Ideas for healthier lunches is always on the agenda year-round.
The time we take for lunch is often hurried and goes by in a blink of an eye. There are ideas for healthier lunches that you may have forgotten to try in your busyness.
We learn to speed through lunch when we’re old enough to learn. Lunches can be an afterthought when we’re hungry, running in between activities.
I would encourage the idea that lunch is the most important meal of the day (one I don’t recommend skipping or skimping on) when you need the extra energy to carry out your day!
If you like and can eat carbs or pasta, this is a meal where you can get the most efficiency out of your carbs.
You need and burn the energy in a working or working out afternoon. If you focus on carbs for your dinner meal, as you age, this can slow you down.
That’s why I like the idea of the plant-based dinner. But that doesn’t always fill you up during the day when you need the energy boost to keep you going like carbs can.
Growing up you have a memory about your overall childhood lunches.
My public-school lunches were both memorable… and not.
They were a special time that I could sit and spend time with my friends, and that probably helped me appreciate just sitting around with others socializing and chatting.
When I was younger I wore contact lenses. For the first few weeks, I had a subconscious fear and phobia, and I struggled to get the soft contact on my eyeball.
When I would try, my eye would blink and my eyelashes would keep the contact out of my eye.
No-contact was what I should have called the daily event that seemed like taking half an hour every day.
Years later, I realized that the reason I couldn’t get the contacts in my eyes was that I had a subconscious fear of the contact (lens) making contact with my eye.
So the blinking was not controlled by me but a body reaction to what my mind was telling my eye (mind-body connection in full swing).
From this puzzling event, I recalled that years before as a child, my eyes would sting when I tried to open them in the pool water.
Some kids could open their eyes completely underwater (I noticed with my underwater goggled protected eyes wide open).
A-ha!… with that, I made the connection to my fear… the goggles acted as eye protection and a contact lens was an intruder like the chlorinated pool water, at least in my subconscious mind (that does most of the thinking).
Knowing that insight, allowed problem-solving consciousness to emerge.
With daily practice, I consistently calmed my mind disabling my protective shell in my brain and re-writing the new story narrative to my fear and phobia that had the bold headline: “contacts are safe.”
Then that mind message was reinforced daily as I went to a 20/20 daily vision world from a framed eyeglass world.
Those subconscious positive reinforcing thoughts cut down the time to insert a contact within seconds.
Wouldn’t that be great if we could reprogram our negative thinking minds in nanoseconds?
Making visible, hidden fears through your actions
Inserting contact lenses can be a frustrating experience for many in the beginning (like it was for me).
Similarly, for so many other starting out defeats, a hidden fear or phobia can be preventing the outcome from happening.
There’s a deeper root cause for your fears.
When you can find the reasons and ways to reprogram your subconscious mind, then you can get over your fear and phobia.
Insecurity is one of those subconscious fears that can show up regularly with a knee-jerk reaction from a fear-based thought.
Another is jealousy or criticism especially if you’ve been wounded or have reason to doubt.
And these get worse if you’re Vata imbalanced. If you’re naturally Vata dominant, anxiety is your natural way that can trigger fear.
Any non-loving thought is fear-based because it comes from the brain’s ego, and if left unattended, can spin wildly out of control.
We can rewrite those subconscious fear thoughts and shadow work can be the way.
Also, others can notice from the words, actions, and reactions that happen, but the person with the ego is often blind…
It’s natural and invisible to the person unless they witness and catch the self-defeating and manipulating thoughts.
So that’s why we all have to be careful and stay aware of our own egos.
At any weak moment, a humble spirit can turn into a prideful act.
The simple act of someone cutting you off on the road can change your calm state to a riled-up one. And that can show up in a myriad of undesirable outward expressions that are unhelpful to everyone involved.
Getting off your chest is healthy and productive after you have a chance to cool down in self-control and you have calmly thought about potential solutions.
Then when you are tested, or you’re cut off the road, you get to decide which road to take.
Choosing the higher road means letting go and that can seem weak to the ego-mind, but self-control is empowered strength.
If you’re conflicted or when you don’t know what to do, don’t do anything yet. Review so you can learn and have discernment next time.
Remember that tidbit of wisdom next time when you hesitate.
Because you can be certain you will be reminded again until the lesson is learned. Life is patient with us.
