The Champion’s Brew is a weekly assembly of things I am reading, listening to, or watching designed to equip and call you to uncommon leadership. I believe you will discover that the format is not only useful, but also that you can consume it within the time it takes you to enjoy your daily ‘brew’! Did someone share this with you? You can Become a member of the Champions Brew Nation by subscribing here!!
Here is your weekly drink of what I have been reading and experimenting with to help me to:
- Eat Healthy and Be Happy: I received a newsletter recently from Fix Health Chief Client Officer, Ali Thomason, who talked about “7 Tips to Stay Fit During Football Season”. It’s not about PLAYING football, but for those who love to watch football, the snacking can be a detriment to our fitness and nutrition program, so here is my ‘spin’ on 7 ways to ‘Eat Healthy’ while watching a football game that lasts 3 hours or more:
- Don’t show up hungry – Easier said than done. The tailgate food is great and than snacking during the game on the things you like are SO easy. So, if you know you are going to a tailgate with a lot of food, you may want to have a healthy snack before hand so that you are not full and want to devour everything. (NOTE: This does NOT work for drinking, though! If you show up and have already enjoyed a few beverages, you are MUCH more likely to enjoy several more… Ya Know what I mean?)
- Load up on veggies – Stay closer to the veggie tray so even when you DO snack endlessly, the calories do not add up as much (NOTE: This does NOT go for FRIED veggies!)
- 1:1 rule works for drinking – One water… one drink…one water. Staying hydrated also helps when you are out in the sun for a few hours.
- Avoid sweet mixed drinks – The sugar in the sweet mixers can throw the calories way up. Keep it simple… light beer or a spiked seltzer if you like to have a couple alcoholic beverages
- Bring your own healthy snack – Maybe you can help to influence someone else at the tailgate, too! Bringing your own snack (and your own drinks) can help you to reduce over-consumption
- Step away from the table! – Do not stand within an arm’s distance of the food area. It’s too easy to just mindlessly pick at the snacks when you are standing right next to it. Before you know it, you have engulfed a baker’s dozen of fried wings and a quart of ranch sauce!
- Move around a bit – Throw some football with someone, take a walking break to get in a few 100 steps. Every step counts.
I hope you have a great football tailgating season and your team wins every game. Eat healthier at the tailgates so that the “Tailgating 20” pounds doesn’t come on so easy!!
- Work Hard (and effectively!): In this article from Harper Collins Leadership Essentials, Tanya Dalton discusses Three Myths Keeping You from True Productivity. I especially like her use of research and/or data to make her points. The three myths (and associated data (Plus some commentary from me!) are as follows:
- “I’m an excellent multi-tasker” – Scientists have shown that when we multitask, our productivity actually drops by 40% and according to a University of London study, our IQ actually drops, too! There are exceptions. 2% of people have been shown to be “supertaskers” who can actually effectively multi-task. (I hear you – you probably think you are one of the 2%, don’t you? Well, when I was growing up, I had a coach that would tell me I couldn’t walk and chew bubble gum at the same time, so how could I be part of the 2%? – Haha!!) – We work best when we work on one thing at a time!
- “I don’t have time to take a break” – Stanford researchers discovered that your productivity actually drops dramatically once you hit the 50-hour mark in your workweek. Workers who put in 70 hours produce nothing more with those extra 20 hours. – (I have learned that for me, good rest is critical. I target 6.5 hours per night. AND, I do like working from home and being able to take a brief 15-minute nap once in a while to recharge the battery during the day. Harder to do in office. Maybe we should put nap pods in the office!)
- “Tech is always better” – A joint study between Princeton and UCLA discovered that people who took notes with pens performed twice as well on tests as those using laptops. – (WOW! – I feel better now. I have tried many different note taking apps only to come back to the old pen and journal as most effective for me!)
- Quote : “A leader (coach) takes people where they want to go. A GREAT (sic – UNCOMMON) Leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be.” – Rosalynn Carter
What you need to do:
Call to Action: Which of these 3 myths to you struggle with the most? BONUS question: What is your favorite HEALTHY tailgate snack? Drop me a note: [email protected]
I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of Champions Brew. If you enjoyed it, I would appreciate it if you would share it with a friend who might enjoy it as well and ask them to subscribe! I will make sure they automatically get this email every week.
Also, the Uncommon Leader podcast is live! Click HERE for a list of the episodes of interviews I have done with Uncommon leaders. It has been enjoyable for me, and I know the guests will add value to you as well!
Until next time, go and Grow Champions!
One Response
NOW I see this. We were born with long arms, so not being close to that table is tough.
I’m an excellent multi-tasker. I find myself looking at the “tabs” open in life(such as on top of the computer) and then I get overwhelmed when I actually see it.
I struggle with prioritizing. I feel as though if I prioritize one over the other, someone is always upset. I’m a pleaser, and that is my downfall.