Beyond Focused Blog - Beyond Focused

Most Important Meal for Improved Focus

Breakfast is most important meal for improved focus. It sets the stage for how your mind and body are going to perform throughout the day. Most people eat some form of grain based breakfast with little protein and almost no quality fats. Many people skip breakfast all together. Others go straight to energy drinks or other stimulants without even having a glass of water first. People in all these groups are doing themselves a huge disservice.

Let’s look at our processed grains and flour folks first. Eating a bagel, bowl of processed cereal, or muffin does almost nothing to get your day started right. You may feel satiated in the short term, but will find very quickly that you are either hungry or sluggish a couple of hours later. This mainly happens, because you have spiked then crashed your blood sugar all before 10am. Processed grains with little protein and no quality fats will almost always cause this to happen. Sugar is a nightmare for our brains, period. Sugar triggers a release of dopamine, the same neurotransmitter at the heart of all drugs of addiction. The release is not as strong as cocaine or heroine, but the premise is essentially the same. Eating sugar leads to loss of control, sugar cravings and increased tolerance to sugar.

Now, let’s look at our breakfast skippers. Upon waking your body goes about completing the many important processes it has been working on overnight. Many of these processes require water and some nutrition to be completed. By jumping in the shower and rushing out the door with nothing in your stomach, not even a glass of water, you are really shooting yourself in the foot. If you don’t feel foggy and tired as a result, it is likely only due to your body being juiced on stress hormones from the lack of food and water intake and will only last a short time. When your body is in this state, it is in survival mode and will conserve resources like it is starving. Additionally, the cascade of stress hormones will be followed by a nasty craving for carbs and sluggish cognition.

Finally, the energy drink or stimulants for breakfast group. These folks may be temporarily awake, but they are going to be chasing their tale trying to get their energy back all day long. Stimulants like caffeine when taken without the right balance of nutrients and fluids cause a pop in energy, then a sharp drop off into mid morning exhaustion. Your nervous system runs on electrolytes and vitamins. When you flood your system with stimulants without nutrition, you strip your body of these critical building blocks of energy.

So, what to do? What constitutes a focus and energy producing breakfast? Well, opinions certainly vary, but some themes are common amongst all prominent theories around a healthy, focus improving, and energy producing breakfast. In the Learn to Thrive with Adult ADHD video series, I brought in registered dietician and nutrition researcher Jae Berman to outline what healthy eating really is and how meal timing can be a game changer for energy and focus.

Check out these simple tips to start optimizing your breakfast.

One: Get rid of sugar! Gone, bye, adios. Refined sugars in either a cereal, juice, soda, or toaster waffles are a nightmare. They do nothing but crash your energy and highjack your metabolism.

Two: Eat some healthy fat in the morning. This may be nuts, avocados, grass fed butter, or even high quality dietary supplements containing refined MCT oils.

Three: Get some protein. Protein is the building block of skin, muscles, blood, and cartilage. If you are eating nuts in the morning, you are getting some protein and healthy fats at the same time.

Four: Dial back or cut out flour and processed grains. Your body treats bagels, croissants, breads, etc. as a sugar and will lead to a crash and possibly an addictive cycle.

My daily breakfast tends to be comprised of a glass of water, then coffee with highly refined MCT oil in it (I prefer Brain Octane Oil by Bulletproof. You can find it here.), along side a shake made with spinach, blueberries, cashew butter, and a high quality protein powder. If I eat this breakfast, I have energy and focus. If I fall off and eat waffles, a bagel, or a bowl of refined cereal, I will be tired and almost shaking in about 1-2 hours.

I help people reach optimal focus and performance in their lives all day. In order to do so, I need to be on my game also. Shouldn’t you? Start with the right breakfast to turn up your focus and energy.

Are you giving your kids ADHD?

By Phil-boissiere 18th April

I regularly hear from other adults, “Aren’t we all a little ADD?” or “I think everyone has ADHD, just look at how we are all on our phones and computers all the time.” After hearing these types of comments numerous times and fielding more and more questions around increased numbers of ADHD cases in kids, I began to wonder if it is possible to “give” your child ADHD.