How To Change Your Deep Rooted Fear and Phobia
Fear and phobia is rooted in the small places we can operate from in limitation and sometimes ugliness.
We all can act saintly-kind if we choose, and the act allows good sides to birth. Love serves all.
With practice over time, ideally, we can even learn to let undesired “meant to protect you” entering thoughts just pass through without putting energy into them.
We don’t have to accept our thoughts as current truth such as an isolated traumatic experience.
We can just reject those non-helpful thoughts that don’t apply to our current situation and send them back to where they came from.
And we can connect the dots to our self-awareness for the next time. We can recognize our self-destructive patterns and question them.
Because when you realize and accept every thought isn’t yours, that’s when you can learn how to optimize and transform your life if you decide.
Maybe you do realize, but you haven’t accepted yet. Because to accept means you give up a part of your control.
Say Goodbye to Your Past Fear and Phobia!
Before my younger contact lens years, I had fear and phobia about the dark, lightning, thunder, and the deep waters just to name a few things.
They came from news stories I heard, scary movies I watched, and almost physically drowning in my backyard lake at 9 years old.
But first I had to get calm and lose the worry.
I conquered the drowning fear eventually by learning how to swim.
When you lose your deep fear, any surface panicking fear and phobia, you can learn to float as you become light and buoyant. And if you can float either on your back or your front, you can learn to swim and save yourself.
That summer I was able to enroll in swim lessons but didn’t successfully learn how to float.
Then one day I was in the shallow end of a neighborhood pool, and I was calm and tried to float. Something clicked and I learned how to float on my belly and my back in the pool water.
It wasn’t pretty as I just laid there like a piece of driftwood letting my feet slowly float from the bottom of the pool.
But that day gave me confidence as I repeated floating again and again until I unintentionally could convince and remind myself (and my mind) that I knew how to float.
Fast forward to my young adulthood… most of my childhood phobias had disappeared or I had learned to swim out of them.
I still had fear and worry about so many real-life situations.
One was I had learned to grow scared of sharing.
I didn’t grow in share vulnerability times so that re-enforced my being a private person.
Writing blog posts like this and sharing on the internet was not something I would have ever done back then.
But instead of letting the fear get to me and grow in me, I slowly one-small step at a time turned those moves into action and transformation.
Since I faced my fear, I got over the hump to the other side and then I could replace my old fears.
When I had the realization opportunity to cross the bridge into knowing there’s a divine source inside you decades later, there was an exchange into believing in more than my ability only.
There was new weightlessness like the thick clouds had lifted. I wasn’t the sole source for my success and I stopped believing in luck as coincidence without meaning.
I became a Believer that applied deeper insight to life, which did the heavy lifting to transform fear. In faith you know there’s another better life coming.
…What if this life were just a test?
And if you’re still wondering what this life is about, testing the waters in your quiet, thoughtful life is a good way to discover. What if there was more, and you were missing out?
This is an individual question, but when you seek, you will find.
“You become what you think about all day long.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
How Faith Can Play a Solution Role
To take one step further, gaining faith can transform your beliefs and mental health, and especially if you have an anxiety disorder or a traumatic stress disorder.
When you believe that all things are possible in a larger context, then you can believe that fear is beyond you and your power.
Fear can feel like an uncontrollable problem. If you can problem-solve with from within then you have a powerful way.
Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking was a classic book published in the 1950s.
He was a motivational thinker so ahead of his time because he was already suggesting meditation and mind-body correlation in his works.
There’s a 10-step practical process in the book’s chapter “Power to Solve Personal Problems.”
It includes: believe for every problem there is an answer, pray about your problems, trust in your insight and intuition, and do creative spiritual thinking for amazing power answers.
If Mr. Peale were still alive today, he would be a great forward-thinking influencer with much to say.
Barre class can be a metaphor for what we need to grow ourselves. When you think of a row of ballerinas with their arabesques, port de bras, and extended swan necks, you can be reminded of control and grace–what we all need in life for better performance and balance.
You can also grow strong. When you have control over your body in a certain position, your muscles are flexing to build strength.
Don’t be fooled with thin and dainty ballerinas as they have very strong legs (and toes)! They’re usually slender, have Vata-like bodies where they are aware of every body position from the waist down to the crown of their heads and through their fingertips.
