A simple study break meal to optimize mental performance (eggs and greens)

Nutrition and sleep are the force multipliers of life.

If you're looking for two ways to improve your learning capabilities as well as your creative performance, these are it.

After graduating with a nutrition degree in 2015, I've spent a lot of time experimenting with different ways of eating to better my mental and physical game. Most of what I've learned has been through trial and error. Trying a certain way of eating, seeing if it works for me and changing it if it doesn't.

The most important thing to remember is what works for one person, might not work for someone else. In your journey to figure out what works for you, this meal is worth trying.

It's high in fat and protein and will keep you full and fuelled for a long time.

Ingredients:

• 4 Eggs
• 1/2 Avocado
• Handful asparagus
• A few kale leaves
• 1 onion
• 1 stalk of shallots
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (more can be used as a dressing)
• 3 large mushrooms (6 if smaller)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Seasoning of your choice

Instructions:

1. Heat up 2 pans to 6/10 heat, add at least 1 tablespoon of olive oil to each.
2. Cut up mushrooms, shallots, onion, remove ends of asparagus.
3. Add chopped vegetables to 1 pan and crack eggs into another pan.
4. Add spices to the pan with vegetables (I used dukkah) and mix often.
5. When vegetables have cooked a little, add kale leaves and mix some more.
6. Once cooked to satisfaction, move eggs and vegetables to one plate, add avocado and season with salt and pepper.
7. Enjoy the brain gains!

Feel free to add any extra green vegetables you want. Or even some nuts for a bit of a crunch.

I made a video going through these steps as well as talking about some other ways to improve your overall mental performance. I've listed them below.

Learn to cook

Learning to cook ensures you know what food you're putting in your body. When you eat out you can never be sure of the different ingredients which are being used.

If you're looking to improve your health, mental performance or physical performance, start figuring out what foods suit you best by learning to make them yourself.

Eat less often

Keep it at 1-3 meals max per day. You want to reduce the number of times you spike insulin in your body. Insulin is a growth hormone. It triggers your body to store excess energy from food (as fat).

Stick to simple foods

The fewer steps a piece of food takes to get to you the better. You want to avoid things which have been over processed.

If it comes in a packet or requires an advertisement, you don't need it.

If you do eat food from a packet, read the ingredients label, if you can't understand the name of something, avoid it.

Avoid any kind of added sugar, it's never needed.

Avoid seed and vegetable oils

Oils like sunflower, canola and vegetable oils are high in Omega 6's. Too many of these throw your body and brain out of balance (you want to consume equal Omega 6 and Omega 3).

Omega 6's and Omega 3's are known as essential fatty acids. Being out of balance of these can lead to problems like lack of concentration, brain fog and more.

Stick to oils like olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and grass-fed butter or ghee.