Elizabeth Gordon is President of Flourishing Business

While traveling through a small town in South Carolina, I saw an interesting billboard for a restaurant. It read: Fish is brain food, bring a dumb friend and eat often! At first, I thought this sign was just plain funny - What a way to get people to eat fish. Beyond the humor though, there is truth in the message. I've read articles touting that eating fish does increase brain activity. By eating better we can optimize our mental and physical performance. 

As a business owner, there are many metrics you measure in your business, revenue, profit, website clicks, etc. But how about the number of nutritious meals, or grams of protein you consume per day? When you are busy building a business empire, it is not always easy to find the time to feed your body the right things, but that doesn't mean it's not important. Eating the right foods is not only important for your health, it’s also important for earning you wealth. 

We all know the saying: You are what you eat. Pink Flamingos are pink because of the shrimp that they eat. In the same way, people who eat a cheeseburger and fries twice a day begin to resemble a cheeseburger and fries. Hmmm. Another truth is that most successful people are in good health and they work at it just like they work on their careers. Luckily we are moving into an era where fast food doesn't necessarily mean unhealthy food. It is just as easy to pick up a burger, shake and fries as it is to grab some sushi or a salad and a bottle of water. I challenge you to eat right as a way to achieve more success in your business.
 
Here are five quick tips for changing the way you eat in order to promote increased intellectual output and productivity:

1. Instead of having two eggs and bacon in the morning, try a homemade fruit smoothie with a scoop of lean protein – you won’t taste the protein, but you’ll get the benefit of a breakfast that suppresses your hunger, allowing you to work hard without thinking about running out for a mid-morning snack.

2. Buy frozen fruit and vegetable packages in bulk at your local grocery store. Frozen foods can be cooked quickly and don’t contain all the sodium found in canned food. In addition to using the frozen fruit in the smoothies, it also makes for an easy, guilt-free desert to quell your sweet tooth cravings. 

3. For dinner, rather than ordering out, keep frozen chicken and fish on hand and use those frozen veggies to round out the meal. 

4. To prevent yourself from succumbing to candy or chips as an afternoon pick-me-up, keep healthy snacks on hand, like raw almonds, salt-free soy nuts and endamame. Because they’re high in protein, they’ll cinch your hunger more effectively than empty calories. 

5. Opt for water instead of colas or coffee, keeping your body hydrated will actually keep you more alert throughout the day. If you really need a shot of caffeine, enjoy a cup of green tea. I prefer mine on ice, these days. Cleansing your body of toxins goes hand-in-hand with nurturing yourself with essential nutrients to keep you at your best. 

Eating the right foods and drinking plenty of water can significantly increase your brainpower. That next brilliant idea may just be one healthy snack away. Keep this in mind as summer comes to a close and business starts to heat up.  

Elizabeth Gordon is President of Flourishing Business, an advisory firm for entrepreneurs.  Her consultancy helps businesses identify and cultivate the unique value they provide to the marketplace, develop/refine a business model that operates for the greatest good of the business, its owners, employees, customers and the world around it, and execute on a plan to manifest a growing company.  You can learn more at www.flourishingbusiness.com