To get in perfect positions, they have concentrated mind-body awareness. If they lose focus then they could soon fall or be out of alignment.
If you aspire to have ballerina moves, that usually requires hours of imperfect practice. A Nutcracker play ballerina has paid their dues.
To start, you can make your life easy and see how the barre concept feels especially if you’re new, by trying a mild, less-strenuous workout in a barre class.
You usually start off standing along a bar as your equipment. And if you’re doing this from home, you can use a chair. It’s that simple!
One of the first things you want to think of is extended height. That requires stamina and strong legs and specifically upper leg strength in your quadricep muscles (quads) that could give you the endurance you need.
That’s not something you develop overnight, but you may be naturally more built out in that area. That’s the opposite of someone who wants to try-out for America’s Ninja Warrior show. There you see athletic men and women alike on the show who have demonstrated strong upper body strength. We’re all given different strengths in comparison.
And ballerinas are athletes, with strong quads. Like everyone else, you can develop your legs in other ways every day. Like, climbing stairs or doing squats in place. And say you want to take an outdoor 20 plus mile bike ride, having strong upper leg muscles will help give you the extra strength and extra oomph to push you over the hills.
A great way to develop your quads is by following a barre class.
If you take a class, that can be just as effective through video, you can lose your inhibition. You’re focused on your screen and mimicking the instructor and not thinking how silly you look with self-consciousness and awkward body movements (that we all have).
Your body doesn’t care how ridiculous you can look to move its joints, muscles, and all the parts gluing your butterfly parts together. It’s just happy you’re moving and that’s what you can positively focus on.
Similar to learning foundational yoga poses for a yoga class, you can learn and focus your attention on ballet positions for a barre class.
You can even find that you’ve known or been doing some of the French named barre positions for years without knowing how that they would be practical in your barre class now.
What I love most about barre class:
I do think barre is a Vata-designed workout. ♥ ♥
A Vata person’s middle name is Variety.
Choosing to take a barre class is a variety from the norm while the type of exercise is growing in popularity. The crux of the class can be ballet moves, but most barre classes incorporate moving to the floor for pilates and yoga poses.
You just never know what kind of journey your barre instructor can take you on and how intense the workout is until you get a sense of the instructor’s style.
If that unknown element of what-happens-next appeals to you, then you may have a ‘lil more Vata in you than you think (we all have some trace).
If in your recreational time, you still like to know every move you’ll be taking and that’s expected, then you could be more Pitta/Kapha dominant or falling into those stronger imbalances.
In any case, life is full of surprises so taking a barre class can help you become flexible.
By the way, do you know what your main dosha is?
If you want to know the reverse, what is not happening the way you want, then you can take the balance restoration, Body Balance Quiz, to find out what you can do to get back to yourself.
If you pay attention and learn to get in awareness of your natural body tendencies, then you can lean into your ways and not be so hard on yourself. We can wonder why we’re different in some ways from our friends and people we admire.
Doshas may be one insightful clue and a more fun way (leaning into your natural strengths) to follow in life.
Be encouraged, many others share your mind-body type. You just have to find your peeps. They’re out there!
But back to barre… whether you’re a natural Vata body-mind type or not, you get a mix of a heart-pumping workout with very few breaks to catch your breath, unlike these peeps just standing around. …sorry, Easter is in a couple weeks, so I couldn’t resist the reference!
One class I went to regularly for a season had exercises where you moved from one end of the room to the other, mimicking a Nutcracker Toy Solder.
Repeating the movement takes body coordination and also self-discipline, as you’re trying to look cookie-cutter mechanical. Concentration is good mind-body health (and can help a Vata-sporadic brain get back in line).
Making even-movements is a talent that I don’t have today (maybe you do and could consider trying-out for the Rockettes!), but whatever the case you still can have your best-attempt version.
In that one class, we learned how to march across a room with our stiff arm and leg movements, and afterward we each picked up a stability ball for an even more energizing workout.
We transformed from gliding Ballerinas to marching Toy Soldiers to Downward-Facing Dogs. …Phew! I was tired.
So next time you’re wondering if you should give barre a try, here are few surprise benefits that can help sway you:
-Increasing mind-body awareness
-Developing grace and better performance
-Building strength and resilience
-Finding self-discipline and self-control (that leads to bigger and better things!)
