I need to be really honest with you. Don't listen to me when it comes to nutrition.

Seriously, if the Gods centred me in the story of Achilles, it wouldn't be an arrow to the heal that got me, it would be a cinnamon bun in the cakehole.

Of all the areas of personal and professional improvement I have tried to master, this is the one I have succeeded at the least.

I eat what I shouldn't when I am tired, stressed, bored or distracted. Then I feel guilty, which makes me want to eat potatoes, fat and salt. I have tried all manner of ways to "fix" this with limited and temporary success.

But, in the long arc of my life, rather than the expanse of my waistline, I have definitely improved. When I was really struggling mentally in my 20s at University, my breakfast regularly consisted of a can of Coke, two bags of Hula Hoops and a Drifter. This morning I had a home-made protein shake and an oat milk coffee. My gut is not the same.

And yet, I did set out to come up with a top tip or two around nutrition and here they are:

1. Sack cinnamon bun guy.
2. Protein first.
3. Colour coded meals.

I have to be clear, the first one is new for me and I don't think you should claim a hack works unless you have done it for 3-6 months, but it came from bio-hacker Bryan Johnson. The basic idea is to speak to the version of you who makes the bad choices and tell them they are fired. Before you do that, write down all of the ways they don't have your best interest at heart and the ways they trick you.

For example... cinnamon bun Stephen, you are fired! You don't have my long term interests at heart. You use tricks like saying to me I have "earned" a 1,000 calorie almond croissant, knowing it'll make me crave even more later in the day. I see your tricks. I don't need you any longer.

I've found this to be reasonably successful so far. Will keep you posted.

The other two are well grounded in science and experience. If you make protein a centrepiece of most meals, you will be satiated and less likely to listen to cinnamon bun guy later on. You will also find it easier to build and maintain muscle. I prefer plant proteins for this. I experience them as being cleaner, but anything lean is good.

And to balance that up, I try to have as many different coloured foods as I can each day. That basically means loads of different fruits, vegetables and other plants. In 2021 I once had 28 different plants in one day. That was amazing.

So, that's it for today. But I would like to leave you with some actual expert advice. This is from Michael Pollan's book, In Defence of Food, where he looked at everything related to food and health before concluding that we should:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants”

See you tomorrow, for some Energy Management hacks.

Stephen

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