Healthy Snacks for Busy Days

Are You a Thalamus Body Type?

Using the Young Living Everyday Oils Kit

Autumn is here, bringing us back to busier schedules – work, school, college, sports, and after-school activities. And with all this activity, proper nutrition is even more important to maintain the focus, energy and stamina that we and our children need for successful, productive days.

Yet this is when we seem to have the least time to adequately focus on healthy meals and snacks. Fast food, grab-and-go snacks, and cafeteria foods become convenient options when we are busy, but don’t really provide the fuel we need for these demanding days. Here are some practical tips to help.


Important Nutritional Basics

There are 3 key nutritional basics to keep in mind daily:

• Water - hydration is essential to metabolism. Only water is water – just because it’s served in a glass doesn’t mean it hydrates. Soda, juice, and other drinks are treated as food by the body, and tea and coffee can dehydrate the body. Be sure to drink enough quality water daily. The rule of thumb is to divide your weight (in pounds) by 2, for the number of fluid ounces to drink daily. Bringing your own water on-the-go will reduce the need to drink water from sources of unknown quality. Adding a few drops of lemon juice or peppermint oil will help purify the water and enhance the taste.
  How to Achieve Proper Hydration
  
  
• Variety – when we feel rushed, it’s easy to buy in bulk and eat the same thing for a few days, or to habitually eat something we like frequently. However, eating a variety of foods is much easier on the body, since eating the same foods multiple days in a row can deplete pancreatic enzymes and stress the digestive system. The food lists in your Profile & Diet book provide many options that are supportive for your body type, to help you achieve a greater variety.
  
  
• Fruit and sugar – foods containing refined sugars can spike blood sugar levels, deplete minerals, slow us down, and lead to sluggishness. “Sugar” includes sucrose – we tend to consider fruit healthy because it’s a natural whole food, but fruit is high in concentrated sugar. For the best times of day to enjoy fruit for your body type, without an energy drop, refer to your Profile & Diet book. Your food lists will indicate which fruit is most supportive for you.
  How Much Sugar is OK?
  Fruit - Is It Really Good For You?
  

Choosing a Supportive Breakfast

Breakfast is essential because we need the right nutrition for a great start to our day. “Rut eating” is very common at breakfast – eating the same breakfast day after day.

To have the stamina and energy to propel you into a busy day, choose a breakfast that supports your body type. The Profile & Diet menus include at least 20 different menu suggestions for breakfast, so try different foods and see which work best for you. Or be creative and find something else that supports you.

The optimal breakfast varies significantly by body type. For example, the Nervous System, Lung and Thymus body types do best with a substantial breakfast. For the Pituitary body type, breakfast can even be the main meal of the day since they have the most energy for digestion before 2:00 PM.

By contrast, the Adrenal body type would love steak & eggs for breakfast, but they are better off with a piece of fruit or cottage cheese. The Brain body type does best breakfast at 10:00, but no proteins until after 11:00 AM, rather than at breakfast.

The Eye and Thyroid body types have a lot of flexibility, and can choose a light or heavy breakfast depending upon the activities and meal schedule for the rest of the day.

Smoothies are a common choice for breakfast-in-a-hurry.
Tips for Making Healthful Smoothies


Snacking On-The-Go

Plan ahead and carry healthy snacks with you on-the-go. This prevents you from relying on less healthy grab-and-go, pre-processed, or even fast food options if you feel hungry or need some energy. Nuts and seeds provide concentrated fat and protein – providing an instant energy “lift.” Add dry fruit, or veggies. These are quick and easy snacks to prepare and carry.

Cashews and pumpkin seeds are good for most body types. Celery with almond butter or cashew butter is an easy snack that works for most. Sunflower seed butter with honey (to sweeten the taste) is good on celery, while slices of apples and cheese is another tasty snack that’s easy to prepare.

Look at your food lists to see what’s most supportive for your body type. For example, Pineal body types do well with seeds, but not nuts. While peanut butter is a rarely food for Gonadal body type, it is supportive for the Kidney body type. If nuts or seeds are pre-roasted, look for unsalted and add Pink Salt – which provides trace minerals along with sodium chloride. The chloride produces hydrochloric acid for digesting protein. Add Pink Salt to meat, nuts or protein to assist digestion.

After school snacks for kids could be meat slices and veggies, such as turkey with cucumber, prepared and waiting in the refrigerator. A little Pink Salt adds flavor to veggies while aiding digestion and providing trace minerals.

Coconut water is a great alternative to sodas or fruit juices. It is hydrating and rich in electrolytes such as potassium, perfect for after sports. It’s high in Vitamin C and low in sugar.

Designs for Health™ produces several protein bars which are delicious and convenient alternatives for quick energy on the go, perfect additions to your purse or backpack.

Women with Thalamus body type can range from average to tall, with small to medium bone structure. They typically have a slender, delicate appearance, even with weight gain. This is enhanced by a defined waist and elongated musculature. They also have continuous arching abdominal musculature with lower abdominal protrusion. Weight gain begins lower abdomen, face, and upper thighs and hips.	Men with Thalamus body type have a high, wide or dominant forehead, and shoulders relatively even with hips. They can range from average to very tall in height, and generally have a slender appearance with elongated musculature and thin thighs and calves and long torso. They have solid musculature in torso with natural abdominal protrusion, and continuous arching abdominal musculature.
Pictures of All Women's Body Types	Pictures of All Men's Body Types
Celebrities with Thalamus Body Type include Taylor Swift, Mark Zuckerberg, Prince Charles, Nicole Kidman, Helen Hunt, Patrick Swayze, Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Anniston, and Natalie Portman