail mix. For a dose of protein, try these but watch the portion size.
• Think calcium. Although it might not be Fage or Stonyfield Farms organic, you can usually find a decent yogurt or low-fat cottage cheese in the refrigerated section, sometimes next to string cheese. Either is good!
• I’m not opposed to granola bars, just watch out for these things: sugar, fat, and protein. The nutrition label should not look like a candy bar. Find something that is under 250 calories, has less than 6 grams of fat and 14 grams of sugar (those are pretty generous numbers). Fiber and protein is important too. Fitness Magazine rated their favorites here.
• Fresh fruit is always better than anything “fruit flavored” or “containing fruit.”
• Skip the jumbo soda, go for water. You’ll feel better and the water will actually wake you up more.
• Remember to avoid the impulse purchases up by the counter and never ever eat the garbage that’s rolling around on a conveyor belt. Seriously. Get something to tide you over and next time, remember to stock your car with healthy, organic snacks just for such occasions. :)