And if you can’t dance, barre is a good alternative to say Zumba, as you’ll still be on your toes and you may just become a ‘lil more aware which is the right, left foot 😊
Today is the first day of spring and the a hashtag event calendar day for #InternationalDayofHappiness.
It’s also coincidentally the weekend of my happiness book release. And I have a spring roll (swiss cake roll recipe to share below 🍥) to celebrate the occasion.
swiss cake roll recipe below.
Up to now, most of us have learned to be more patient with the world, and uniquely in our individual lives. For better health and to enjoy your day, it’s better to celebrate what you have. Time today is a gift.
In the wait, focus on the positive things. You are a day closer to your destiny and joy if you decide to focus on love, beauty, and growth that you can find evidence all around in spring and nature.
In my muse and self-reflection today, I’m tickled (and a bit relieved) that my happiness book, Empowered Happiness, that I started editing last summer is completed and available now. I had intended for the book to be published last year.
I started writing in 2019, but for all kinds of start and stop reasons, I didn’t make the deadline. …and now I understand why it takes most authors more than a year to publish a book that has nothing to do with procrastination or writer’s block 😊
You know how things always take longer than you expect… my happiness book project was no different.
On the other side now, I see how slow cooking a book takes patience but produces a better, heart-filled, and soulful meal (end-product) than microwaving can ever produce. (…and as a writer, we prefer “simmering” over “nuking” and also the rhyming words associated).
When asked yesterday in a phone interview why I wrote the happiness book, I was stunned by what came out of my calm thoughts, mind, and mouth.
Like you, if you choose, I’m here to impact others’ lives with the gifts and opportunities I’ve been given. With the book, I aspire to impact readers in their own lives, no matter what stage they’re in as I know others have gone through similar experiences as I have. The mentors that I’ve turned to, time and time again, have been self-help books. And this is my way of giving it back as a writer and mentor advocate.
Everything else is gravy.
We all need each other for validation and can learn from one another about authentic living in this beautifully organized, delicate, and sometimes complicated Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs place we share called Life on Earth.
With what you can do, you just never know how you can positively impact someone else with similar or different backgrounds.
While piecing together my happiness book, I decided to include a childhood story about an older neighborhood kid who put on an Easter egg hunt. What suddenly happened that day, impacted my life and helped put a memorable smile on my face, like colorful confetti or rainbow sprinkles can.
You never know what an ordinary day can bring. Maybe I’ll get a chance to put on a surprising egg hunt someday and you’ll get a chance to plan or suddenly impact your local community in a way you never imagined.
Make it a great first day of spring… and if you think about it, reach out to someone you haven’t talked to for months. They may just be waiting for your text, call, or a nudge of encouragement that only you can give ♥
I was inspired to bake this spring imprime cake roll from watching an episode from The Great British Bake Off. Enjoy! 🍒
Separate egg whites from yolks. Tip: it's easier to separate eggs cold and straight from the fridge. Then let them warm to room temperature.
In a bowl, beat egg yolks and add in sugar. Add water and vanilla.
In the same bowl, add flour to make a slightly thick batter.
In a mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold in fluffy egg whites.
Pour on rectangular baking sheet (Silpat recommended).
Level with a spatula or knife. Then bake at 325°F for about 12-15 minutes. Watch closely toward the end. Look for when the cake is set/baked. If thinner, browning on edges can happen quickly after the 12 minute mark.
Immediately peel off Silpat-lined pan onto a tea towel.
Roll into a spiral log while warm-fresh-out-of-the-oven.
Let cool in fridge for 20 or more minutes.
Unroll and cut off ends.
Add filling of choice (Greek yogurt for healthy) and then roll cake back up.
Healthy mindful snacking can be a game changer especially if you combine with mindful eating and healthy eating habits. Learn from my snacking display ideas and tips deployed in a decade of party planning including weddings and other special occasion events that ended up as thousands of clients (…oh my, where does the time go?)
If you didn’t grow up with a healthy mindful snacking habit, this idea may seem initially odd to you, your mind, and body (mind-body). And why I don’t question others who don’t snack between meals!
You’re better off paying attention to your hunger cues, fullness cues, and changes in your body than focusing on emotional cues especially if weight gain is a struggle.
