2. Pillars of Performance: Fuel (First Principles)

I recently had the chance to sit down with the student-athletes on the University of Portland baseball team to review strategies on fueling. Given 30 minutes to review such a deep and dense topic for roughly 40 student-athletes I used the mental model, Reasoning From First Principles, as a tool for our first educational talk.

James Clear explains reasoning from first principles “is one of the most effective strategies you can employ for breaking down complicated problems and generating original solutions. It also might be the single best approach to learn how to think for yourself.” He uses the example of Elon Musk using first principles when first starting SpaceX “Instead of buying a finished rocket for tens of millions, Musk decided to create his own company, purchase the raw materials for cheap, and build the rockets himself. SpaceX was born.” James Clear explains in his article that can be found here.

Before diving into first principles thinking on fueling we reviewed two really important concepts to understand. The first being simply writing out your weekly schedule time demands. I define this as writing out your WHENs. The second concept is understanding the difference between readiness and preparedness (Previously explained here). Understanding both of these concepts better sets the table when diving deeper into fueling.

WHEN. Start with writing out all of your important potentially non-negotiables for the day to provide a framework. This is not strict at 8:03 you must eat breakfast and if not you failed. More rough time blocks where you can set an intention and have a plan.

1. Class

2. Sport

3. Physical Preparation Session

4. Appointments

5. Study

6. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, & Snacks

7. Waking Up and Going to Sleep

READINESS & PREPAREDNESS. Readiness is how physiologically and psychologically ready we are to perform in that moment. Preparedness is the muli-faceted cumulative state of an athlete (Omegawave White Paper 2018).

1. Sport Specific Skill

2. Physical

3. Technical

4. Tactical

5. Psychological

6. Intellectual

I am excited to look back on this and see how my first principles have evolved in a few years. This is a snapshot of where my mind currently goes when breaking down this information to be simple and actionable. I am by no means an expert in nutrition or a registered dietician, my goal was to provide a better tools for student-athletes to use and further conversation.

Prioritize Real Food

1. Prioritizing minimally processed food. Not rocket science but if the foundation of your meal is artificial or highly processed then your fuel is not trending in the right direction

2. Good Question to Start With: Was it grown from the ground or previously alive? Has this been highly processed before getting in front of me?

Chipotle Framework

1. Easy process to remember because you create your own meal.

2. All comes down to awareness of what makes up your plate and can compare it to the same process you go through when you go to chipotle.

   1. Rice - okay what carb source do I have?

   2. Protein - which one did I decide?

   3. Veggies - how did I make this a priority?

   4. Guac - was having healthy fats a viable option for this meal?

3. Then apply Precision Nutrition's very general framework for portions (understanding that the recommendation of size reference and one to two servings does highly vary between individuals, amount of activity, personal needs, etc).

   1. Carbohydrates - Size of your cupped hand on your plate

   2. Protein - Size of your palm on your plate

   3. Veggies - roughly size of fist on your plate

   4. Fat - size of your thumb

Go To’s

1. We all have to go to when we are tired, stressed, the fridge is empty and we do not want to cook something. Why not write out your list of go to options for breakfast, lunch/dinner, and snacks that are healthy and you enjoy.

2. If you do not know your go to options it costs you a lot more energy and willpower when making decisions. There are no right answers. The best thing to do is start and iterate your list of go to healthy options you enjoy.

Assess & Reflect

1. Create space to figure out what you actually choose to fuel your body with and find positives, areas of improvement, and bring more awareness to your choices.

2. Taking a picture of everything you consume can be a tool used to create space before you eat it as well as having a reference point when reflecting back on past decisions.

3. Many student-athletes ask about tracking macronutrients via MyFitnessPal or another app. I fully support this option. However, I typically start with photos as step one due to it being much more simple (not easy).

Once again, this is just my current outlook on how I break down fueling using first principles. This process helps me better educate others and implement this into my own life. I would highly suggest connecting with a registered dietician and pursue more understanding through your own personal research. This is not the whole story but it is a starting point.

I would love to hear in what ways you have used reasoning from first principles as well as what has helped you the most in fueling your body to be the best version of you!

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Ferate