Optimal Productivity

[Samuel Carr]

     Does anyone have any recommendations for nutrition to get more alert/focused for part of the day besides drinking coffee (doesn't seem to do much for me)? In order to fuel my nutrient needs, I'm constantly eating large amounts of carbs throughout the day and this makes me feel tired and sluggish for awhile once I finish a meal. I'm a college student and I feel like I can't focus or be productive through my classes and studying. I was looking into intermittent fasting because I read that when people fasted in the morning and had some black coffee, they became very alert and were able to get a lot of work done, and then simply eat their food later in the day, but I'm not convinced of the science behind this way of eating... Any recommendations?

[Karri Kytömaa]

I'm not convinced about the science either but best route is simply test what works for you. I know that when I was low carb, I felt more energetic which I find weird. But then again I wasn't moving as much as I'm now and for improving body composition, Joshua's tips have been a goldmine.

[Alexander Svensson]

When I was very in to IF and strict about my hours I was pretty much always alert and had energy to workout in a fasted state (as long as I was sleeping enough) even though my feeding hours varied between 2-6 hours mostly.

This is just me though.

[Travis Widmann]

Are you sleeping enough? Seems like a dumb question, but I used to be frustrated by how tired I felt all the time when I thought I was getting a decent amount of sleep. I was fooling myself. Getting actual full nights of sleep, which also means allowing for the amount of time it might take to fall asleep, makes a huge difference for me. It's hard in college, but sleep goes a long way.

 

I've been avoiding food comas too. Following Naterman's advice I've been eating smaller meals more frequently throughout the day. The opposite of IF. I never feel tired after a meal while I eat this way.

[Connor Davies]

I tried IF for a while and it definitely gets you wired.  Problem is, you get fuzzy as well and can't really think clearly...

[Samuel Carr]

I'm getting around 8 hours of sleep each day and nap later if I need to, so I don't think I'm sleep deficit. Maybe I'll give IF a try. My problem with the frequent small meals throughout the day is that I'm currently eating about 550g in carbs per day which means eating at least a large potato with each meal so I still feel sluggish after that.

[Connor Davies]

Why so many carbs?

[Samuel Carr]

It's the only way I'm able to put on even a small amount of weight. My BF is still around 9% so it's not overloading. After I get my protein and fat requirements for the day I need upwards of 500g carbs to complete my calories.

[Connor Davies]

How much protein do you eat?

[Samuel Carr]

My protein is around 160g per day. About .9-1.2g per pound of body weight.

[Bill Köhntopp]

My protein is around 160g per day. About .9-1.2g per pound of body weight.

I know this situation very well. When i'm eating spaghetti for example i feel tired for a long time, but i'm already done with protein and fat for the day, so there are just carbs at the end. But i think, i'm lean enough and you maybe either, that we can eat more fat without problems for the whole body if we are in need for the calories.

 

Very interesting this whole thing.

[Connor Davies]

My protein is around 160g per day. About .9-1.2g per pound of body weight.

You could probably do with some more protein.  I'm not gonna recommend dangerous levels, but 300g a day probably isn't going to kill you.

[Hanuman]

as a uni student i would have to agree with trw on the sleep aspect but personally i try to get in most of my fats in before dinner so i dont get the food coma aspect but the downside of this is  i find i dont seem to have enough energy, but this may also be down to the carb sources i do have before dinner, eg i do still currently eat cornflakes and bread, its possible that if u had the right ratio of fat to carb that u could still avoid the full feeling whilst also avoiding the drained feeling of fat energy. i also agree with the comments regarding intermittent fasting i found i seemed to have unending concentration but sometimes my brain seemed to screw up probably a lack of glucose u really feel it at the end of the day

[Bill Köhntopp]

for me the hardest part is not getting enough calories, its the fact to get the right ratio of carb to fat to protein.most of the time the fat is making up to 40% of my calories, but i almost always fail to get lets say 140g protein.

 

i believe in the theories that we humans are genetic developed to eat 1-2 big meals the whole day and not 6,7,8 to get our calories. becoming tired after a big dinner is normal as it has to be, to my mind, there will be a reason why it is that way. our body is not adjusted to digest the whole day, but we just can't go the natural way, e.g. because who is sleeping 1-2 hours at work after lunch?

sorry for drifting..

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

(...) i believe in the theories that we humans are genetic developed to eat 1-2 big meals the whole day and not 6,7,8 to get our calories.(...)

 

Hunter gatherers typically gather more than they hunt, and eat all day long...

That said, there is little records of the daily life of our ancestors back when they evolved 10,000 years ago back to 2,000,000 years.

[Aaro Helander]

I don't think that eating anything special will give you any acute kind of mental boost. I've been doing IF lately, and I try to get most of my stuff done when fasting, though I find that the mental state of fasting is most suitable for something active (working out etc.) since it is truly a bit fuzzy feeling probably due to higher cathecolamine levels.

 

What I have learned from various self-development coaches is that the biggest factor affecting our ability to be productive is the ability to focus. So, if you want to be more productive, practice focusing.

 

What comes to happiness, most people cannot maintain a positive mood for high periods of time. Why? Because they exhaust themselves by doing this, being happy requires your mind to be "trained" to be positive. Likewise being productive requires you to build momentum, switching gears is the hardest part, riding with the momentum is the easiest.

