When I was a graduate student diet was the furthest thing from my mind. I had a busy schedule and a tight budget, and I ate food (a lot of which was free at the dorms and department seminars) just to get me through the day. Towards the end of my graduate years I decided to start paying attention to the quality of the food I ate so I went to a "Nutrition Seminar". I received well-meaning and sound advice, but it seemed nearly impossible to implement. Eat five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day? (Who has the time?) Increase the amount of dark leafy greens in my diet? (How do I even prepare those?) Choose lean sources of protein? (Pizza, anyone?)

As a scientist, I knew that eating better would be good for my body and my mind too. Healthy diets improve your thinking skills, which are incredibly useful when you are trying to wrap up your thesis. The problem was that I did not know how to incorporate healthy eating habits into my busy and frequently unpredictable schedule (e.g. my experiment did not work, again).

What finally motivated me to switch my diet was my weight-lifting class, which was held early in the morning. I did not want to have anything heavy in my stomach before heading to the gym, but I did need to eat something. Shakes are fantastic, because you can pack a lot of nutrition into one glass, and they go down quickly. All you need is a blender and healthy ingredients. There is no cooking, and the cleanup is minimal.

The picture you see is of a shake I prepared myself, called "Pick-Me-Up Anytime Fruit Shake". The recipe if for 2 people, but if you drink the whole thing, you will have 3 servings of fruit in your body, including berries. Need a refresher in this hot weather? Here we go:

• 1 cup of vanilla yogurt
• 1 cup of apple juice
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of fresh or frozen berries

This might sound strange, but I have also added a handful of spinach or salad greens to this shake and it is still delicious (and we got a cup of dark leafy greens into our system too!). Try it, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Since we are on the topic of weight-lifting, I also wanted to share with you a recipe that really helped me build and define muscle tone. This delicious chocolate shake also includes flax seed oil, which is packed with brain-boosting omega-3 fatty acids.

Super-Charged Muscle Smoothie (1 serving)

• 1 cup milk or soymilk
• 1 scoop soy powder (15 g)
• 1 banana
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp. flax seed oil

Initially it will seem like a lot of extra work to make these smoothies, especially if you need to invest in a blender. In the long run, however, this time, energy and money will give you a very nice pay-off as you will feel healthier and more energetic.

For more shake and smoothie ideas, visit:

www.smoothieweb.com/

www.smoothierecipesonline.com/

http://allrecipes.com/Recipes/Drinks/Smoothies/Main.aspx

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/216/

Wishing you a healthy and fun-filled August,

Dora Farkas, PhD, Founder, PhDNet

Author: "The Smart Way To Your PhD:200 Secrets From 100 Graduates."

www.phdnet.org

dora@phdnet.org