Are you fit to trade?

Come on you guys and gals, I want to know who out there takes their trading seriously enough to ensure that it's not just the brain that gets worked over, but the body as well. Are you someone who wakes up in the morning, grabs a bleary eyed coffee and/or cigarette and slumps down in front of the computer screen feeling as tired as when you last sat there, or are you someone who gets up early enough to go for a run, do some yoga, go for a swim or whatever, and please, let's have some honesty here.

Personally, I am passionate about trading, but I am also passionate about at least trying to ensure that I am in optimum physical and mental condition for the extremely arduous business of being a full time trader. Every morning I do an hour's yoga, and in the evening I walk or go on my cross-trainer for 40 mins. It helps me stay focused and confident. I also have the advantage of working from home, and so see a lot more of my seven year old son than I would do if I had to commute somewhere, and that really helps as well. So let's hear from you - how you keep fit, why you keep fit, what food you eat etc, and most importantly, how all of this helps your trading, or whatever else you do in life. It could also be that you do absolutely no exercise whatsoever and are fantastically successful at trading, I'd love to hear from you also.

I'm 30yrs old and been trading for about 6yrs now. A year ago I quit my $500 job to be a full time trader but I wouldn't call "full time" now, because I don't sit infront of my charts 24/7. (well, I used to). I'm glad that after all these years my learning tuition have been kept minimum but I've lost bunch of small accounts 200 here, 1000 there, and 10k, again -1k etc. But with every rollercoaster ride I was learning and now I'm here, still trading.
My trading work begins every morning of Tuesdays, because I don't trade Monday market. According to my trading statistics I've lost more on Mondays. It is very strange that with every method I've traded I've been losing money on Mondays constantly, so I decided to trust the numbers and crossed the Mondays out.

So my trading day begins with getting up with my 1yr old son as his mother prepares to her work. (dunno why but my son has the 6sense when his mother isn't around, so he gets up automatically, wanted to have little more time to sleep though xD)
8o'clock this is the opening of the daily candle of my broker. So I know what to look for, so the next 5 minutes I decide whether to trade that day or not. It just happens that I automatically scan my 20 charts in 5 minutes. During the 5 minutes I only drink tea, no coffee for me because my son and I sleep around 9:30 or 10AM again, so gotta be there and lay with him until he sleeps. Coffee makes me energized during that time, so I end up with no energy during a day time when I should be cooking for my son or playing with him.
If that day is a trading day that I have to make or lose money, I place limit orders with SL and from time to time I check my positions, but have to close all the trades before 1AM. Before I sleep I take some notes on my tomorrow's chart and mark some of the potential good trades. So this is kinda how my trading life is. And ofcourse I get out on Fridays to have beers with my buddies
Kinda boring isn't it?

I'm 25 years old with 2 months experience with the market ( practicing PA on demos ). I'm still a student so my time is much limited than yours. I wake up usually by 5 am, go for running and then some more intense cardio as jumping rope or working the heavy bag. By 7 am I check the 4 hours candle and go along the charts for 10 minutes drawing the support and resistance lines I'm going to use through the day. I get on my bike by8 am to be at sschool by 8:30 am .. then I always have a long day till 6-8 pm .. during school time I cut like 15 minutes upon every opening of a 4 hours candle to check if there's a chance. I get home usually by 7-9 pm to watch a movie or another episode of suits if it came out then go to bed by 11 pm after watching the last 4 hours candle of the day. During weekend I usually leave the city to a nearby city on the beach.

I do crossfit 3x a week. it has nothing to do with trading, I just want to stay fit and strong, plus keep the body fat below 16%. but yes, I think it has positive influence on my trading

I Bodybuild/Weightlift 2-3 times a week alternating every week. I used to do cross fit for a while. When i was doing it i enjoyed it, and when i stopped i enjoyed not doing it. I can't say that the addition or subtraction of high cardio workouts really affect my trading but i do know for a fact that whenever i stop working out completely (ie no cardio to weights) i am usually more anxoius about the markets.

In terms of diet i eat nothing but fruits and nuts for breakfast, anything for lunch and dinner. Any form of dairy, bagel or bread, or proccessed sugar gives me a headache and slows me down for the rest of the day if eaten for breakfast. I will say that back when i used to drink juiced vegetables every morning i had the clearest and most relaxed mind and body i've ever had and did not need any kind of pickmeup throughout the day. I stopped drinking them in the morning because the store raised their prices, i had bought a pretty good juicer, and i moved to trading the 4h+ tf's due to slippage and availability issues.

