You're sitting at your desk, it's 11:00 a.m., and your normal lunch time is still a few hours away. You have a couple of choices. You can go back in time and remind your 7:00 a.m. self to pack an apple and a handful of granola. Or you can grab a snack from the vending machine.

Unless you find yourself in the kind of place full of hip, cutting-edge vending machines that are filled with healthy foods, you probably don't have a whole lot of choice. And if you're trying to cut calories, eat healthier, or just shave a few pounds off the weight posted on your internet dating profile, you may feel like anything you choose will sabotage all of your efforts. No so. While most of what you find in a vending machine will do your body a lot more bad than good, there are healthy choices to be found. You just have to know where to look.

Good Salty and Sweet Snacks

Pretzels. Because pretzels are the most "famous baked snack" they're also the healthiest. Most servings of pretzels contain just over 100 calories per serving and about 1 gram of fat. Not too shabby. Plus, they're salty, crunchy, and take just a little extra effort to chew... which makes them that much more satisfying to eat.

Nuts. Yes, nuts are high in fat and calories. But the fat you'll find in most nuts not only isn't harmful for you, but it's also actually beneficial to your heart. And while your average packet of vending machine peanuts has a full 280 calories, you rarely need to eat a whole package to feel satisfied. Full of protein and healthy fats, nuts are tasty, healthy, and deeply satisfying. Don't see any almonds or peanuts in your company's vending machines? Sunflower seeds are a great option, too. Plus, they're a lot of work to open and eat, making them a great long-lasting snack.

Baked Chips. Yes, commercial corn snacks and chips are full of chemicals and they're not great for you-- even the baked kind. But sometimes you just need a little taste of something salty with an ingredients list a mile long. If so, the baked versions of your favorite fried snacks are a far better choice. They're almost as tasty as their fried counterparts, but a lot better on the waistline.

Animal Crackers. With all of the cookies and pastries and snacks in your average vending machine, Animal Crackers often go ignored. But they shouldn't, because of all of the sweet snacks in the vending machine, Animal Crackers are by far the best for you. They've only got about 120 calories per serving and about 2 grams of fat. They're just slightly sweet, wonderfully crunchy, and pretty darned satisfying for 120 calories. You'll miss eating that big chocolate chip cookie, sure, but... your waistline wont.

Vending Foods to Avoid at All Costs

Fried Chips. You didn't expect to see your favorite flavor of Doritos on the "good food" list, did you? Your average bag of fried snack chips will run you about 10 grams of fat and far more calories than you want for a mid-morning snack. And if you get a bag every day... goodbye diet.

"Juice" Drinks. These look innocent, and are covered with pictures of dew-moistened fruits and plump berries. But most of them have way more sugar than they have actual fruit juice. Read the label, and steer clear of anything that's not actual juice. Go for a sugar free tea or fat-free milk instead.

Grandma's Cookies. One packet of those tasty (but small) Grandma's Cookies is almost 400 calories. Enough said.

Poptarts. Poptarts seem like such an easy choice if you've missed breakfast or want a sweet mid-morning snack. After all, how can something with the consistency of cardboard be high calorie? Well, they are. Your average Poptart has about 210 calories... which means that the 2-tart package you just ate was 420 calories. That's not much more than two Snickers bars!

Don't let your local vending machine ruin your waistline. Armed with a little knowledge about the right choices, it's easy to have a healthier snack on the run.

This article was written by Shawn Wilson, a member of the customer support team at Datepad, where internet dating is always free. Datepad has a massive directory of informative dating articles along with a great list of dating site reviews on their dating blog.