I have no idea where I could post this, so I thought maybe here would be right (lots of campuses/schools organize blood donations days here, and since there are students among the 20-something... Hehe).
So I want to donate blood regularly again. I used to do it in the past, I have my donor card for that, I'm more than 50kgs (obviously! LOL), I can do it. Okay.
The problem is that I tend to easily pass out afterwards if I'm not careful, and I quickly need to 'replenish' myself to avoid that. I'm far from being the only one -- that's why they offer you sandwiches and orange juice once they're done with you, I suppose -- but the offered foods are a bit of a problem (free food and drinks in the room + broke student = me want!

). If I give blood at, say, 10 am, there's no way I can skip breakfast before (otherwise I'll faint...), so a sandwich is definitely too much of a snack for me. I suppose I could make sure to donate right before noon or 6 pm or something, but again, I don't necessarily want my lunch to be a sandwich, nor can I always run around my timetable to accomodate that.
So what I'm wondering: if there are some among you who donate regularly, or have done it in the past, is there any kind of 'healthy option' I could bring with me? Nuts, specific types of fruits, whatever? I mean stuff that will give me the needed 'boost' to prevent myself from passing out gas, but that also won't shoot me up 400 calories over what I'm supposed to eat during the day. I know a sandwich won't kill me nor make me gain 2 lbs, but I also know myself, and such an option tends to throw me out of the loop regarding the rest of the healthy choices to make during that same day... I'm just being careful, hehe.
I was thinking of regular cereal bars at first. However, I figure out that something that will shoot my glycemic levels up isn't exactly a good option either. Although I admit I don't know exactly WHY some people tend to feel dizzy after blood has been drawned (what chemical processes are at work, that kind of things), and have no idea about what our bodies need exactly afterwards.
And now I hope this question isn't sounding dumb, nor is in the wrong place. Thanks anyway.