Nutrition:
What You Should Eat

Here’s what you need to add to your daily diet:

A protein drink breakfast:

It’s an old line but, breakfast really is the most important meal of the day – especially when you are using your brain a lot.  You want your breakfast to be high protein, high vitamin and mineral with some good carbs.  Get a good protein powder.  It should be mostly whey protein isolate and make sure that it has lots of added amino acids, vitamins and minerals.  Costco carries a really good one at a very good price.  Protein powders usually come in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.  Chocolate and strawberry are the best with chopped ice and a banana.  For the good carbs, try something with oats.  Low sugar granola, old fashioned oat meal or a couple handfuls of Cheerios are good.  I like to keep my dairy low, so I eat my Cheerios dry (with no added sugar, of course).

I’m always amazed at how many of my students come to school without eating breakfast.  Simply put, your brain cannot even begin to function without good fuel.  Start your day with a good breakfast and you will immediately notice a difference in how your brain and your body perform throughout the day.

Lots of water:

I told you not to drink soft drinks (regular or diet) and I told you to not drink coffee and I told you not to drink a bunch of fruit juice.  So, what should you drink?  Nope, not a sports drink.  Those things are loaded with sugar too.  The answer is WATER!  This is what God gave us to drink.  It’s what all the animals drink and it’s the best thing for you.  And, girls, you'll even find that drinking enough water will help you keep your weight at a healthy level.  (When you are dehydrated, your body compensates by storing fat.  Ugh!)

Yes, there is a lot of healthy fast food out there.  I know what your schedules are like and I know that most of the food you’ll consume will be of the drive-through variety.  Hey, I do that a lot too.  But, it’s easy to get GOOD fast food.  Avoid hamburgers and fries and go with the places that serve chicken, salads and Mexican food… and get it with water (not a shake or soft drink – that saves money too).

Fruit, veggies, nuts, low sugar granola, natural popcorn, yogurt, nuts, all-fruit popsicles, protein shakes, low sugar protein bars (some of these have as much sugar as candy bars so check.)

Your body is a temple.  It’s the only one you have.  Value it, treat it well and it will reward you with a long life, high energy, clear thinking and good health.