What we know from years of academic studies and anecdotal historical information, is that ADHD is in fact passed along in families. Whenever something is passed along in generations with such regularity, we start to look for genetic causes. At this point, there is a general consensus ADHD does have genetic roots. However, the question still stands around whether you can “give” your child ADHD, meaning can you cause the disorder in your child by accident? There are not clear studies pointing to this. However, there are important theories that when combined make a pretty strong argument that is in fact possible, to a point.

The general idea is that by not adequately attuning and being present with your child, you can damage their development and create attention problems over time. This can happen due to being glued to your phone or too frenetic to slow down and pay attention to your kids. We do know that poor attachment with a parent or primary caregiver can be extremely damaging. Dr. Gabor Maté has written extensively about this in his book on ADHD called “Scattered Minds” and in his book on attachment called “Hold on to Your Kids.” Maté actually goes as far as to say that ADHD is not a genetic disorder, but rather a disorder of attachment and attunement with parents. His theory is counter to that of most academics and members of the medical community. However, there may be something to it if we use another theory in concert.

Let’s look at the widely accepted theory of Mirror Neurons. These special nerve cells in the brain allow us to experience empathy, read emotions, and learn through imitation. In fact, they are so powerful that I have been routinely working to activate audience members mirror neurons during my lectures and trainings. This allows me to communicate in a much more meaningful and deep way. The way I do this, is to display emotion while sharing information, and it works great. So, think about what might be happening for a child who’s parent is spaced out starring at an iPhone or drooling on the TV remote? Or a child who goes to greet mom or dad after school, looking for a hug, just to find the parent is checked out on their tech of choice. What then? The reality is that this type of pattern, if it happens regularly can be damaging. Think about it. What is the child’s mind mirroring? What are they learning? Their brain is likely building pathways of disconnection from emotion, from deep focus, from attachment with others. To make matters worse, in the absence of the parental attunement and presence, the child will probably be permitted to engage in the same behaviors around technology. This pattern will create a closed loop of learning, neuronal development(or lack of), and the road to problems later in life will be laid.

To take a powerful quote from Dan Siegel, MD of UCLA “Relationships with a selective few adults, not sensory flooding, are the most important form of experience for the growing mind. Adults who are sensitive to a child’s signals, who can offer consistent and predictable behaviors, and who care about the child’s internal experiences are those that are likely to foster a secure attachment.”

What does all of this tell us? First off, their are millions of people with ADHD that clearly have a family history of it that has nothing to do with modern technology and large body of evidence that ADHD is likely genetic. However, when children are developing, their brains are growing at a rapid rate and the development of their Executive Functions (planning, execution, strategic thinking etc.) are critical to their success in life. Deficits in the Executive Functions are at the core of ADHD. So, it seems to make logical sense that if a child’s primary caregiver is obsessively checking their phone, surfing the web, and disconnecting from their child in order to get their tech fix, they may in fact be causing their child harm. I think the argument could actually be made that checking out on your kid to check in with your phone is a mild form of neglect. If you are depriving your child of what they need to develop a healthy brain, then yes, you may be “giving” your child many traits of ADHD that may last into adulthood.

Put down your phones and pick up your kids. Hold them tight, give them your attention, their minds are developing and you can be powerful in shaping them.

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Note: Many of these patterns can be echoed in a parent with adult ADHD. If you are interested in tackling your adult ADHD, check out our video series Learn to Thrive with Adult ADHD.

Climbing for Focus

By Phil-boissiere 6th April

Unless you live under a rock (no pun intended), you are aware that rock climbing is often a solitary activity. Although there may be someone holding a safety line for the climber, it is essentially the climber using their skills alone against the mountain.

