Physical and mental fitness in poker?

ive been playing fulltime poker now for 4 years. the first 2 where great and things went well. but over this past while ive noticed that i have become lazy and get bored very easily.

i used to play every sport going when in school so was very fit. but this past 4 years has seen me do no excersise at all and live of takeaway food.

so what i am asking is do you think being fit matters for fulltime poker?

i am starting a whole fitness/food scedule from today and even the idea of it has given me a bit of a boost so hopefully my results will improve as they have been dramatically decreasing. i have also booked a few appointments with a dietitian and also a psychotherapist. I know that sounds a bit extreme but when its your life then i guess you have to take it seriously.

i could go into the aspects of it all a bit further but its 6am and im tired lol so what are your thoughts about it and have you any tips?

Hi m8, well I'm no poker pro but I reckon it has to be important. I'm a firm believer in the old saying 'healthy body healthy mind'. If I was going to undertake what you are I would defo stick to what you are starting now.

When I joined a gym last year I had some appointments with a dietician and the main points he made were, drink loooooads of water, cut out tea and coffee and replace processed white foods (pasta, bread, rice, sugar) with wholemeal ones. Just those few things make a huge difference as they fill you up more and you'll be less likely to snack! He told me to view it as 'changing my diet', as opposed to 'being on a diet' as it seems less harsh .

I struggle with self confidence, or self belief, and it has really affected some of the things I most enjoy, socialising, golf, poker and playing drums! I've had a few sessions with a psycho-therapist/hypno-therapist and they were amazing to help you work out why you think like you do, very helpful for anyone, not just poker players! If you want any more info feel free to PM me.

Oh... and I changed my avatar as you pronbably noticed.... hopefully you're not on tilt now after reading one of my posts

General well being is very important to good poker imho, and we're considering adding some stuff to the main site along these lines.

Oily fish are great, also tomatoes, brocolli, and all protein. Try and eat protein all day whilst playing, and only eating a large amount of carbs if youre not playing anymore that day. (protein helps with mental alertness, and carbs make you sleepy)

Drink lots of water, eat brekfast as soon as you wake up, and avoid too many white things.

Theres some good stuff here, worth a read:

http://www.thethinkingbusiness.co.uk/brainfoods.htm

Also, I was a chef for quite a while, and i'm well into my food - give me a shout if you want some recipe ideas etc

thanks for the replies and appreciate the ideas about food meals from wildrick

i have a schedule all set up and its going well this past week. i suppose when you eat takeaways every day for 4 years then you are bound to notice a difference straight away