Executives’ eating patterns. Health and high productivity levels

Contents

1. Introduction

1.2 The Research Questions

At work
1. At work
1.1. Support
1.2. Working environment

Neuroticism
1.1. Neuroticism
1.2. Memory and Retention of Information

3. The Brain
3.1. Brain Fitness
3.2. Brain Feed
3.3. Energizing the brain and its functions
3.3.1. Convert Brain to a Harvester
3.3.2. Lowering the Glycemic Index Effect
3.3.3. Understand the Fats and their Effects on the Brain Function
3.3.4. Self-knowledge and Knowledge of the Brain Functions
3.3.5. Brain Fog Symptoms

Working-out and the Effects on Productivity
4. Working-out and the Effects on Productivity
4.1. Regular Working-out Benefits
4.2. Rush Workout
4.2.1. Rush workout vs. Weightlifting Training
4.2.2. Baseline Aerobic Fitness
4.2.3. Boosting the Aerobic Capacity
4.2.4. Reduce Belly Fat Approach

Subcutaneous Fat

Differences between Visceral and Subcutaneous Fat

Leptin Connection

Executives on the road

Executives on the road

Know your personal stress response:

Exercise:

Health factors:

Stress breaks:

Rethink the work:

Professionals:

Set boundaries:

Stop usual responses to stress:

Executives Managing Stress

Healthy Eating for Executives on the Run

Breakfast:

Balanced lunch:

Restaurant Strategies:

Busy Executive Tips:

Executives Diet, while on the road

Executives Diet, while on the road

Detoxify.

Free radicals

Forms of Fasting

History of Fasting

Physiological Reactions to Fasting

The Complete Fast

Safely of the Fast

Symptoms of the Fast

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent Fasting

Body weight and body fat during fasting

Glucose, Creatinine and hormones levels during fasting

The physical performance of athletes during fasting

Fed vs. Fasted

Insulin Resistance

Fat Adaptation

Metabolic Exercise

Less Feeding, More Fasting

Avoid Carbohydrates

Exercise Helps

Fasting

Fasting Myths

“Eat small frequent meals.”

“Fasting leads to burning muscle instead of fat.”

Your metabolism slows down when you are fasting.”

“If I don’t eat I will get low blood sugar [hypoglycemia].”

How To Fast Intermittently

LCHF Diet For Fat Adaptation

Forms Of Intermittent Fasting

Leangains

Warrior Diet

Eat Stop Eat

Fasting gives Results

Coffee is Amazing

Coffee

Consume coffee in small but frequent amounts.

Caffeine’s strengths

Coffee and cardiovascular system:

Coffee and addiction:

Caffeine sources

Tips for Blood Sugar Control

- Cinnamon:
- Carnosine:
- Biotin:
- Carnitine:
- Chromium:
- Lipoic acid:
- Coenzyme Q10:
- Vitamin C:
- Vitamin E:
- DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone):
- Essential fatty acids:
- Omega-3:
- Fiber:
- Magnesium:
- NAC (N-acetylcysteine):

Some Pointers

References

Introduction

The major goal of the present book is to make you think that in our professional lives, our main asset is not the knowledge we have gained from our Universities, certified by the gained degrees. Our main asset is not the experience we have gained from our involvement in the continuously changing environment in the market-place. It is not even the people we have met all these years as customers, policy-makers, vendors, or other stakeholders. Our major asset is our brain and the functions it serves. The way the brain processes the information required, acquired, collected, chosen, used, interpreted, and disseminated is essential for the direction of the business companies we lead and of course our own career path.

The major goal of this book is to make you understand that we have to take care of the asset we possess and make you turn to an ultimate machine that produces good decisions even in stressful situations.

This book aimed at answering the question trying to explore to way in which reinforcement can be provided while encountering stressful situations in order to assist them function towards better decision making. Further to that, what are the simple practices that can be utilized? What is the problem represented to be? What presuppositions underlie the conceptions concerning the decision-making process? What effects are produced by such representations?

Defining the Problem:

Cognitive Pattern:

- The focus of the book is on the way in which reinforcement can be provided while encountering stressful situations in order to assist them function towards better decision making,

1.2 The Research Questions

The overall strategic question to be answered is:

- In which way does the way reinforcement can be provided while encountering stressful situations in order to assist them function towards better health for executives and higher production levels?

