Healthy Midnight Munchies

Instead of reaching for a fatty stuff in night time e.g chocolate chip or a slice of day-old pizza.

Here are some healthy choices for midnight munching.

For just tossing and turning

Starchy carbs may help you nod off. These foods quickly raise your blood sugar levels of the amino acid tryptophan, which the brain converts to mind-soothing serotonin.

Good Choices:microwave a potato, warm up some instant rice, pop an English muffin in the toaster and wait for the Zs to happen.

For burning the midnight oil

You could mainline coffee to get your project done overnight, but that'll just leave you with a world-class case of jitters the next morning

Good Choices: a salad of dark greens and chopped veggies. Not only will the complex carbs in the veggies give you energy, they're full of folic acid, which helps your brain work faster.

If you're on a diet or just plain hungry

If you are just hungry

Good Choices: a low-fat cheese stick, some lean turkey, or even an egg-white omelet. Eating about a third of your daily calories in lean protein keeps you feeling full

If you're stressed to the max

Rich, sugary comfort foods actually do short-circuit stress, but they also contribute to belly fat. So try to resist the chocolate chip cookies

Good Choices:grab a handful of unsalted almonds instead. The satisfying crunch will help you work off your anxiety, while the B vitamins and magnesium help your brain make relaxing serotonin. And at only 160 calories for about 22 almonds, you won't add weight worries to your woes.

Forget the pickles, but have the ice cream. Extra calcium is excellent when you're eating for two.

½ cup fat-free vanilla ice cream (or 8 oz nonfat vanilla yogurt)

1 banana

1 cup frozen, unsweetened strawberries

1 Tbs. frozen orange juice concentrate.

Put everything in a blender until creamy. Then put your feet up and enjoy every sip, knowing that you're getting about 340 mg of bone-building calcium -- more than 20% of your recommended daily value -- plus a bunch of vitamins and minerals, so the 373 calories are anything but empty. Even better: The milk protein and banana contain a bit of sleep-inducing tryptophan.