I know how food can be comforting and carrots aren’t stress calming foods.
But if you do regularly snack or are open to the idea, you may find that snacking time is a nice mindfully healthy break to reset, start a new project and give your body some needed energy.
That’s why I take a 5-minute mindful snack break at least 2-3 times a day. Maybe this is a new approach for you.
And if so, it could be what you need to add to your day to reset your emotions, thoughts, and moods (while keeping your body in your comfortable tip-top happy shape).
It’s more effective than saying no that rarely works when the kitchen is open (and you’re not fasting if that’s something you do).
I also find that snacking helps me to maintain a consistent dress size that I’m comfortable in. This is what most of us want.
There are many added factors as to why this will work better for some people and not as well for others, including the beliefs you have behind this truth.
You’re the eating expert for your body. And you’re the only one who knows your body better than anyone when it comes to how it looks and your preferences.
Busting The Myth That Eating More Healthy Mindful Snacking Will Automatically Make You Gain Weight
I like to use the analogy of your brain. One of your brain’s primal concerns is to keep you alive. Your thoughts alert you and your body of potential dangers through fear and anxiety.
Your body has similar concerns and is sending signals like hunger pains to protect you from starvation.
If you feed your body often, then you’re teaching your body that there’s no need to go into food conservation red alert mode. If instead you feed your body say one meal a day, then that’s a trigger to your body to store fat more easily, as fat energy would keep you alive longer.
Your body pays attention to what is happening first. While your mind is on its frequency and tied together with the body through the gut. The mind-body communication is delayed like an audio lag so that’s why it’s better to slow down and chew.
How else does healthy mindful snacking regularly benefit you?
Besides body efficiency, time efficiency is another reason snacking can help…
If you get hungry or are in low-energy unproductive moods, opening the fridge door can help you get over your temporary lull faster than if you mull around without changing your situation.
As a mindful action, you can snap out of a funk when you look in the fridge as a visual cue for your mind-body to kick into gear.
The trick is to have healthy snacks and food choices so you can be snacking mindfully and healthy.
You can pull these snacks out earlier in the day so you’re prepared and not triggered during the day to find something not as healthy.
When you look at snacking from the mindful planning perspective, the 5 minutes of snack-prep time is nothing. Compare that to getting in and out of the grocery store which can take at least 4 times the amount of loss efficiency time, plus the travel time it takes.
If you’re one of the people who check out of the “under 15 items” grocery line with just 2-3 items, think how much time you’d save if you changed your regular shopping habits to include pantry and fresh item perimeter shopping.
Still on the fence?
Besides efficiency and uplifting-mood changing reasons, there are physical health benefits today to add as we have healthier snacks and food trends available to us and on our side.
When you prepare and eat small, bite size healthy snacks regularly (like a bird does pecking at crumbs) and in between meals throughout the day, your body can re-fuel energy to keep going.
You can replace the need to afternoon power nap or have an espresso with a 5-minute mind-body benefitting snack.
If you snack on hard boiled eggs or popcorn with nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor, you can feel some energy boost from the B-vitamins.
Healthy Mindful Snacking Ideas:
Healthy mindful snacking is at the core of intuitive eating where you only eat when you’re hungry. Or you have a bite versus a whole big restaurant portion.
Like this cheese and fruit bigger-than-eyes display that was at one of my Mediterranean cuisine restaurant parties.
The white cubes that look like tofu are Shanklish, that’s a popular Lebanese, high quality sheep’s milk cheese that pairs well with falafel (chickpea and gluten-free) for a “charcuterie” board with a twist.
But toning it down a notch as many of us can’t easily re-create a board like those at professional catered parties, you can make a simple at-home charcuterie board or snack board inspired by bright wedding food colors that are full of polyphenols.
One theme you can use is orange veggies loaded with beta-carotene.
Growing up for me, snacking with bright orange salty snacks wasn’t the healthy kind. And the sweets weren’t either.
These days, processed and high sugar snacks are still easily available and causes toward child obesity on the rise. And if I had to do over, learning healthy snacking habits earlier would have been better and easier.
The healthy switch especially isn’t easy for a Vata with a sweet tooth and salty fix as an adult.
And once a Vata always a Vata.
