Living the Steve Nash Diet for a week

Some people think that Steve Nash (and Grant Hill) have found the fountain of youth in Phoenix.

Sure, Nash just put up the kind of numbers that no 36-year-old point guard ever has while leading his underdog team to within two games of the NBA Finals, but there’s no magic behind the reason for Nash’s astounding longevity.

Along with his incredible work ethic, two major factors for Nash’s late career success are in fact very simple: eating a super healthy diet and getting a good amount of sleep.

Just sleeping well and eating a much healthier diet won’t make you or me an All-Star-caliber point guard, but by seeing what this diet does for the Suns’ former two-time MVP I wonder how much better I would feel by eating like Nash.

So that’s my challenge for myself: I will follow The Nash Diet for a week and then report back to all of you my findings in both written and video form.

According to Nash’s aforementioned Facebook post, here is what I will be eating for the next week:

"Breakfast. It is the most important meal of the day…. along with lunch and dinner. I feel if your diet is consistent and well balanced (think long term rather than short term) it isn’t so important what you eat right before you play or the night before because your energy levels and recovery will be on target from the quality of your previous three to seven days of meals.-Gluten and wheat free cereal, sliced almonds and almond or rice milk. (If you don’t have the sensitivities I have look for a high fiber cereal. At least 4 grams of fiber.)I will also have a whole fruit smoothie or an apple, banana or orange.Green tea.Lunch. A salad with grilled chicken or fish, vegetables, raw nuts and dried fruit.I will also have fruit afterwards.Dinner. Grilled or baked fish or chicken with vegetables. Sometimes I’ll have brown rice.Again, plan ahead. If you get hungry between meals have a plan as to what foods you’ll turn to and make sure you have plenty of them so your only options aren’t will power or ice cream. My snack foods are, dried fruit, whole almonds or whole cashews. All natural, raw foods energy bars. Raw vegetables like carrots and celery. Whole fruit or whole fruit smoothies. It goes without saying drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated. If you feel like you need electrolytes coconut water has the highest concentration of electrolytes but if your diet is good you should have plenty of electrolytes."

Soooooooo, bring on the chicken and fish, and goodbye sugar!

Before we go any further, you must know a little bit about my dietary habits. I don’t exactly have a sweet tooth (although I’ll always go for a good slice of apple pie) so I don’t think the sugar part will be that impossible. I think sodas are a waste of calories and very rarely drink them, as water is my drink of choice.

But calling me a health nut would certainly be stretching the truth more than just a bit, particularly if we were talking about College Me (when three meals at Chipotle and two at Panda Express were an average week). I mean, back in college I had to write a green eating blog for class and even then I would report on the healthiest spots to eat at U of A but I would never eat there myself.

(Side story: I was interviewing the owner of a microbiotic restaurant in Los Angeles for that green eating blog, and out of the blue he tells me Grant Hill stopped in during a recent road trip. So even on a green eating blog for a journalism class I found a way to write about the Suns.)

Red meat still makes up a large chunk of my diet, and carbs account for another big part of it. My side dishes are never as healthy as Nash’s typical brown rice accompaniment, and my friends look at me funny if I ever order a salad.

So for one week I will be saying goodbye to my go-to meals, I will ignore any cupcakes brought into my office by my colleagues and I will try to eat as healthy as Steve Nash. Wish me luck.