If my diet sucked i'd probably still be spinning my wheels in search of a trading system.

I do some stripped down versions of some of the P90x workouts a few times a week. I play hockey a few times a week. Walk 2 miles a day at least.

I don't have a strict diet. Just a simple one. Sensible breakfast. Moderate lunch. Moderate dinner. I'm a pretty fit/healthy dude considering my age. (42)

I also work the mind quite a bit. Meditation, thought experiments, games which require pattern recognition, etc. Basically I approach trading holistically. Ironically, the actual trading part takes up the least amount of time. Maybe 20 minutes max. Unless I'm in research mode. I'll research my ideas 20 hrs a day if I'm on a roll. Luckily I haven't been in that mode in about a year.

I'm also looking into nootrpic supplements like Onnit's Alpha Brain. I've tried it. Liked it. Nothing life changing but the mid-afternoon fog didn't come and I seemed to be able to maintain clarity and experienced less mental fatigue.

(Y) ... Just wanted to highlight this part for our fellow traders because this is really golden ...

I"m gonna start trying to run a bit more in the mornings, or a brisk walk at least.

Right now I just go to the gym and lift weights.. but the more I seat in my chair, the more out of breathe and start yawning at the gym

but I'm getting a sore throat, so I might just be getting sick.

I partake inamateur roller hockey seasons, but we haven't played in a few months now. Should start back up December.

@Ezz.. What all are those vegetables you take in shape of juice in the morning, can you please explain the recipe too..

Weightlifting and yawning? Why go? A 5 minute brisk walk will achieve the same intensity. If you expect results you need to challenge yourself.

Well, I'm not a cook and you can find online much more options that this ... but here we go, I live on a student budget so I pick the veges that I like and at the same time won't hurt my wallet that much. for instance, here in Egypt Carrots are very cheap compared to other veges and it's still a tasty option. so Carrots are main part of my morning juice. I use like 3-4 Carrots according to it's size and cut everyone into two parts. Green apples are not so costy too so I pick an apple and add it to the mix ( Red apples taste better but it's price here is like double the green ones, I use it sometimes when I have extra cash ), then I add 3/4 cup of water and finally I add a local sugar free sweetner called Sweetal then blend all together . so far this would be my juice but sometimes I add one banana or a strawberry according to their availability. During the day if I'm at home I sometimes make tomatoes juice as I love it so much and it's not costy too .

Hi Ezz, sorry for late seeing your informative reply. Thanks so much for writing in details, i will must try this in the morning. Good trading (+ health too )

You're welcome Sir. Always remember that trading is a side business, excel in your job first, that's how you can make a change beside feeling good about your work will positively affect your trading, too. Good day

Physical exercise can strengthen all your muscles as well as your brain just ask any neuro-physicist. Taking the winter off now but summers I do triathlon, working up to ironman. right now just do swimming, yoga and weights to take a break from sitting down for extended periods. Winter season will be traveling hopefully escape the snow!

my 43 year old hairy chest. LOL yeah i think I'm in shape for trading. Just not doing well at the moment.
FYI just competed in a bodybuilding show back in aug. won the masters took second in the open. Beat guys half my age so yeah not to bad i guess.

Doing. Not doing. What you do is important. What you do not do is important. This is true everywhere, in trading, and in how one cultivates his mental and physical health. It's good to be active, work your body, swim, bike, do yoga, martial arts, dance, hike, etc. Just as important to not drink alcohol, not smoke tobacco, not eat junk food, and to not stress yourself out by working too hard & not resting enough.

Meditate, read, play music, paint, garden, do something creative and stay with it for many years, decades, until you are old. Spend time with children and with old people, with animals, and by yourself. But also, don't waste your time with violent stupid video games, sick pornography, and sick violent negative people. Be a lover. With luck you can be sane.

Same with trading. Study, try many different types of trading, always cultivate disciplined risk management. Do not do overtrading, overleveraging. No trade is often the best trade, and no trading often the best strategy, until it's a good time to trade. Right now, markets drunk on liquidity, risk trade is on. You don't have to prove anything by catching the precise tiptop. But it's out there, in the invisible right end of your charts, so keep your powder dry.

Now, Grasshopper...time for you to go.....