 

For focus, I would practice meditation 20 minutes every day, and this is not getting woowoo, meditation is basically just centering your focus to nothingess and centering on your breathing. I find that the mornings I start with this, my focus stays warmed up for the whole day.

[Bill Köhntopp]

Hunter gatherers typically gather more than they hunt, and eat all day long...

That said, there is little records of the daily life of our ancestors back when they evolved 10,000 years ago back to 2,000,000 years.

just a few thoughts to that.

Imagine you are a hunter or someone like that, who could get hunted from enemies too, would you really waste to much time with eating through the whole day instead of eating one big meal in a few minutes? besides eating berries along the road. 

also we never hunted with our speed, we hunted with endurance, thats proofen. we chased animals for hours, often more than a half day with just having intervisibility to them, we couldnt make a pause to eat often. you have to had enough energy for the long distance, also because you never now, if you find food on the way...after 50km or so, which weren't unusual.

Our digestive system is adjusted to eat a lot of food at once, too. we wouldnt have such a big "inner storage" for eating many meals, would be just a big waste.

Of course, not everyone was a real hunter earlier, but when they hunted, it was like that in general. I'm not saying everything is right, because i just can repeat what i read over the years in short  

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

just a few thoughts to that.

Imagine you are a hunter or someone like that, who could get hunted from enemies too, would you really waste to much time with eating through the whole day instead of eating one big meal in a few minutes? besides eating berries along the road. 

also we never hunted with our speed, we hunted with endurance, thats proofen. we chased animals for hours, often more than a half day with just having intervisibility to them, we couldnt make a pause to eat often. you have to had enough energy for the long distance, also because you never now, if you find food on the way...after 50km or so, which weren't unusual.

Our digestive system is adjusted to eat a lot of food at once, too. we wouldnt have such a big "inner storage" for eating many meals, would be just a big waste.

Of course, not everyone was a real hunter earlier, but when they hunted, it was like that in general. I'm not saying everything is right, because i just can repeat what i read over the years in short  

 

Nice story William - maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.

There is not much left to tell us what was the lifestyle outside of speculation & drawing parallels.

More than likely, early men were not the alpha predators and probably evolved to thrive on a diet of bone marrow from what could be salvaged from remains; that diet nicely complemented what could be gathered (berries, roots, eggs, larvae, fruits, the occasional honey, crustaceans, etc...), hunted or fished; most of the hunts might have been opportunistic.

 

For many reasons, I don't really buy into the theory that we "evolved to run down preys"; in all logic, the fittest to reproduce were the ones able to run away successfully!

 

As to the proofs you mention, I've looked long and hard and could not find any serious research claiming proof! The ones that did were quacks! However, this is just a domain of interest and erudition to me, so if you have links to these "proofs", I'll read them with interest.

[Bill Köhntopp]

Nice story William - maybe it is, and maybe it isn't.

There is not much left to tell us what was the lifestyle outside of speculation & drawing parallels.

More than likely, early men were not the alpha predators and probably evolved to thrive on a diet of bone marrow from what could be salvaged from remains; that diet nicely complemented what could be gathered (berries, roots, eggs, larvae, fruits, the occasional honey, crustaceans, etc...), hunted or fished; most of the hunts might have been opportunistic.

 

For many reasons, I don't really buy into the theory that we "evolved to run down preys"; in all logic, the fittest to reproduce were the ones able to run away successfully!

 

As to the proofs you mention, I've looked long and hard and could not find any serious research claiming proof! The ones that did were quacks! However, this is just a domain of interest and erudition to me, so if you have links to these "proofs", I'll read them with interest.

Ok, i can give you the page "team-andro.com" of course i haven't safed the specific sites in browser. its bodybuilding-forum, i hate it, but sometimes they are translating U.S. american studies, or professionell readings. And there are many about eating meat or eating grain and some are also about the evolution thing that fits to that. I think team-andro.com is also in english available?! Because they are just translating...

 

And then there's also a book http://www.amazon.de/Die-Steinzeit-steckt-uns-Knochen/dp/3492263984/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381236483&sr=1-1&keywords=Evolution+krankheit

 

grüße

[FREDERIC DUPONT]

Thank you William - we'll just have to agree to disagree here.

[Bill Köhntopp]

Thank you William - we'll just have to agree to disagree here.

Yes, its just so interesting, the whole evolutionthing. Mainly because there are no real proofs like in mathematic stuff. I just read about why we walk upright, the result was 7 answers from 7 different guys with glasses, e.g. the "high hanging berries hypothisis"(just translated word for word for every example ) or the "tool hypothisis" or my favourite "wade-to-water-because-thinner-and-longer-legs-give-you-less-waterresistance-also-we-are-above-the-watersurface-with-a-lot-more-of-our-body-for-making-the-standing-more-solid-while-getting-food-and-also-a-better-overview-hypothisis"

[Connor Davies]

.....I just read about why we walk upright.....

I'm going to go with creating a more efficient running stride.  We seem to be highly specialised predators, able to run other animals to death.  Which is pretty badass really.

[Bill Köhntopp]

yeah. i miss the times, where we run others to death...now we are making updates on facebook, where we go next

[Connor Davies]

yeah. i miss the times, where we run others to death...now we are making updates on facebook, where we go next

You know, some cultures still practice persistence hunting.  You could always try to join them...

[Bill Köhntopp]

but then i couldn't end my academic studies and that's my first aim right now