Time to Level Up
I WANT TO LEVEL UP LIKE LEBRON
I was in high school when the Gatorade commercial of Michael Jordan “Be like Mike” aired. I remember every boy (and some girls) sporting Jordan attire and shoes and pretending to stick their tongue out when they shot a basket. He was revered and for good reason. MJ is one of the greatest athletes of all time! PS I still can’t believe that was 25 years ago
But here I find myself in my 40’s and rather than be like Mike, I want to level up like LeBron.
Being from Cleveland, it should be no surprise I am a HUGE LeBron James fan. To me, he is one of the most impressive athletes of my time. But LeBron is more than an athlete. He is a businessman and a philanthropist. Many times I have asked- how does this man do it all?! How does he maintain the level of play at his age at the incredible pace and frequency of schedule that the NBA demands. It’s truly astonishing. After listening to a rare interview conducted by Tim Ferriss with LeBron and his athletic trainer, Mike Mancias, I realize his methods and techniques aren’t especially unique. And I am convinced EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US can level up like LeBron. And here is how.
Recovery
Let’s start here. LeBron plays basketball in the NBA. He has a unique job. But his job is no more important or stressful than yours or mine. I am a mother of two kids and work as a nutrition coach. You (reading this) may be a: a stay at home mom or dad, a student, a nurse, a doctor, a teacher, an accountant, a sales rep, a trainer, a factory worker, a lawyer, an analyst. No matter what it is you do- you are putting stress on your body doing it! The way to level up is to do things outside of your job (or during your job) that will lend to the RECOVERY of this stress. I understand this is an oversimplification of something that is not so simple. But to keep this to a reasonable read, we can ask ourselves this. How do we lower inflammation, cortisol levels, blood pressure, A1c, etc so that we can perform in our job and in life at the highest level possible. Void of injury and illness. Here is the short list I compiled from this interview.
Sleep
I would love to say that nutrition was the driving main point on this podcast, but it wasn’t. LeBron’s number one life and performance hack is SLEEP. He stresses the importance of 8-9 hours of sleep a night for his best recovery and in turn best performance. And if he doesn’t get the 8-9 hours, he takes a nap. The science is undebatable. Sleep deprivation hurts the brain and the body. Beginning and end of story. In the podcast, LeBron and Mike mentioned similar tips I share with my clients which are:
· Power down devices (tv, ipad, phone) at least an hour before shut-eye
· Dark room
· Cool temp (he mentioned 68-70; I have read even cooler and from personal experimentation, 66 is just right
· Quiet room (or use a sleep app like LeBron- he uses Calm and his white noise of choice is Rain on Leaves J
If you want to be understand sleep, what impairs good sleep and how to improve or track your sleep I would recommend doing some further research of your own. This is a hot topic in medicine and science right now. Additionally I recently enjoyed an interview with Harpreet Rai, the CEO of Oura Health. Oura is a ring and app that tracks recovery, sleep and readiness to perform by analyzing the body’s sleep, activity levels, daily rhythms and physiological response. Yes. This ring is the only thing on my Christmas list J
Nutrition
One of my favorite parts of the podcast was LeBron rattling off (in incredible detail) what he ate the previous day. I LOVED this and would have enjoyed knowing the diary for the whole week. Had I been conducting the interview there are a few more questions I would have asked. He mentioned he ate gluten free pancakes and then whole wheat pasta at lunch. Was this because he avoids folic acid (MTHR mutation perhaps)? Why egg whites instead of the whole egg? Yolk sensitivity? They also mentioned the post- game shake- and it wasn’t whey protein but rather a plant based protein powder (my guess is pea and watermelon seed protein as soy is known to be inflammatory). But I would love to know what is in that blender baby!
LeBron did share that while in season he avoids these three things:
1. Artificial sugars
2. Artificial drinks
3. Fried foods
If you are a daily fast food consumer and want to change- this is a very good place to start. It will offer you the most bang for your buck in terms of lowering inflammation in the body. If you spend a lot of time on the road (car, airports) this is no easy feat. And no- we don’t have LeBron’s personal chefs available to us. But what he named off wasn’t particularly unusual. Some eggs, some gluten free pancakes, some chicken parmesan and a salad. Heck, I think I eat more exotic than LeBron (when my husband reviews our Whole Foods bill he would probably agree). However! Eating clean doesn’t have to be complicated. Both LeBron and Mike said it’s about keeping food clean, simple and natural.
Hydration
His trainer was the one who mentioned the importance of hydrating- and with the amount of water loss on the court through sheer sweat, this is an important one for LeBron. But I also think this is something that the average human needs to be doing. My challenge is this. For one week, cut back to a single cup of coffee and drink half your body weight (in ounces) in just water (take in no other carbonated, sweetened or alcoholic beverages). Message me how you feel at the end of those 7 days. 99 times out of 100- my clients say it was life changing. They notice a significant drop in bloating, inflammation, hunger, cravings and sleep.
Self-Talk
This was brief but LeBron did share that he mediates (no surprise there). And when it comes to losses and defeat, he welcomes them. Not that he wants to dwell on the loss, but rather use it to be better himself. It’s an opportunity to learn. If only ALL of us could do this with our nutrition and exercise goals. Quit with the self-sabotaging behavior! LEVEL UP like LeBron. When you fall off and eat your weight in donuts on a Saturday morning- don’t call yourself a loser, give in to defeat and repeat the same mistake on Sunday morning. Rather- evaluate and examine what drove you to do it in the first place. Don’t dwell on it! Learn from it!
Consistency
LeBron and Mike reiterated this several times throughout the interview. For me, this was probably the most important life hack. What does it matter if I get 9 hours of sleep one night and then 5 hours the next two. I can never build enough momentum to make it matter. Gang- consistency is EVERYTHING. It’s why I love the word shift J Consistency brings the shifts. Sometimes the most subtle shifts are the most sticking. So as we come to a close in 2018 and begin peeking into 2019, I encourage you to think about just one or two things mentioned in this blog that you are going to CONSISTENTLY DO. Is it drink water? Is it 8 hours of sleep a night? Is it to swear off fried food for the next 365 days.
Whatever it is - do it with consistency.
I would be remiss if I didn’t close with a call to action.
I LOVE this stuff. It is my passion and my calling on this planet. If you are struggling and want to level up- please consider one of two options. Consider joining my 4-week program called Shift and Shred where you will learn how to make shifts to your daily nutrition so you can level up like LeBron. If the group online thing isn’t your jam- I work with clients privately one on one-locally and remotely. Allow me to be your accountability partner in your journey to better health!