I may be more nutritionally sensitive than others.  It’s probably because I’m such a high perfomance machine -wink, wink.  Yet I’ve noticed over the years that my body really responds to what I eat. 

If I have sugar or any breakfast that is primarily carbs (cereal, pancakes, etc) in the morning, I’ll be very fatigued by early afternoon.

If I have coffee in the morning, again, I sail until about 11 or so, when I suffer a precipitous drop.

If I overeat at lunch, eat fries or a bunch of starchy food, or indulge in desserts after lunch – you guessed it.  I’m sleepier than your grandpa during last Sunday’s sermon.

None of this is a problem if I’m working outside or going ice-fishing.  It’s a huge problem if I’m trying to read, pray, or have a productive meeting with someone.  When I get sleepy, the cobwebs envelope my mind and I sorta turn to mush.  I hate that feeling.

I’ve been battling this for years as I have also considered what I will call “incidental” nutritional advice in the Bible.  This is what I’ve learned:

First, as I have previously posted here, fasting tends to provide me with an excellent overall increase in energy and immune function.  On the day of a fast, sometimes my energy level dips during the day, or I get pretty tired late in the day, but overall it’s decent.  It’s the day or two after a fast where I see the greatest gains in energy.

Second, I’ve tried to alter my diet and eating patterns somewhat.  I eat mostly whole grains, lean meat, and vegetables.  I really love chocolatey things, so if I have some during the day I try to keep it reasonable and I avoid milk chocolate which has more saturated fat and sugar (or perhaps, like an alcoholic who can produce evidence that a glass of red wine is high in antioxidents, maybe I’m just rationalizing my passion for dark chocolate - who knows!). 

I don’t know what snacking looks like for you but I used to wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning and go have cookies and milk before getting up for breakfast at 6:30 or 7.  For most of my life cookies weren’t dessert, they were hors d’ouevres. 

Moreover, though I eat the three main meals, breakfast and lunch tend to be light and I keep munching reasonably healthy foods in between like venison jerky or fruit.

Wow.  It’s making a big difference.  I think the biggest thing for me has been cutting out starchy stuff and sugar. 

I’ve also tried to have a more reasonable dessert and eat it earlier in the evening.  That’s been hard because I start getting hungry around 10 at night and I really want to eat about five cookies and go to bed.  But I haven’t been doing that and I’m noticing I wake up easier in the morning and I’m not as grumpy.  Surprise, surprise.

I have really enjoyed the boost in energy, cheer, and productivity and I hope this helps you as well.

Oh yes – one last tip: If you’ve been up quite a bit at night, like say, with a puking child, and you’re still under a deadline, like say, to preach a message on Sunday, but you’re afraid you’ll get sleepy if you sit down to study, here’s what you can do:  Don’t sit down to a meal.  Skip breakfast, skip lunch.  Don’t eat any bread or fatty food whatsoever.  Slowly munch on fruits, vegetables, dried fruits and maybe a bit of lean meat here and there throughout the day.  You’ll be fine, your energy level should be decent if not great, and the sermon, or whatever, will be better because you sacrificed to make it happen.

Go get’em, tiger!  You’re grrrrreat!