For avid climbers, it is a welcome break from our ever connected world in which technology prevents us from being alone with our thoughts. It is crucial for our mental well being to have time to sit with our thoughts and to exercise finite focus on activities. Daniel Siegel of UCLA, the founder of the Mindsight Institute is huge proponent of combining physical activity with mental focus. Often times we fall victim to an overly stimulated mind that is void of rich processing of thought and regular clear focus. Obviously, this is something experienced more intensely by people with ADHD, making activities like rock climbing even more important. We know that exercise boosts focus by raising levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. However, when exercise is complex, like climbing, martial arts, or soccer, it also brings online the Cerebellum, further enhancing the positive effects on focus.

Climbing, much like surfing, becomes an important daily meditation for many people. With the advent of rock climbing gyms, you no longer need to let weather or distance from a rock face hold you back. Most climbers will tell you that being outside with nature is best and provides the most rewarding climbing, but that should not hold you back.

Get out there and find some solitude and focus.

Check out more from Dan Siegel and the Mindsight Institute here.

Hyperfocus and Flow, the Facts

By Phil-boissiere 10th March

Flow is defined as an optimal state of consciousness or optimal brain state, where decision making becomes automatic, intuition is heightened, performance increases, actions follow one another like a seamless pattern, time falls away, and breakthroughs in creative thought are made. Flow can be experienced by all people, and most will many times in their lifetime.

Hyperfocus is defined as a time of extreme focus on a particular task, in which time falls away, and the task at hand becomes the only point of attention. Hyperfocus is typically experienced by people with ADHD, predominantly due to a deficit in regulating focus and the depth of attention. However, people with ADHD will often speak about hyperfocus being helpful intermittently. What’s likely happening is that they are actually intermittently slipping into a flow state. Remember, all people can experience flow, so it is likely that those with ADHD are just mislabeling it as hyperfocus when it happens. Thus, they are left confused about why hyperfocus is helpful only some of the time. If people with ADHD are able to become more attuned and able to identify flow states vs hyperfocus states, then they may find the key to unlocking incredible performance.

Flow is a desired and highly valuable state that people try to trigger on purpose (it does also happen organically). People like Steven Kotler & Jamie Wheal of the Flow Genome Project work to help others harness flow for optimal performance.

In Learn to Thrive with Adult ADHD, host Phil Boissiere works to help people develop the likelihood that they will enter into flow and reduce the likelihood that they will slip into hyperfocus. Hyperfocus is typically uncontrollable and leads to extended focus to the point that it can harm productivity, such as spending 4 hours researching the history of the internet. Hyperfocus, although helpful in some situations, does not lead to expansive and creative thought that leads to creative, physical, or academic breakthroughs. Flow on the other hand, leads to exponential changes in performance and problem solving.

For more information on the Flow Genome Project click here. To read Steven Kotler’s groundbreaking book on flow The Rise of Superman click here.

Check out the trailer for The Rise of Superman, it speaks volumes!

5 Easy Relaxation Techniques

By Phil-boissiere 1st March

Implementing some basic relaxation techniques into your life can be crucial to managing your stress and quality of life. There was a time when people fought for the right to take a lunch break, not work 14 hours a day, and have weekends off. Have we lost our way? In some respects we may very well have gotten lost. Our ever busy American culture is certainly taking it’s toll on our health and wellbeing. Places like San Francisco/Silicon Valley, Manhattan, and Boston are full of people working at a fevered pace to reach their professional goals.

For better or for worse, one of the most common answers to “How are you?” is quite often “Busy.” Unfortunately, many people tend to put their self-care and time for relaxation on the back burner out of “just not having enough time.” The irony in this type of statement, is that when people don’t take breaks, don’t have any downtime, and don’t recharge, they end up costing themselves far more time due to mistakes and lack of productivity.

Well, good news! With a little creativity and focused attention on stress relief and relaxation, even the busiest people can find time to unwind. Here are a few relaxation techniques you can integrate into your life:

1. Integrate exercise into your commute: Find a way to make exercise part of your daily commute to the office. This may be as lofty as running several miles to work or as small as getting off one train-stop farther away and walking a little extra. Put your sneakers in your bag and do a quick “Clarke Kent” before leaving the office for your walk home.

