Whoo - almost let a whole day slip by without a blog... That would have been the first in a long time!

I spent nine hours working on a team paper for my systems analysis class today so I'm a bit "written out" for the moment.

Today wasn't bad, but it wasn't exactly a banner day. Since I brought home that yummy cookie/ice cream dessert, I broke down at lunch and polished it off. That was 730 completely useless, empty calories on top of a 600 calorie, healthy lunch.

After a huge, high-calorie meal with no exercise, I was a complete spaz! Now I've crashed, I'm edgy and a bit down. I needed to be fueled up today, but large doses of simple carbs was not the way to go. I was so revved up I almost couldn't concentrate on my work!

Hm... This reminds me of a story.

Fuel for Thought
I wish I could go back in time and tell myself about the brain/food connection. In the weeks before exams, I'd get stressed and pig out. When you float high on calorie intake you feel like you have the power and energy to change the universe. (It's the body's left-over reward system for being in fat retention mode.) I would choose the days right before exams to try to correct every (perceived) bad behavior... I'd cut caffeine, and start a diet (which meant skipping meals and starving), and study day and night.

After days of starvation, the calorie high turned into a calorie-low depression. My conquer the world attitude fell to depression. My concentration went from sharp to mush. On exam day I'd be at an absolute low - my stomach growling through all 3 hours. Since I couldn't concentrate, each question took far longer than it would have otherwise. I would inevitably leave several questions left undone, and leave the class with a mediocre grade.

Boom and Bust
I didn't just do this in college; I starved myself before exams all the way through jr. high and high school. For some reason standardized tests didn't throw me the same way other tests and exams did, and I always did well. In fact, when I was 17 my PSAT scores were in the top 1% in the nation. I starved before my SAT and scored over 300 points below my PSAT ranking.

The Caffeine Mistake
I didn't understand how I could score so high on one test and so low on another. Like many other computer geeks, I had a Mountain Dew addiction. Caffeine gave me that same "on top of the world" feeling that calorie surplus did, so I thoght maybe that would help me do better on my exams.

So, on my usual life-changing pre exam diet, I started drinking copious amounts of soda. As with most things, there is a limit to the benefit you can receive from doing one thing. If you fuel your body properly with a surplus of slow-burning carbs and protein, you'll feel empowered all day. When you go overboard with food or caffeine, you'll rev yourself up so much that you leap past empowerment and straight into ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

I'll Take an F, Please
I remember sitting in a calculus exam in college with a soda clenched in my jittering, sweaty hand. My stomach, as usual, was growling and I was in a calorie deprivation fog. Breakfast consisted of two sodas, and this was my third. I was burning off the sugar in the soda faster than I could drink it. Acid reflux made me wince with every burp and my hands were trembling. My brain, far from being focused and sharp, was spanning the universe, following fascinating chains of related ideas, none of which had anything to do with my exam. After only completing 3/4 of the questions in the time alotted, I knew I had failed before I turned it in.

So caffeine made me feel like I was going a million miles an hour, but it made my performance worse. Unfortunately, I still didn't put two and two together. I would be in my late 20s before I truly understood how the way I treated my body affected my brain.

Straight A’s – The Happy Ending
I left college before getting a degree... My employer is sponsoring my schooling now, so I'm correcting that old mistake. I’ve been in school for a year and a half now, and have about 9 months to go before I graduate. Now that I understand how to fuel up before exams, the report card has straight A’s (and one B+ *smirk*) this time around.

If all goes well, I hope to attend the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business for my MBA. (Wharton is a top-five MBA school – up there with Harvard and Stanford.)
It is a shame that it took me until my mid 30’s to figure this out. Who knows how much farther along I would be if I had known about the calorie/brain connection earlier!


(So much for being "written out" *laugh*)