But if I can do it, you can too if you can get into the mindful space one step at a time.
How about this mid-day bright orange sweet potato board with balsamic buffalo mozzarella cheese and healthy Za’atar crackers?
Za’atar or savory crackers, balsamic buffalo mozzarella, and sweet potato dip are a great way to express healthy snack creativity in minutes. 🍠
Listening to food trends with one ear is also a better idea than going all in as the trend can change.
Low-fat eating dominated trends when I was a young adult and that has changed.
Back then, a no-fat cookie could questionably appear to be healthier than a handful of higher fat almonds for healthy mindful snacking. We know that’s not today’s truth.
And an apple is still an apple, but now we have many varieties including organic types to choose from.
In a metro-city area, finding healthy snack options is easier and at our fingertips.
This was a hummus bar setup at The Wedding Wire HQ.
Here are eight 5-minute healthy mindful snacking break ideas that never grow old…
1.Homemade hummus.
You can make this in 5 minutes with a blender. I use a Magic Bullet that doesn’t need to brought out each time. That’s why it’s magic.🪄
For homemade hummus, you can take a can of garbanzo beans or chickpeas, then add sea salt, and olive oil. Reserve some of the juice for the recipe which is why I opt for organic cans (also lower in sodium).
If you want, add healthy flavors such as garlic, roasted red peppers, or spicy cayenne pepper.
Voila! You have successfully made homemade hummus, and probably less expensively than a store-bought version.
You could dip carrots, celery, or pita chips in your hummus. You can bake your own corn tortilla.
If you want more creaminess like in store bought hummus or want authentic hummus flavors, you could add tahini or sesame oil and peanut butter as a substitution.
2. Guacamole dip or spread.
You can make a simple guacamole dip with smashed ripe avocados and a few drizzles of olive oil and/or a dash of lemon juice. This can also made as a hummus with garbanzo beans.
There are specific breads that taste better with certain spreads. Sprouted bread pairs well with guacamole where others may fail to give you the same taste and healthy experience level.
3. Kale chips.
You can bake dry, pre-washed kale on low heat for crispy kale chips. Simply add sea salt. This is a great nutritional snack alternative to potato chips.
These days the kale bags come pre-washed so you can skip the the washing and drying that saves time.
4. Popcorn with a drizzle of truffle oil.
If you want more fiber in your diet, popcorn is a whole grain with the bran fiber layer intact.
Try to resist the urge to get the movie butter and butter flavors, and instead add a few drops of truffle oil or extra virgin olive oil to give a little healthy fat and flavor.
You can also add a dash of umami mushroom seasoning.
If you want a savory, umami taste without iodized or table salt, you can try plain popcorn and add white pepper. I like to use a white pepper grinder mill that adds an amazing umami taste. For health, don’t add too much white pepper. You can balance the blend with non-iodized sea salt.
Another popcorn favorite is EVOO (olive oil) with a dusting of turmeric for a smoky good health flavor! And another healthy orange snack to add to the board I mentioned! 🧡
5. Granny Smith apple with all-natural peanut or almond butter.
If you have a sweet tooth, you could take a Granny Smith apple, cut up and dip in all-natural peanut butter that you stir up. I prefer organic and keep the skin on for additional nutrients.
Apples keep the doctor away and help to keep your teeth clean. You can also make “candy” apples.
6. Bowl of edamame.
You may have discovered these green looking beans as a sushi restaurant appetizer. They are served in the pod for an experience.
You can also buy them shelled and unshelled edamame in the frozen veggie aisle in some grocery stores like international stores. They are made of soy protein so are more than just veggie snacks. They are also high in calcium and fiber.
Cook or heat up and sprinkle with a pinch of coarse sea salt. You can also find snacks with a wasabi kick that can also help to clear up nasal sinus allergies.
7. Bowl of granola, almonds, or healthy trail mix.
If you have a few additional minutes to wait, you can make granola so easily and whip up a batch for the oven in 5 minutes with oatmeal, honey, light olive oil, and your favorite dried fruits. Spread out to a thin layer on a baking sheet and pop in the oven on low heat.
8. Roasted squash seeds. You can bake in advance your butternut squash and spaghetti squash seeds with EVOO until toasty brown to your liking.
Squash seeds are loaded with Vitamins A, C, some B vitamins, and minerals.