The secondary questions the present study is answering are:

- What is the problem represented to be?
- What presuppositions underlie the conceptions concerning the decision-making process?
- What effects are produced by such representations?

1 At work

1.1 Support

It is normality for people for understand the tendency to readily share their troubles and frustrations with others, especially with other people somehow close to them such as family, friends, and others. (Jonker & Botma, 2012). In the cases where an event occurs at the office, the office colleagues have as a main concern to provide backing up. This assistance comes in the forms of:

- reassurance,
- affirmation,
- encouragement,
- esteem,
- advice,
- aid,
- information (Geddes & Callister, 2007).

This is also a demand coming from people encountering into an event. There are expectations that others will be available to provide support at the time when a colleague has their need (Viswesvaran, Sanchez, & Fisher, 1999). This need is connected to a collection of positive outcomes, which contains the following:

- job satisfaction,
- job performance,
- organizational commitment,
- diminished work stress (Chiaburu & Harrison, 2008).

There is very little knowledge about the things that potential support providers actually do or say in the provision of social support (Ducharme & Martin, 2000).

Sometimes, although there is help needed by an individual within a certain situation and the people expected to support us try to do so, the result may not be good as their help may fail to provide support (Fenalson & Beehr, 1994). Further to that it is found that many of the communications that were intended to provide assistance and support is not perceived as supportive (Bowling, Beehr, & Bennett, 2010). The methods of social support evaluate the people’s perceptions that other people close to them will be available and willing to provide support if and when needed (Karasek, Brisson, Kawakami, Houtman, Bongers, & Amick, 1998). Social support is a social phenomenon where individuals are into an exchange phase (House, 1981). During this exchange situation the provider contributes resources to the receiver in order to improve the receivers’ psychological well-being and deliver assistance to function better within the environment (Cobb, 1976).

The resources the provider contributes are usually:

- psychological,
- emotional,
- informational (Shumaker & Brownell, 1984)

In the event of stressful situations, other people can relief us from viewing the circumstances as inevitable, so the situation is appearing as:

- less threatening,
- lessen our feelings of guilt,
- reassure us of our worth and belongingness, and
- help to find solutions to problems (Suhr, Cutrona, Krebs, & Jensen, 2004).

The social support given by the support provider to the support recipient usually follows the paths of direct communication (Cohen, 1992; Gottlieb, 1985; Fenalson & Beehr, 1994).

Working environment

In the working environment, the employees that are in stressful situations expect their company to provide them with the necessary assistance to overcome their trouble (Eisenberger & Stinglehamber, 2011).

The views regarding the company’s support towards the personnel reflect the employees’ perceptions regarding the extent to which their company considers employees as:

- capital to be nurtured and developed or
- interchangeable commodities (Eisenberger, Huntington, Hutchison, & Sowa, 1986)

So the critical question is whether or not the company is willing to:

- support and reward the employees effort and
- provide them with the resources needed to be effective (Eisenberger, Cummings, Armeli, & Lynch, 1997).

The expectations people in a stress situation have from others, have an impact on the evaluation process where individuals consider what they can do to handle with a threatening situation (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985). In contrast, received support plays a direct role in handling (Pierce et al., 1996). Although the support expectancies reflect a coping resource, received social support contains unconcealed behavioral transactions when there is a need and therefore constitutes a handling response (Hobfoll & Shirom, 1993).

The perception that support by other people is available help to strengthen the person’s handling resources. It provides a peace of mind and the management is easier. Furthermore, this condition subsequently should reduce the extent to which employees evaluate workplace events as stressful (Cohen, 1992). If the workplace is stress-free, the employees can be more effective and productive.

The generalized support expectancies should influence the extent to which employees seek out others when they express stress (Geddess & Callister, 2007). When the work environment is considered as stress-free, the need for a search for assistance by the other employees is minimized.

The generalized expectancies can promote positive well-being directly by promoting belonging and allowing individuals to feel good about the environment in which they work (Cohen, 1992). When the work environment is considered as stress-free, the employees feel relieved, resulting into good feelings for the work, for the company and happy for working there, with higher levels of contribution.

