Photo: ccharmon, Flickr

Stop feeling guilty about munching away on those fluffy, delicious kernels of goodness -- it turns out popcorn is a source of antioxidants and fiber. Hooray!

Now, the caveat -- you can only consider it a health food if you air pop it and season it lightly with salt, reports ABC News. Adding butter (or caramel, or large quantities of salt), like most of us do, puts it right back in the "sometimes food" category.

On its own, popcorn is a whole grain. Unfortunately, on its own, popcorn also doesn't offer a lot of flavor. But, if you're able to keep the unhealthy additives to a bare minimum (a little olive oil and a dash of salt can go a long way), it's a great snack option. It's light, so you can snack throughout a movie, but it's filling, so it won't leave you hungry. And it's fun -- how many other foods are so easy to toss in the air and catch with your mouth?

Trying to lose weight? You might want to reconsider limiting your snack options!

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Welcome to Twitter Fit Tips. Keep track of the latest diet and fitness Twitter trends and opinions with this weekly post. Each week AOL Health's Twitter alias Healthpop and That's Fit will post fitness-related questions and the best tweet responses will get posted here. Start following Healthpop and That's_Fit today.

This week we asked, "What does your post-workout snack, or meal consist of?" And you offered up these tips:

NoLimits4me@That's_Fit - Usually a clean protein source and small amount of carbs/fat and 16 oz of water or organic green tea.

jend420@Thats_Fit post-wkout, I dont snack. I wait for dinner bc I dont think I burn enough cals to justify an xtra snack.

boschae@Healthpop I really like a Zone bar after a workout. Almost feels like having a candy bar, but good for you.

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Welcome to Twitter Fit Tips. Keep track of the latest diet and fitness Twitter trends and opinions with this weekly post. Each week AOL Health's Twitter alias Healthpop and That's Fit will post fitness-related questions and the best tweet responses will get posted here. Start following Healthpop and That's Fit today.

This past week we asked (and confessed), "What's your most outrageous guilty pleasure treat/snack? (Ours would have to be fair treats: Kettle corn, funnel cakes and more!)"

Here's what our fellow getting-fit Twitterers had to say:

boschae@HealthPop Pralines and Cream ice cream covered in hot fudge with whipped cream and of course a cherry on top! Yummmmm!

bodybypizza@HealthPop NACHOSSSSSSSSSSS

jend420@Thats_Fit my guilty pleasure -- triple layer cheesecake we make at Thxgvg. Topped with ganache! What ISN'T amazing when topped in ganache?

Valentine's Day is tomorrow -- does your sweetie usually give you chocolate? If you love it, there's no need to cut it out of your life. Heck, even Jillian Michaels believes in allowing yourself a small number of treat calories each day.

Huffington Post shares the following tips for enjoying chocolate without guilt:

• Get the best chocolate you can. If you're going to have a treat, it might as well be one that you love, love, love.
• Use environmental control. The Huffington Post writer has an affinity for See's chocolate -- and a shop is within walking distance of her house. Instead of buying a large amount, she walks there once in a while and buys just a few. While we may not all be blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with a See's in the neighborhood, any store within walking distance can be a great way to get some exercise before getting your chocolate fix.
• Eat the best part first. Okay, I have to admit that this "tip" made me laugh out loud. But, if it works for the Huffington Post writer, it might work for you, too. She nibbles the chocolate off the outside -- still getting the flavor of the center, but avoiding the calories.(I'm sorry. It still makes me laugh. Just eat the whole piece for goodness sake!)
• Know the calories. If you know the calories in your piece(s) of chocolate, you can easily fit them into your daily calorie allowance.
  

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After the low-fat craze, some people are still afraid to eat anything that's fatty. But the key is finding the good fats.

Nuts are a great source of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats -- two fats that actually benefit your health. The problem? It's easy to go overboard when snacking on munchable, yummy nuts. Though they're rich in healthy fats, nuts are still high in calories. So it's important to be reasonable when snacking.

For another alternative -- and one that's hard to go overboard on -- try nut-based sauces for poultry, fish and vegetables. This week, The New York Times will feature a series of recipes for nut-based sauces. Check them out -- and try them out too.

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Still have a few hours before dinner, but your tummy is rumbling? Have a healthy snack!

Many people swear off snacking in an attempt to cut calories. But snacking is actually a healthy choice. Small, nutritious snacks prevent you from getting ravenous between meals (and potentially overeating). Also, when you choose your snacks wisely, they can help stabilize your blood sugar.

Real Simple has great ideas for healthy snacks that will tide you over until dinner. For example, the Cashew Strawberry Crunch sounds delish -- just top a Ryvita fruit crunch with a tablespoon of cashew butter (rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats). Then, sliced strawberries are placed on top. Yummy!