2. Blame it on the dog: Pets are not only a proven stress reducer and a wonderful companion, they are also a great way to find exercise. Anyone with a dog knows that you must walk them daily in order to keep them healthy, happy, and your home poop free. However, don’t go out and get a dog on a whim, like a gym membership.

3. Snooze: Taking a 10-15 minute nap in your office, car, or break room can rejuvenate the mind and body. The use of “power naps” is long practiced tradition in many cultures.

4. Unplug: Take a break from your technology. Go to lunch, sit in the park, rest your head on your desk, or talk with a friend, but no matter what you do, TURN OFF YOUR TECH! Staying plugged in to Facebook, Reddit, or other online vices will keep your stress level up big time.

5. Meditate: We often think of meditation as a long drawn out process that requires a dark room, burning incense, and soft pillows. It can be those things, but does not need to. You can take a ten minute mindfulness meditation during your lunch break and greatly refresh your mind and soul.

Take your relaxation seriously. Your mind and body will reward you ten fold.

Finding Happiness at Work

By Phil-boissiere 26th February

People spend an incredible amount of time at work, yet give very little thought to their own strengths and values in their relation to work. People are happiest in their work if three things are present:

Values: Does one’s work align with their values?
Excellence/Expertise: Are they an expert in what they do? Do they get to exercise expertise?
Joy: Does their work bring them joy.

When these factors are present day in and day out in someone’s work life, they are much more likely to be happy, fulfilled, and energized. Take me for example, I’m a therapist, a teacher, a trainer, and a coach. I listen and I talk for a living. I love it and it aligns extremely closely with my top strengths and my values. I go home at the end of the day happy, fulfilled, and thankful for the opportunities I have had to touch lives in a healthy and constructive way.

Very very often, when people are unhappy and unsatisfied in their work, they do not have the V.E.J. When I help these people make changes in their lives we take inventory of their strengths and values. Nine times out of ten, when they are unhappy, their top strengths are not being utilized and their work does not align with their values nor does it bring them joy.

In our video series Learn to Thrive with Adult ADHD, we ask people to take a step back and take inventory of your own V.E.J. in relation to their work. When people do so honestly, they tend to make better choices that allow them to blossom in their career.

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Feed Your Psychological Health

By Phil-boissiere 24th January

It has been beaten into us since we were kids. And now with the momentum of the whole foods and organic movement sweeping the nation, a working knowledge and dedication to a healthy diet has never been more important.

Sure, sure, we all know that eating our vegetables is a key part of a healthy life, but few of us really know why. What exactly is happening in the body, and as importantly, the mind, as a result of eating nutritious foods?

The human body is made of many constituents; that is many individual pieces…like a well-tuned machine. Take away just one or two of these vital components, and the entire bio-mechanism will flounder in the muddy waters of life.

“What does that mean?” you ask. Good question!

Did you know that fava beans are loaded with naturally occurring dopamine? Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that carries information across the vast electric chasms of our brains.

A lack of Dopamine in the body can lead to severe psychological disorders, depression, and can hinder nearly every bodily function from one’s mental/emotional state, to voluntary and involuntary motor-function (e.g. heart beat, digestion etc.). Just one imbalanced chemical throws off the entire rhythm of the human machine.

Does this mean you should run to your nearest grocer and snatch up all the fava bean hummus? Not necessarily. The body is nourished entirely, with fresh food consisting of a variety of many fruits, vegetables,meat, fish, and eggs, and moderate portions of grains.

There is more to eating well than the occasional apple, or lettuce on your burger. Your body is made of many complimentary constituents; low levels of just one of these myriad constituents, and the entire bio-human-machine falls out of tune.

We should rethink what it means to eat a balanced, nutritious diet. It means proper digestion. It means a balanced and eager mind. A proper diet means everything to our health, happiness, and longevity.

So live long, think twice about that high-calorie, low-nutrition snack, and eat slice of smoked salmon instead!