Fuel Your Day: How to Eat for Maximum Energy and Focus
It’s hard to find something that has more impact on our energy levels than the food we eat. Sure, coffee, but that counts as a staple food in my book. Are you optimizing what you eat to stay dialed in all day long?
When I ask people what they do to optimize their food intake to feel more vitality, I see their eyes go blank—or I spot a glimmer of panic and tension, as if I were going to talk about deprivation, dieting, calorie counting, or giving up wine.
I live in France. I trained as a chef. I know how important the pleasure factor is. I also know the liberation I felt when I started understanding how my metabolism works. Now, I consciously use food so hunger, hangriness, and energy dips don’t impede my life. I do it without skimping on enjoyment or quantity.
No More Slumps
One day, my daughter was on vacation and she made me pancakes (they were gluten-free) for breakfast. No way I was going to say no. I enjoyed them fully, with maple syrup and all. Then I went to work. Inevitably, late morning, came the drooping eyes, the yawning, and the absolute need to eat, hands trembling, my thoughts narrowed in on the next meal—the dreaded sugar crash. I was good for nothing.
That is a slump.
You’ve felt them. You see it happen in others, when at 11 am they start playing with their pencils in the meeting and eyeing the stale croissants in the back of the meeting room. Mid-afternoons are another bad time for concentration.
Except when you manage your food as an energy source.
Food as Brain Fuel
Playing with when you eat good fat and when you eat carbs is one way to optimize your food intake to have more consistent energy throughout the day. Most days, I manage all morning without a thought of hunger, my concentration dialed in. No slumps.
I do it by loading up on good fat in the morning (yes, my butter coffee). Sometimes I eat protein too. At noon I primarily eat lots of veggies, some protein and some fat, and only in the evening do I eat carbs. This works well for me.
The principle is that the body can fuel with either sugar and starch (carbs) or with fat. When you become fat adapted, you can play with what you eat when depending on how you want your energy to be.
Read more here: The Big Fat Deal: the Life-changing Power of Metabolic Flexibility
Bioindividuality
The thing about food is that we all react differently to it based on our genetics, lifestyle, gut microbiome, environment, gender, and activity levels. You really have to play around and find what works for you. It’s more like a journey of discovery, the first step being to listen very carefully to your body.
Personally, I eat lots of plants, a moderate amount of protein and good fats. I enjoy small amounts of carbs, depending on my activity levels. I eat seasonal foods I can recognize (so not processed). I eat various kinds of foods and lots of different colors. I never say no to dark chocolate.
The Basics
Here are a few basics that can have a large impact on your energy levels.
When a body eats nourishing foods, it craves nourishing foods. So choose the most nutrient-dense foods you dan find and enjoy. I eat whatever I want, from fancy coffee in the morning to rich, creamy homemade chocolate ice cream.
Keeping toxin levels low frees up energy. Toxins add up over the day and can really slow you down. I avoid processed foods and eat organic. I also avoid artificial sweeteners, dyes, anything that isn’t really food.
Figuring out how your blood sugar and hormones work help you not feel hungry all the time. Fat without carbs in the morning fills me up and makes me feel less hungry by triggering the right body responses. I’ve cut out nearly all sugar and replaced it with medium-chain, undamaged fats like butter and coconut oil. I don’t even miss it.
Avoiding foods that cause inflammation can give you more energy and better cognitive function. Grains and gluten cause a lot of inflammation. I now even often avoid gluten-free substitutes. I eased my way into this, first removing gluten, and then removing other grains afterwards.
Most dairy products contain casein and lactose, which can cause inflammation and digestive issues. I still eat plenty of butter, which doesn’t have all the inflammatory casein and lactose because of the buttermilk is separated out from the butterfat. Raw milk works better, along with sheep’s milk and goat milk, if I don’t have too much.
Hacks for Optimizing Food
Mindset. I know that the changes I’ve made in my diet allow me to think more clearly, to keep my cool in stressful situations, to have more energy when the day is over, and to wake up fresh and ready for what comes my way. I don’t feel puffy, my skin is better, my jeans fit better. With these sensations in mind, I don’t feel any deprivation at all when I say no to a soggy, tasteless sandwich or even a freshly baked cake.
Tracking. If you log what you eat and how it makes you feel (immediately and in the following few hours) for a week or so, it becomes really clear what foods contribute to clear thinking and high energy levels, and which do not.