Neuroticism

Neurotic individuals are likely to be rigid and un-adaptable (Goldberg, 1990). Innovation in companies is associated with a dynamic environment and with a continuous changing situation (Anderson & Tushman, 1990). On the other hand, innovative organizations are not characterized by rigidity or by high stability (O’Reilly et al, 1991). As a result, employees in innovative organization are continuously challenged to generate new ideas and to develop new methods and processes (Wiggins, 1996).

Research suggests that the notion that individuals who score high in neuroticism are prone to fear and anxiety in novel situations (Judge & Cable, 1997). This fact contradicts with the characteristics that the innovative organizations require in their employees. Employees in innovative organizations are given the permission to confidently attempt to develop new ideas with the belief that one of those ideas could be the next innovation (Hamel & Breen, 2007).

Memory and Retention of Information

In the decision making process Information retention and memory long enough is essential.

Memory refers to the ability people have, to acquire, retain, and use information and knowledge either from the short-term memory or long-term memory.

Short-term memory is the fragment of memory that is presently active and which can rapidly change when the focus of attention is changed. These are kept active in the mind for less than ninety seconds. Short-term memory supports the learning process.

Working memory is part of the short-term memory. It forms a speedily disappearing set of information that stores only recent events in the brain.

Long-term memory, on the other hand, is the warehouse for all the acquired knowledge and information. This kind of memory is retained in the mind for more than one hour.

Sometimes, memory can be misleading by remembering information differently than the way they actually occurred. This happens because it is complex as it can store information in various forms that include events, facts and related environment, perceptions, judgments, and images. People only store information in long-term memory that seems to be significant or valuable for future situations.

The attempt is to persuade the receiver to activate long-term memory. The activation is done through the association of new information with information already deposited in the long-term memory. The storage of the new information is facilitated by the repetition of the information and by reference. In these cases the information are relocated to long-term storage space. Reference memory is part of the long-term memory and contains all the unchanging images and facts learned and committed to (Eagly & Chaiken, 1975).

The Brain

3.The Brain

3.1 Brain Fitness

People from the moment they are born, have a prescribed cognitive tendency, for left or right side brain. These prescription deficiencies can be altered and corrected with the use of brain training exercises, in order to create a balanced thinking or enhance the parts of the brain needed for our decision-making (creative brain, analytical brain or balanced brain).

It is important to understand that what we consume and what we eat, such as the amount of calories, the carbs and the fats taxes short-term memory. All these can be very distracting and stressful for the operations of the brain. Maybe we should have a different approach. What counts is not what we eat, or how much we eat, but how we eat it. The way we consume our food can affect our minds.

3.1 Brain Feed,

3.2 Energizing the brain and its functions

The brain weight very low if we have it compared to the weight of the rest of our body. Although, the brain is almost 2 percent of the total body weight, it manages to absorb about 20 percent of our daily calorie intake. The brain can be seen as a busy consumer of calories that demands a continuous supply of glucose that is mainly obtained from carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, and grains. The brain predominantly uses other substances for fuel.

The frontal cortex which behaves as the Director of the brain is principally sensitive to decreasing glucose levels. As the glucose level drops it causes the symptom of confused thinking (Gibson, 2003). On the other hand, this fact does not suggest that we should frequently consume sugar to keep our brains functioning optimally. The reason for keeping away from sugar is that the high glucose levels slowly damage the cells of the body, including the brain cells (Montminy, 2000).

The brain reacts to excess food as if these were pathogenic factors (Dongshen, 1997), resulting into an immune response, which may cause cognitive deficits such as those associated with Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, high blood sugar, coupled with a cognitive task, is associated with elevated cortisol. Cortisol in high doses, is a hormone that damage memory (Gibson, 2003).

3.3.1 Convert Brain to a Harvester

The brain needs energy. To optimize brain power it is suggested to have one tactic. This tactic is to have more frequent but smaller meals (Green, 1999). The brain works better with about 25 gr of glucose circulating in the blood stream, an amount that is contained in a banana (Gibson, 2003).

3.3.2 Lowering the Glycemic Index Effect

The glycemic index is a measure that positions food in a list according to the way these distress blood glucose levels. The sweets have high glycemic index.

- The sweets cause the blood sugar to raise in a very high speed.