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I've said it before and I'll say it again. I think 100-calorie packs are a completely ridiculous concept. Why? Well, I'm not against the easy calorie control. However, I think that some people get lured by the siren's song of "100 calories" and start to think they're eating healthfully. Sorry, but junk food is junk food. It reminds me of the low-fat craze in the early 90s; my college friends and I used to by Entenmann's fat-free pastries and we seriously thought -- because they were fat free -- they wouldn't contribute to weight gain. Yeah. I left college about 35 pounds heavier than when I started.

Oreo Cakesters has a commercial which is just so wrong. I thought I was being overly critical about it, until I found another health blogger who feels the same way. Watch the video and you'll see women chasing down a Cakesters delivery van. Notice there's not a heavy woman among them. Notice there's not a man among them. Notice how they're all completely maniacal and crazed over these 100-calorie packs. Okay, okay ... I get that it's supposed to be a joke. But there's a kernel of truth to most jokes, and people have gone a little nutty over 100-calorie packs.

What do you think about the commercial? Do you find it borderline offensive like I do? Or do you think it's funny?

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Oh, how I miss my local farmer's market. When I go shopping at the local grocery store, the produce department is kind of depressing. The other day the bell peppers were wrinkled and just begging to be put out of their misery. But carrots ... carrots are the ultimate fighting champion of the vegetable world. They look good all year long.

Carrots are a frequent snack at my house. We also steam them as a side dish and dice up the leftover steamed carrots to add to rice the next day.

The New York Times has two great recipes for another carrot side dish. Both grated carrot salad varieties sound utterly tasty. The curry-laced salad is going to be showing up on my dinner table soon.

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When I look at the lunch menu for my son's school, I feel safe in assuming that any kid who brings a lunch from home is getting better nutrition. After all, it's not hard to beat chicken nuggets and greasy pizza. But home-packed lunches aren't always the better deal.

Due to rising food costs, regulations for Texas day-care centers recently changed and now allow the centers to require parents to send meals and snacks for the children. A subsequent (albeit small) study found that 71 percent of the home-packed meals didn't have enough fruits or vegetables and the number of milk servings was also low.

When you're busy getting the kids ready for school and trying to get ready for work, sometimes convenience takes priority when packing your kids lunches. But nutrition can be convenient, too. You can't get much easier than a ready-to-eat piece of fruit. And you can pre-cut carrots, celery, cucumbers and other veggies at the beginning or the week so they're ready and waiting. Check out the gallery for other quick, easy and healthful foods for your child's lunch bag.

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Thought peer pressure was just for junior high kids? Dieters face it, too.

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My son likes many healthful snacks. Cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, carrots, celery, almost any variety of fruit, cheese sticks and sunflower seeds are his favorites. But if given the choice between any of his favorite healthful snacks and his least favorite type of junk food, he'll pick the junk food every time.

I adopted my son when he was 10 years old, so many of his eating habits were already formed. With time and determination, he's learned to enjoy home-cooked meals (he only liked frozen foods when he first moved in) and understands a lot more about nutrition. But the junk food addiction has remained a problem.

I've tried instituting other rules, such as having healthful "anytime foods" that he can snack on whenever he likes and in any quantity he desires. The treat foods were left for desserts and small treats each day. It's a good idea in theory, but it led to my son trying to sneak those foods up to his room. When they became hands-off foods, they were more desirable than ever.

You may not realize it, but your desk could be making you fat.

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Recently, I wrote about how late night eating is no worse for your waistline than eating at any other time of day. That's true, and I'm glad that myth about late-night eating has finally been put to bed. However, eating at night isn't without a caveat.

For many people, eating late at night consists of snacking on popcorn, chips or other treats. If these treats are in moderation, that's not such a bad thing. But late-night eating often equals mindless eating, and that's never a good thing. Just think about it -- you're watching the latest episode of Lost and munching on chips straight from the bag. Before you know it, half the bag is gone and you don't even know how it happened.

Just because you have a green light to eat late at night doesn't mean you can eat mindlessly. Opt for healthier snacks such as cut veggies and hummus and always measure out your snacks so you don't eat more than you intend.

Kids learn a lot in school. My fifth grader is learning algebra and geometry, which is fine now but I'm a little leery of the math lessons he'll have in high school -- at some point he's going to surpass my knowledge completely. So with all that reading, writing and arithmetic, why not learn good nutrition habits as well?

Many schools are starting to restrict sugary and fatty snacks. And students' nutrition habits are modestly improving as a result. Over 10,000 fifth graders at schools with restricted snacks were surveyed and they reported a three percent increase in fruit and vegetable consumption.

As a parent, I strongly believe my child's nutrition habits are learned at home. But when good nutrition habits are modeled and supported at school as well, it's a win-win situation. Now if I could only convince my son's school to stop serving those molded chunks of who-knows-what they try to pass off as chicken nuggets.

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How long do you think your cravings last? You might be surprised.

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