We as poker players tend to live very unhealthy lives. Whether its traveling the circuit, or playing in our offices, eating right and getting fit isn’t at the top of the pecking order for us. Eating burgers or ordering in often takes precedence because we don’t really have time to make something healthy. Rewind six years. I’m sitting in my small bedroom in college playing 30 dollar sngs on PartyPoker( oh the days!). Drinking a 12 pack of Mountain dew every other day and ordering in at least twice a day. I can probably count on my hand the amount of home cooked meals I had those first couple years when I started to take poker seriously. I went from a fit 180 lbs to a disgusted 250 . As my weight crept higher, my confidence and self esteem got lower. I went from being never sick to always having a cough or sore throat. I can still remember the day and where I was at, even where the scale was located in my friends bathroom when I weighed myself and it said 246.9 lbs. That was the turning point for me, I said enough is enough, its time to get in shape. I started going to the gym, cut out regular soda and if I was going to eat out it would be a healthier option. Perhaps a salad instead of a burger, or if I was going to a place that was unhealthy I would cut down on my portion size.
When I started going to the gym I realized my self esteem was getting higher and I seemed to be more focused at the tables. Instead of rolling out of bed and starting up a session I would try to go get a decent sweat in at the gym before I started playing. It took a long time to lose the weight but I can say now that I feel better about myself then I have for a long time. You think clearer, feel healthier and just your overall quality of life improves.
If Staying motivated is your problem then I have the answer for you. Prop bets! Ive had problems with controlling what I ate/ drank and how much because apparently I lack the self control to stop before it gets out of hand. Last year I had a drinking prop bet that didn’t allow myself or the person I was betting with drinks until New Years. Its been over a year since we’ve made that bet and I can say that Ive only drank once since we made that bet, and it was on New Years. Ive now added some of my other vices into similar prop bets to make myself healthier long term. From now until New Years I will have to pay 1000 dollars every time I eat at a fast food joint, have a pizza or eat cookies. I don’t care how good a McDonalds burger tastes, its not worth a thousand dollars. Another one of my vices was Diet Pepsi. Though there are no calories in Dp, its still not as good for you as water. So I made a prop bet for a vacation that I wouldn’t drink another soda until New Years. I used to drink 4 or 5 Dps a day so it was tough at first but gets easier every day. Eventually your body adjusts and you feel a lot better about yourself. Playing poker for a living doesn’t have to be unhealthy, if we dedicate a fraction of the time to our bodies that we do on studying the game, we will live much longer, healthier lifes.

If anyone has any questions on nutrition/ working out I can answer them or lead you to sources that have a wealth of information. I challenge you to eat better/ work out/ live healthier. If you are having problems getting started then prop bet your vices away!

In the past year, I've had a lot of "close calls" in poker; a few deep runs, a live major FT and several close runs online. Over the last couple of years, I've slowly seen my desire to get better/improve at poker diminish. With that, I realized I needed a new attitude and more balance in my life. I've found that when I was enjoying my time away from the tables, I appreciatede the time playing more. Whenever I have a long breakeven or losing stretch I would constantly anaylze my game and drop down limits trying to figure out what was wrong. I've even tried being backing because I thought I would play differently or better if it was someone elses money. After being backed for a month and a half, I realized if it was someone elses money or my own I was still in control of the game. In order to be backed I had to cash out my whole bankroll online and play with theirs. Well when I cleared makeup and wanted to go on my own I had about a 1k bankroll to play with. This is kind of a double edged sword in the sense that the day after I won 20k in a tourney I was stuck playing 6 dollar 180 mans. I suppose it will make me appreciate playing poker again and make me enjoy this GAME. After a while it stopped being a game and being fun, with a small roll and a big effort to build my roll again, it becomes like a video game trying to get a high score. I'm back to playing stuff in an effort to roll-build 45 mans/180s and huge field rebuys like the 3,5,10 rebuys. I'll still satty into the Sunday million every week because I run like Usain Bolt in it. I've noticed that when I've had too much of a cushion I don't play as good as I am capable. I definately shine when my back is against the wall. I'm also excited to get back into coaching again. For a while I had students and it really helped me improve because I was constantly engaging in deep thought and talking about different ways to play certain hands.
I'm now part of a coaching site that offers one on one coaching /mentoring and it's great to be able to talk with world class players on a daily basis. TrainingStars.com just added IcuRaRook to the roster and is always looking to add more qualified coaches. IcuRaRook is one of the best players in the world and it's great to be able to discuss hands with him as we have two very contrasting styles.

All in all, with a new attitude, outlook, and positivity on my side, I plan to have a massive 2nd half of 2010. Thanks for letting me vent and best of luck at the tables!

I feel like im playing the best/ most advanced poker of my life yet im getting crushed.. I think what separates me from most players is that im willing to drop down levels to get confidence back and thats what i'll be doing for the next few weeks/ months. I wont be playing too much online but when I will be it will be the lower buyin standard stuff... Ive also been getting out alot more lately.. bars, nightlife GOLF... I suck at golf but I am absolutely hooked on it.. It is a great way to get away from poker and I was just looking at golf tips on youtube.. watch out PGA:) I think late last month was ever the first " burn out" of my life.. I took a pretty long break from the game, longest ever.. and I think it helped me alot.. I came back fresh and focused.. continued to run bad but still had that crazy desire to improve and do great things. I really feel like this is my year at the WSOP and I plan on doing some serious damage in each and every event that I play. I plan on playing 18 events, mixed in with a 5 day break to go back home for a friends wedding... Hopefully I have a bracelet by then but chances are if I don't I will be pretty mentally abused / exhausted and a break can only be a good thing.. Ill try to update this more whenever I get random thoughts.. As Doug Lee would say.. " See ya on the felt!!!"