Worst Ingredient for Your Brain

Ugh, I was doing so well with my nutrition plan this week until today. Then BOOM! I messed up. And I’m worried you made the same mistake…Here’s what happened.

I spent Easter Weekend down at Joel Marion’s house in Tampa. We had an amazing family brunch (his kids call me, “Crazy Uncle Braigz”) at the Don Cesar hotel on St. Pete Beach. I had lamb, mahi, and tuna, along with a big plate of salad, roasted vegetables, and fruit (I almost always have pineapple for dessert). I skipped the Mimosas and the “waffles with Nutella” that Joel’s brother-in-law and his kids enjoyed. I was stuffed from eating real food, anyways.

The Florida weather has been even better than the food, and Joel and I have been able to get out for a couple of really great interval workouts. (One day a TT reader recognized us and scared the heck out of Joel and I with a big loud horn honk when they drove by…ha!)

I also did a classic upper body garage workout of: 1A) DB Press; 1B) DB Row; 2A) DB Incline Press; 2B) DB Chest-Supported Row. So simple, yet effective for building a beach body.

And so my workout and nutrition week was going perfect – until today. I drove to Miami for some meetings and a friend’s wedding in South Beach on Saturday. It’s going to be a great weekend, but I ruined my day by letting this one stupid ingredient slip into my diet. The thing is, I needed to “eat” this particular food to keep my energy levels up on the 4-hour drive.

Now you might think that one little ingredient can’t be that bad…but this ingredient does a lot of nasty things inside of your body. Find out why you should avoid it by reading page 9 here:

#1 worst ingredient I ate today (revealed on page 9)

I knew better, so why did I eat it? Well, one of my ‘superpowers’ is the ability to fall asleep in a moving car. I can’t go 10 minutes without nodding off when I’m in the passenger seat. But that’s bad news when you’re driving. The only that keeps me up are foods with caffeine in them…but unfortunately, my favorite caffeinated food also contains one ingredient that is terrible for me.

I need to be better prepared next time to have a stash of Green Tea, cacao nibs, or Zevia soda … all of which are safe and effective ways to get caffeine, unlike my choice of the day which also contained…

#1 worst ingredient I ate today (revealed on page 9)

Don’t make the same mistake I did.

To your health and energy,

Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer

PS – Lots of folks have been…

…emailing to ask about Bally the Dog’s surgery (he had a cyst removed from his eyelid)…and it went well. He’s doing fine…well, except for having to wear the “cone of shame” for the next few days. He’s staying with Grandma, and here’s her report: “He couldn’t jump into the back of the car so we had to lift him. He has to wear the cone on his head until the 20th so he doesn’t scratch his eye, but he keeps running into the door frames and it’s going to break soon.”

LOL. Silly dog. By the way, there’s a picture on my TT Facebook page of him post-surgery with the cone of shame. Don’t laugh!

PPS – Today’s kickbutt motivation tip for you…

Failure isn’t bad. Failure isn’t final. If there is one thing I know after having observed this crazy world for 39 years, it’s that you can SURVIVE almost anything and come back better and stronger than ever before. Don’t let the fear of failure stop you from achieving the success you deserve. Failure only hurts when it means you’ve quit on something important to you. So don’t. Keep at it. The more you move in the right direction towards success, the better you’ll feel. Every day work on making new positive habits second nature automatic. Do your best to make little bets and mini-steps ahead each day. Stay strong. Never quit. I believe in you. You can do it.

PPPS – And if you haven’t figured out what that bad food was…

…it was my weakness, Coke Zero. Dang it. I’m a sucker for these things. Probably have 2-3 a month. I blame myself for drinking too much soda when I was a kid…and getting in the comfort zone habit of enjoying carbonated beverages…This stuff keeps me awake, but it’s no good for either of us. Cut it out, and all the other brain-killing foods you ate today. Discover those here:

#1 worst ingredient YOU ate today (revealed)

Stay Strong and Keep Pushing On.