The key to being a successful person might just start with what you put into your body. For starters, the amount that you eat is a crucial part of how and why some people are mentally productive and others fall apart by 2. I fall apart by 2. In fact, I only lasted that long today because a good friend slipped me a bag of mixed nuts in the morning. Those nuts, a banana, and two cups of coffee (cut with milk) were the fuel expected to power me through a day full of classes, tutoring, and intense conversation. That paltry meal was not enough.
Years of reading medical journals and seeing that information dumbed down and regurgitated through Men’s Health have taught me that breakfast is extremely important after the down cycle of a good night’s sleep. Follow that with up to five additional small meals throughout the day in order to keep your body at peak level. Wash all of this down with 8-10 glasses of water minimum. Avoid soda and other sugary drinks, and engage in physical activity in order to keep the body active and alert. The mind will respond well to this. It may need some glucose and caffeine for the prefrontal cortex to be in top form, but if you’re doing everything else above, this may not be as necessary.
Everything above is exactly what I ain’t doing.
I may or may not have breakfast. Instead I settle for 2 cups of coffee diluted in creamer. The coffee is an appetite suppressant, so I can ignore the morning hunger. My work schedule generally means that I don’t see a break until 11:05 and that is usually swallowed by students who stay late or me just running over. 11:15 hits and I am at it again till 12:30. There is a brief walk to the writing center and another hour of work. Then it is off to get the kids from school. I stop at Wendy’s for a small value meal and let the calories carry me until the 5:30 (or sometimes as late as 7:30) dinner. The day is done and I have eaten 1 meal. At that point the body’s metabolism is on strike, recognizing my failure to consume nutrients. Instead of losing weight, it stores the fat I consume and allows me to have something to work with for the next time I act a fool and don’t eat. That next time is the next day, and the day after, etc.
I close the day with three more cups of java and enter the down cycle sometime after midnight. Morning comes too soon and my body never gets to recharge. This is how young people become old fast, and this is how I am going to die before 40.
Unless, of course, I do more than realize how sick this is and actually change it.