With Christmas well and truly on the way, many of us are starting to head off on our Christmas and new years holidays. With a 14 hour drive ahead of us, I want to make sure we are smart about our food choices along the way. With such a long time on the road, we need good brain food that is also going to give us long lasting energy. Drinking red bull and pumping yourself full of sugary sweets is going to give you sugar spikes, leading to lack in concentration and energy slumps…the last thing you want on a long tedious drive.

The 5 P’s of success: Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. I have spent some time preparing and buying foods that will;

1. Be good brain foods with long lasting energy
2. Save us spending money on crappy processed foods along the way
3. Be easily accessible and easily eaten while travelling
4. Ensure we always have food at hand and not go long periods without it

Some of the foods we will be taking include;

•  Balls of joy
• Home-made trail mix (recipe below)
• Tuna
• Hard boiled eggs: eggs contain protein and fat to provide energy to your brain for hours, and the selenium in organic eggs is proven to help your mood.
• Steak chips (sliced and cooked steak)
• Fruit
• Lots  of water!

Brain Power Trail Mix!

• Sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds: contain a lot of protein, beneficial fat, and vitamin E, as well as stress-fighting antioxidants and important brain-boosting minerals like magnesium.
• Walnuts: nuts contain protein, high amounts of fibre, and they are rich in beneficial fats. For getting an immediate energy boost that won’t turn into a spike later, you can’t do better than nuts. The complex carbs will perk you up while the fat and protein will sustain you. Nuts also contain plenty of vitamin E, which is essential to cognitive function. You don’t have to eat raw, plain, unsalted nuts, but do avoid the ones with a lot of sweetening or seasoning blends. Filberts, hazelnuts, cashews, and walnuts are great choices, with almonds being the king of nuts.
• Cacao nibs: are among the top five most powerful brain foods, right next to wild salmon and blueberries. (If you don’t like or can’t access cacao nibs, use a drak chocolate with a high cocoa % and no sugar).
• Gogi berries
• Sultanas

Clockwise: Balls of joy, slice of joy (just a fancier version of the balls that I ran out of time to roll), hard boiled eggs and home made trail mix.

Plan your food this holiday, so you can welcome the new year feeling better than ever!!

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” -Unknown.