- On the other hand, raw vegetables have a low glycemic index ranking.

Carbs having a lower glycemic load are foods that are broken into glucose with a slower rate. The result is that these provide a more steady supply of energy to the brain functions and also best satisfy the hunger of the consumer (Bourre, 2006).

High fiber carbohydrates have a relatively lower glycemic load. If we combine these low glycemic load carbohydrates with fats or protein we can further slow the absorption rate even more.

The traditional white bread has a high glycemic index and it is digested very quickly in the stomach. The result is the cause of a stressful, short-term, spike of the glucose levels.

On the other hand, the dark fiber-rich whole wheat bread has a lower glycemic index, as its spike is not that sharp. If we use dark fiber-rich whole wheat bread with some meat or other protein source added, the results are good. If we further to the previous, we add a few drops of olive oil, the glucose absorption rate becomes a moderate curve. The consequences are excellent for the brain operations.

The key is a balanced diet, where carbohydrates, fats and proteins are present (Green, 1999).

3.3.3 Understand the Fats and their Effects on the Brain Function

As I have mentioned before, fats has the characteristic capacity to lesser the glycemic index of food consumed. But fats can be categorized in accordance to their distinguishing features. Some of the fats are an excellent choice and some other fats should be seen as the worst nightmare or as a nutrition bombs. For instance, trans fats, which are the main source of fats in the fast food industry, are the worst to consume. Saturated fats are bad and the unsaturated fats are the best for the health.

It is obvious from several research conducted on people consuming food high in saturated fats. These people are:

- Vulnerable to cognitive deficits,
- Damaged hippocampus causing effect on the critical to memory formation and
- Increased probability of strokes (Gibson, 2003).

Almost 60 percent of the composition of the brain is fat. Fat is needed to be consumed in order to sustain that level. Researches were conducted where the scientists found that low levels of cholesterol have been associated with:

- Depression,
- Aggression and
- Anti-social behavior.

Zero level of fat consumption is destructive for the operations of the brain (Green, 1999).

Fatty acids, such as Omega-3s, are proving to be valuable in treating psychiatric disorders, such as depression, schizophrenia, and benefiting the brain development. Nevertheless, the effect of supplements on a healthy adult’s brain is debatable. It may be best to consume Omega-3s from natural sources, such as fish, seeds and nuts (Green, 1999).

3.3.4 Self-knowledge and Knowledge of the Brain Functions

Food affects people's brain in a slightly different manner. Extroverts are more likely to give in to the post-meal dip, or coffee, mid-afternoon. Very thin people may feel pale or bad-tempered due to low blood glucose faster than an average-sized adult (Montminy, 2000).

Thinking about brain food is intelligent; however nutritional habits are also important. People who frequently eat less than required, exercise more than needed or regularly skip meals have cloudy head. Even after a minor depression in glucose, become sensitized to not getting enough (Gibson, 2003). There is merit to eating low glycemic.

Sometimes in the business setting we have experienced times when we forget the name of a colleague, a key account customer or even a friend. Sometimes, we have a foggy memory resulting in losing or misplacing our keys.

Of course, it is known that the business environment is very intense, and inhumane, allow me to say. For example, we are required to participate in multitasking projects. The result is to lose track of a few details. It happens to every human being.

The frequency that these brain fog events occur constitutes the main factor suggesting that there is something wrong with the operations of our brain.

- Is this even appearing on a regular basis?

- Is it turning into a permanent situation?

- Is it just a passing phenomenon?

Some may say that older people forget and try to blame aging as the main reason for their brain fog. But research shows that brain fog affects people of all ages. This means that the condition is relevant to the aging occurrence but using it only as a parameter the overall condition of health.

It is a surprise to see that the medical and mental doctors’ establishments do not recognize brain fog as a health condition, even though it is seems to be a common disorder that affects people from all ages. When we talk of the term "brain fog" we describe the symptoms that people feel as if there is a thick mist inhibiting in their mind.

3.3.5 Brain Fog Symptoms

The brain fog symptoms include:

The brain fog symptoms include:

- Persistent distraction,
- Vagueness,
- Confusion,
- Incomprehension,
- Absentmindedness,
- Scrambled thought processes,
- Poor memory recall,
- Difficulty processing information,
- Exhaustion,
- Weakness,
- Disorientation,
- Fatigue.

