How A Tiny Change Can Make A Huge Impact: Eating To Maximize Your Productivity

  smiling kids lunch box 
  Originally uploaded by Keiki

One problem that I have with working from home is that sometimes I get so focused on the work I'm doing that hours go past, and before I know it it's 3pm, and I haven't had breakfast or lunch, and I'm absolutely starving and feeling in desperate need of a nap!

Another occasional side effect of this meal skipping is what Andy Wibbels calls "the hungry bitchies" ;-). Nobody wants to be around someone who has the "hungry bitchies", believe me. You'll get your head bitten off!

Not that the "hungry bitchies" happen that often with me, but I can't deny that proper nutrition and eating at regular time intervals can can have a huge impact on a person's productivity, moods, and energy level.

Challenges Make Change Fun

I've known this in my head for a while now about the need for nutrition and have from time to time made a concentrated effort to "break for lunch", but over the last few weeks I've been doing something a bit more dramatic, that has actually had an unanticipated amazing affect on my productivity.

I had told ya a while back that I was going to attempt a physical challenge that would be part of my hero quest, and this physical challenge is...drumroll...The Body-for-LIFE Challenge.

The Body-for-LIFE Challenge is sort of a scientific, spiritual, mental, and physical approach to health and well being. It integrates a combination of aerobic and strength-training exercise, proper nutrition, and focused, positive thinking.

It is way more than just a physical challenge--it's a mental exercise in building self-trust. One of the consequences of following the program is a physical transformation, but the results you see on the physical level are only a reflection of the transformation you've created on the inside. For anyone who feels like they would like to make a life transformation, I can highly recommend the effectiveness of this challenge.

The motto for the program says "12 Weeks to Mental And Physical Strength", but I think they should add "And Through The Roof Productivity!" onto the end of that sentence, cuz from Day 1 I've definitely seen a huge jump in my productivity, which is determined by my energy level and being able to maintain a mental focus.

A Little Life Tweak

These are the main things I've started doing because of the Body-for-LIFE Challenge that have had a HUGE impact on my productivity:

• Morning exercise of a high intensity
• Eating a small, healthy meal every 2-3 hours (it comes out to 6 meals a day)

I was just shocked the first day I implemented the eating and exercise program and was eating a little meal every 2-3 hours --by 5pm, I still had top notch energy!

Even after work, I was still raring to go and was able to get more "personal chores" done each day.  I really have to credit the 6 small meals giving my metabolism little boosts throughout the day so that the mid-afternoon sleepiness ceased to exist.

I've been doing this new eating and exercise strategy for about 3 weeks, and I can't even keep track of how much more work I'm able to do because basically my entire day is optimally efficient.

I think it's so cool that doing little "life tweaks" like this can have such a huge impact.

Has anybody else tried this multiple mini-meal eating schedule?

Or do you have another eating strategy that you think helps you have optimum productivity? Tell us about it...

Comments

[Perfect Life Project]

Excellent post Sharon. Diet is so undervalued by most people. Diet isn't just about losing weight, its also about efficient energy consumption.

I have gone through periods of poor diet or food management where I had the daily highs and lows, energy crashes etc.

These days I manage to run an ad agency, two blogs, an online business, enjoy time with my family and race as a competitive cyclist....all with plenty of energy and health.

Like you, I try to graze on small and healthy meals all day. Fruit, nuts, salads, whole grain breads. No sweets or junk.

Its amazing what you can do and how alive oyu can feel when the food management is right.

[ChierGirl]

I want to eat healthy and help my kids do the same. It gets very confusing as to what is best. I am a carb lover for sure. Onething I would like to change which is huge is to eliminate soda. I just recieved an e-mail from a friend about the horrible stuff in diet soda. It is going to take committment to change a lifelong habit, though. I am glad you are feeling the positive effects of your new diet habits.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hi Perfect Life--you are a perfect example of how much of an impact changing your meal patterns and eating nutritious foods can have on a person's ability to accomplish more because of increased energy.

I think pretty much all of us have used the excuse "I don't have time to exercise and eat right", but really what I'm finding is that taking the extra time to coordinate those things actually *creates* time because I have more energy.

I also think radically limiting (I have one day a week where I can eat whatever I want) the junk food and sweets has helped a bunch cuz there aren't the big highs and lows that go along with carb overdose and sugar highs.

Wow--what a revelation! :-)

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hi ChierGirl,

Oh yeah, me too re: the carbs and sweets. Love 'em!

Making changes is a big deal--it's not easy, but with this Body-for-LIFE challenge I'm doing, it's kind of making it easier for me because I'm focusing on so many positive things that I'm adding to my life rather than things I'm taking away.

For some reason, it's easier to get rid of ingrained habits for me if I focus on adding a habit that will "crowd out" the unwanted habit.

One example is the diet soda, as you mentioned. So, on the BFL program I have the goal each day of drinking 10 glasses of water a day. By focusing on adding the water to my diet and having the specific goal of 10 glasses, I naturally ended up radically decreasing the amount of diet soda I drink, cuz there's only so much liquid I can consume each day :-).

Now I am down to having just one diet soda a day. I LOVE Coke Zero--I don't know if you've ever tasted that, but to me since I'm not eating much sugar any longer, that diet soda actually tastes like a real coke. I have a can of Coke Zero after my last meal of the day, sort of like a dessert.

