How what you eat can determine what kind of day you have..

For years athletes have always had some pretty bizarre pre-game rituals. They have lucky socks and underwear, weird playoff rituals like playoff beards and abstaining from sex and of course, their favorite pre-game meals. Now, while some of those rituals may have dubious origins and questionable effects on game day performance, the right pre-game meal certainly can make or break the player’s performance, very likely more than the athlete even realizes. Let me explain how this works and how you can put this idea to work for you.

Nutrition and body chemistry is a very tricky thing. As many of you who are following The PROGRAM workout and nutritional protocol know, often times what works is the exact opposite of what you have been taught or what you would expect. And even when we think we have it figured out, differences in individual biochemistries may throw us for a loop. So, while the same general blueprint of how to eat may work for the majority of people, there will always be variations from person to person. This can be as subtle as one person responding very positively to salt and the other having a negative reaction, or it can be as dramatic as the person who goes into anaphylactic shock after eating a certain kind of nut or shellfish.

For every person, there will be certain foods and nutrients that have a very powerful effect on them, either positive or negative. Simply put, certain meals (combinations of foods) can make you feel great while other combinations can make you feel terrible. Obviously, it would be very beneficial to know which meals make us feel great and which make us feel bad, and that way we can be sure to emphasize the good and stay away from the bad. There will also be many foods that have more of a neutral effect, meaning they don’t make us feel particularly good or bad. Identifying the meals that make us feel great is extremely helpful because once you know that, you can literally ensure that you feel good for any important events in your life. Think about it. Have you ever had a big presentation to give or a special occasion that you really hoped that you would feel good for? You know the feeling… You may have a big job interview tomorrow and you just hope that you wake up and feel that great “in the zone” feeling, that feeling where your mind and body seem in harmony, you are in a great mood and clear-headed, firing on all cylinders. Now contrast that to the days that you wake up “on the wrong side of the bed.” You know those days right? Where your energy just sucks and you can’t get in a good mood for anything? No energy, no motivation and your brain simply feels foggy. It really sucks to wake up on the day of something big and feel that way. For that matter, it sucks to wake up and feel that way on any day. The good news is that the majority of the time, that mood and sense of energy and well-being is food-related and that means it is much more under our control than we may have thought. It is not just luck or the position of the moon. It is our body chemistry and that is primarily controlled by what we put in our bodies. Cool right?

Now, while it is virtually impossible to predict how every individual will react to every different food and nutrient, there is one way that is very simple and effective in determining what our best “pre-game meal” should be. By paying close attention to how we ‘feel’ after our meals and taking a moment to notice and actually record it somehow, we will learn what foods and meals we react well too and we can develop a food and meal plan that consists entirely of food that make us feel great. Your body is your best teacher, but you need to know how to listen. Here’s what to do. For the next few days, every time you eat a meal or snack, pay attention to how you feel immediately after and about 30-45 minutes after. Pay attention to your energy level, your attitude (do you feel positive and up or kind of depressed and down?), your mental focus (do you feel clarity or do you feel foggy?) and make a quick note of any effects that are notable, either particularly good or particularly bad. (Even better, just make notes after every meal and snack and you will learn much more quickly. It takes a little more time but it is worth it.) The notes don’t have to be anything elaborate, they can just be jotted down in your Iphone Notes (that’s what I do) or in a little notebook. After a few days, review them and you will start to see patterns. Then literally make a list of “power meals” that make you feel great and note which foods they are and begin to eat more of those and less of the foods and meals that drain your energy.

Going forward, you will be able to ensure that every day is a great energy day, simply but managing your body chemistry and deciding what fuel to put in it. This has been literally life-changing for me, as before I discovered this I spent many days wondering why I “woke up on the wrong side of the bed” or why I seemed so down and depressed on certain days and so energetic and positive on others. I couldn’t really identify why I could feel so different from one day to the next, particularly when the obvious factors where pretty consistent (sleep, stress, relationship status, alcohol intake, etc.). If all of that stuff is under control, because obviously all of that can have a major impact on how you feel each day, you can be sure that the thing that primarily affects your energy and mood is your food intake. It will feel great to know that you can now take complete control of your life and manage your moods with this simple technique.   

Have an awesome day! 

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