It is known in science that the effective cognitive function depends on several somatic systems running effortlessly. These functions are the:

- Strong circulation,
- Efficient digestion,
- Detoxification,
- Antioxidant activity.

Deficiencies in these cognitive functions can dispossess the brain of nutrition and damage neurons and brain cells. So by being considerate, understanding and strengthening these complex inter-relationships, we can help combat brain fog and improve overall health simultaneously.

Working-out and the Effects on Productivity

4.1 Working-out and the Effects on Productivity

Oxygen is needed by the whole body and especially the brain all day long. This is a fact because one of the fundamental concerns we have when we deal with situations of deep fog in the brain is the failure to acquire oxygen and other nutrients for the brain. Occasionally the main reason why the oxygen unsuccessfully is being fed to the brain originates from a blood circulation problem. A circulation problem sometimes can be related to:

- an inactive lifestyle,
- lack of movement, and
- lack of general exercise.

Regular Working-out Benefits

When we have regular exercise on a weekly basis, we manage to get some beneficial results. These results can are:

- increase of the neural connections throughout the whole body,
- balance hormones, and
- support all aspects of health.

The most important practice we can have for your brain is to get up your chair in order to move around. It should become a systematic practice to go out for regular everyday walks around the block, take bike rides, and get out in nature. Moving around will make you feel reborn. In the case that you feel you that your mind is experiencing a jammed situation as being dumped in a foggy place, there is a good possibility clearing the scene by:

- standing up,
- getting out and in order to exercise the muscles.

The result of following the aforementioned drill will be an evident clarity of the brain, as soon as you get back after the completion of the activity.

In my line of work, I feel much stressed due to the fact that I need to produce many new ideas at a continuous rate. Ideas as you know are not like cooking, where if you put the right ingredients and follow the right process the food is going to be the same. It is very significant to avoid having the fog condition become your ordinary state of the brain. Brain is a mechanism that requires the right maintenance, as we do with our cars. We want to stay sharp at any age of our lives and protect brain health by fitness.

I do not have much time to spend on exercising, I confess, as most of us do, but I try to get out for a walk once a week, I am afraid usually in Saturday. You cannot imagine the result. If you have not experienced it, you will not understanding. What I can say about my walk is that it may be the most productive time of the week. To describe what an observer sees in me when I am walking is a busy inspired professional talking over the cell-phone, giving directions to others, designing and explaining complex concepts. All the telephone calls are activated by me, calling the Chairmen, and the Top Executives. They do not want to work on that day, but imagine how good they feel when their problems are solved and my consulting and coaching are progressing successfully. After all, with respect to the cooking example I referred to it earlier, walking around may be the ingredient to a successful progress.

If brain fog situation persists, obtaining a medical service is required, because the haze may be an indication of an underlying neurological or inflammatory condition, such as:

- Lyme disease,
- fibromyalgia, or
- diabetes.

4.2 Rush Workout

This is the fastest way to lose fat and more exciting than jogging. My belly is flat and the muscle are lean.

To explain my Rush Training protocol you have to Rush till the pulse rises to 170. Slow down for 10 seconds and then Rush till you get to 170 again. This simple protocol is what I use successfully. When I say Rush I mean sprint, swim, jump rope, do burpees or use dumbbells.

The Rush Training is a training method that will help you lose fat faster because it rises the metabolism for about 24 hours after the end of the workout.

Rush workout vs. Weightlifting Training

When I work out with weights I still incorporate Rush Training to maximize the results. At the beginning of my attempt to lose 14 kilos, I was doing Rush Training when I was starting my work out. I was using the elliptical machine due to the fact that it exercises the full body. Alternatively, I am doing some cycling. This part of my work out would last less than 10 minutes.

Baseline Aerobic Fitness

The proposed type of training requires first developing a base aerobic fitness.

Before beginning an interval training program it is strongly recommended that, at least for a couple of weeks of steady state aerobic training. Just walking briskly or jogging gently for 20-30 minutes.

When you have built up to 5-6 sessions per week, and you feel a significant improvement in your breathing and endurance – then begin to introduce intervals.

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