You can learn tips on how to prepare spaghetti squash and what’s going on these days on food allergies from a party menu planner perspective.
Some Final Tips to Consider:
1.Energy and physical health. For Vata bodies especially, when you snack regularly, your metabolism increases. It’s counter-intuitive, but you’ve taught your body that you will be feeding your body more often, so it learns not to live in survival mode.
Fat energy is burned more efficiently because your body no longer needs to store this energy, just in case you get stuck on a snow mountain or cave (and need the fat).
Most people don’t know this, and can believe losing weight is all about eating fewer calories.
That’s important but teaching your body to be efficient is also helpful, along with knowing when to eat the biggest meal like earlier in the day.
There are many theories out there. And giving a new way a try to test is worth the healthy effort.
2.Productivity. Taking a snack break clears your head. You can rest from your project or work, and let your mind rest for a few minutes, and recharge. When you focus on an activity like snacking, this can take you away from multi-tasking.
You remind yourself to take time for yourself. Then when you come back to your work, you get more done. You have more energy.
Many studies show that 10-minute breaks are better for you than one large break.
Do this 6 times a day and that can raise your productivity, preferred over an hour lunch break that could slow you down if you eat a heavy meal.
I find that not setting arbitrary times or alerts for breaks is beneficial because when you snack when you want to, you are fulfilling a desire and not a to-do on your list. Having optimum enjoyment is the goal, and not adding another to-do to your busy day.
3.Creativity. You can come up with additional ideas and breakthroughs with your breaks. You may even find a solution to a problem you’ve had with a healthy mindful snacking break.
Getting up and out of your work gives you normalcy and time to recharge and reset.
Do less, produce more. Enjoy your snacks. Mixing up instead of taking an hour break, a few minutes is all you need to refresh.
You can efficiently use these breaks to also take quick restroom breaks.
We sometimes get too busy. I get some of my best ideas doing the simplest tasks like walking to the kitchen or cleaning a bowl.
4.Mindfulness. After you pick up your snack with your hands or fork, you can focus on chewing small bites and can draw your attention back to your sense of tasting, smelling, and touching.
These little body movements and sensation cues are so undervalued in our busy worlds. They turn us to our Ayurvedic ways that are natural to us in balance when our systems are running in balance.
Drawing yourself back to your present moment also brings an appreciation for what you have — more evidence of happy moments and joy in your life that you can become aware of in the mind-body connection.
5.Emotional health. A simple habit of healthy snacking can help you in moments if you feel anxiety coming on, especially during a stressful season.
Stress serves a purpose. When you look at solidly built trees they have endured stress.
Trees form tight rings when they’re under stress that gives them the foundation to help them keep growing and build strength. Getting through stressful times is helpful for your progress and growth.
Snacks can help you stay happy. These small things (and habits) make a big difference to impact your mind-body.
You can take this a step further and add to healthy mindful snacking, another life-enhancing way to handle or process any feelings you have that are not helping you in your day.
You can listen to inspiring music, or reset with a yoga pose and intention like Mountain Pose (standing with your arms wide in the air or heart center) for mindfulness, zen, or meditation.
Your intention can be creativity, getting a project done, or believing what you want to happen is on the way.
These are examples of complementary activities. These small moments will keep your focus on your day’s purpose and what you want to accomplish.
Why are the simple things the ones we often ignore? They can have the most impact on our mind-body health.
Getting a reminder to do simple activities, such as drinking more water, can be what we need. When we start one simple task, that sets our mind to think there may be other simple habits that we can incorporate or bring back to our awareness and daily lives like to snack mindfully.
Pay attention to what you’re feeling if you’re more of a thinker. Women especially have a way to power through and discredit our feelings.
If you feel overall overwhelmed, a complicated life creates anxiety. This can be a sign to step away and get back on track to the simple or main things in your life (to calm your mind-body).
If you run a business, or if you have two jobs as a parent and going to work, find ways to simplify your life. Build systems and do the things you really want to do.
I often use, you only get to do this life once, and this moment once as a mantra. This keeps me from veering off the path or doing things I could regret as much as I can prevent.
And maybe that helps you. Taking in your mind-body moments will be beneficial for your physical and mental health today and in the future that you’re taking a step in creating today.
