Writers spend majority of time sitting down, hunched over, and typing away at their computers. Exercise may be out of the question. Taking a walk may be a good way to stimulate your brains and keep the creative juices flowing again, but that is limited to a few minutes to a few hours a day. Sometimes you forego eating, other times, you eat while you work. This means that most writers have an unhealthy diet. You write what you eat. Writer’s healthy diet and lifestyle reflects on his work. If you want to write something good, you have to be sure you have a good diet and lifestyle.
Then your body starts to react to the way you’re treating or neglecting it. You get sick and you realize that maintaining a healthy balance lifestyle and meal is important if you want to keep on writing and earning a living.
What should your writer’s diet be?
You Write What You Eat – Writer’s Healthy Diet and Lifestyle
Plan and prepare
If you know you are going to be busy beating the deadline or finalizing your draft, plan your meals ahead. Prepare a make-ahead meal good for a few days and even for a week. There are a lot of websites dedicated to help mothers or people on the go by providing them a menu and recipes of foods to prepare. Look for easy to prepare food that can be stored and easily prepared. This way, when it’s time for your next meal or snack, you don’t have to worry about what to cook, and how much time you will need to be away from your desk.
Have regular, balanced meals
Although it’s tempting to just grab an apple or a bag of crisps and continue to write, you need to remember that you need to eat normal, healthy meals. Schedule the time you eat and keep at it. If possible, have a full breakfast before starting. Set your alarm in case you get lost in your story and forget the time in the real world. It is possible that you get so into it that you don’t realize you’re hungry until you start to feel dizzy or disoriented.
Remember your Go, Grow, Glow foods and include them in your meal. Have a balanced diet because a healthy body means creates a healthy state and good condition for writing.
Never skip a meal because you will feel ill, and your mind will not function normally when you feel hungry. Eating three times a day will also eliminate the need to snack frequently within the day.
Limit your snacks
Overeating lower the blood flow to your brains as it will increase blood flow in your digestive system. That is why when you’re full, you feel drowsy. You can’t afford to be drowsy when you’ve got articles to write or a novel to finish. Limit your snacks to at least two within the day. And limit your snacks to food that will not harm your body, which will ultimately intervene with your writing.
Avoid too much sugar
Speaking of food to limit, cut back on your sugar intake. Chocolates may help produce your happy hormone; sugar may give you a certain rush and help you feel active. But these are short-term effects. The energy from sweets will not be burned as you will mostly just be sitting down. It will eventually make you feel sleepy. This also will be stored fats which can lead to more complications.
Avoid caffeinated drinks after 5PM. Even when you have a deadline to beat, you need to sleep. And coffee or tea intake will make it difficult for your brain to rest.
Avoid junk food and food high in carbohydrates. If you can’t be active for a while, don’t eat foods that will make it hard for your body to burn and digest.
Cut back on alcohol intake as well. Alcohol may dull your thinking. Reserve that bottle of wine for when you’re done writing to celebrate your victory.
Don’t neglect your eyes’ health
Make sure your eyes are also getting all the nutrients it needs from the food you eat. If you want to keep on writing, take care of your eyes. Eat food rich in Vitamin A such as carrots, spinach and broccoli. Adjust the brightness of your screen too so it won’t be too glaring to avoid damaging your eyes. Every once in a while, look away from your monitor and look at something from afar or look at a green object. The color green is refreshing and cool to the eyes so it helps in relaxing it. Try to close your eyes for a few seconds too to rest it.

Leave your desk
Stand up from your desk and take a walk outside. A few minutes of walking will not only help clear your mind and activate your brains but it will also help your body burn the fats and sugar from your food.
Whatever your profession is, it’s important to take care of your health. Writers don’t live a lifestyle as active as some, so they need to be extra careful about their diet and cautious about where they spend their time. They need to help their bodies achieve optimum health because health plays an important role in writing effectively and efficiently.
This is such good information. Sometimes I can sit for hours writing and never notice how much time has passed!
Somehow I always feel very hungry while writing. Thanks for these tips specially the reminder to get up and walk.
These are some helpful reminders, Lux. Eating right sometimes get away from me. Then tiredness sets in and that’s a great reminder too. 😀
Vinitha recently posted…Fiction Monday 14
Oh these are some very helpful pointers Lux- thanks for sharing them. I must do the walk a bit these days as I have been sitting on the computer for longer than usual.