I'm fine with not completely eliminating the diet soda 100%--getting down to just one a day is acceptable to me, and I feel good about drinking more water.

[Perfect Life Project]

Sharon....I couldn't agree more about creating more time for yourself via diet. I am no hippie health nut, just someone who found that eating well was so much more rewarding. Less highs and lows, more overall energy, more vitality and clearer thinking.

The hardest thing is breaking the habits of a lifetime. Sodas, refined and processed foods, sugar and fats are things we grow used to and crave. But they are awful for our bodies and mind.

I recommend cutting one thing at a time, maybe for three weeks, then move onto the next. Don't shock the body, just ween it off the junk step by step. After a while you wonder why you enjoyed the bad stuff so much.

The other trick is regular exercise. Once you have done a hard workout, you don't want to ruin all that good work with a sudden dose of cheap calories.

If you are hungry eat fruit, thirsty drink water.

[Dianna in Maui]

Good for you for trying the BFL Challenge! I'm on my last week of my first 12-week challenge and I feel like a new person. I've lost 20 lbs and have the energy and stamina of a 20 yr old. It's a wonderful life changing experience. I'm going to start a second 12 weeks with a new set of goals. Keep going!

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Perfect Life--yes, eating well is kind of addictive! I do have one day a week where I eat anything I want, and for the first few weeks I really did that--lots of junk food on that free day!

But then I realized that my happiest days of the week, when I was in the best mood and had the best energy were the days when I had the 6 small healthy meals spaced 2-3 hours apart--it was a total revelation!

Definitely I agree with you about not trying to change your entire world at one time--with the few changes I've made (the intense exercise, the structured eating plan, limiting junk food to one day a week, etc) I am noticing unhealthy habits just falling away without me having to try. So cool!

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hi Dianna--Oh, I'm so excited that you're doing the BFL Challenge too! It's inspiring for me to hear that you're in your final week--it must feel so amazing to have the end of the first challenge in sight. :-) That's so awesome that you've lost 20 lbs and have reclaimed your energy--way to go!

I'm about to start week 4, and I personally cannot wait to make it to the final week. I've experienced such positive results starting from the first day I started this challenge that I firmly intend to do a second challenge and keep the momentum going.

They say that character is making promises to yourself and keeping them. The heart of this Body-for-LIFE challenge is basically building character and inner strength, and then seeing that reflected on the outside.

I totally recommend it to anyone who thinks that in any part of their life they might not be living up to their full potential. It will change your world if you keep your promises to yourself and see the challenge through.

This is why I made this BFL Challenge part of my hero quest. We're all capable of much more than we often give ourselves credit for, and I think challenging our preconceptions about what we can do and the changes we can make in our lives brings out the hero in us.

[hak]

Eating 5-6 small meals per day is definitely the key to recomping your body and keeping a steady energy level.

Your body likes a steady level of glycogen in the bloodstream, which your body uses for fuel. If too much glycogen gets in the bloodstream, insulin is released to shunt the extra into storage.

I like to use this example to illustrate how our bodies handle the infusion of food into our system: Let's say you have a water pitcher sitting in the kitchen sink, with the stopper closed. Any liquid that flows over the pitcher will stay in the sink. Now, put a funnel on top of the pitcher.

The sink is your fat stores, the funnel is your bloodstream and the water pitcher is your digestive system.

We have to fill the water pitcher with 12 cups of water every day. The cups of water represents our food.

Now...let's say we have the typical person who eats three meals a day: a small breakfast, a heavy lunch and a heavier dinner. Breakfast would be 2 cups, lunch would be 5 cups and dinner 5 cups.

You pour 2 cups in the funnel for breakfast and nearly all of the water goes from the funnel into the pitcher. At lunch, you pour 5 cups in the funnel, but more water is going in the top of the funnel than can come out the bottom. One cup of water spills over into the sink. You repeat this with dinner, losing another cup into the sink.

You now have two cups of water in the sink and 10 in the pitcher. Although you needed 12 cups of "fuel," you only absorbed 10 cups and lost 2 cups to the sink. Those 2 cups are being stored as fat.

Let's go to the person who spreads that 12 cups over the course of six meals of 2 cups each. Nearly every drop will make it through the funnel to the pitcher, with little being spilled over into the sink, right?

Obviously, this is a rather simplistic take on what really goes on in the body, but I found that it helps people visualize why they should eat more frequently during the day instead of chowing down in one or two sittings.

From direct experience, this method works well whether you want to gain muscle or lose fat. You just tweak the carb:fat:protein ratios depending on your goals...but you still eat 5-6 small meals per day.

P.S. The bonus is that by doing this, you also lower your overall cholesterol levels.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Hey hak--thank you, that is an excellent illustration. I don't know about in other countries, but in the US we do tend to have the biggest meal of the day be dinner, and it's a bit of an adjustment to switch from "3 square meals a day" to the 6 smaller meals.

I really like it though. By the time I get to my last meal, lots of times I like to make it real simple and make it the least complicated to make meal of the day. That way it's kind of like a reward--the simplicity and stress-free-ness of it is the reward and it's a real relaxing meal.

[maryam in marrakech]

How is it that whenever I come on this blog I find something new and inspiring?! I am looking into this right away.

[Sharon Sarmiento]

Oh Maryam, you will love it. Think: Lots-o-energy and never hungry. If you do the entire Body-for-LIFE challenge, then you even get one free day a week when you can eat whatever you want and not exercise. Joy!