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sorting out family problems or taking a calculated risk, production stress is not something to shy away from. Sometimes referred to as the “high achiever’s syndrome,” production stress, as its name implies, is an unavoidable by-product of a productive life, a necessary part of modern-day success.
     
    My production stress, when racing Ironman triathlons professionally, was physical—it was the at-times-unhealthy amount of exercise that I had to do in order to improve as an athlete. This physical production stress differed from complementary stress in the sense that it was actually in excess of what was healthy. The 35 hours of weekly training required to be competitive takes its toll on the body. Before I could undertake this type of training, I had to build a platform of optimal health to support it. However, during that intense training, it was no longer about health but performance—such is the nature of competitive sports. Although the immune system weakens and cortisol levels rise, to engage in this kind of activity for short periods has a payoff. In my case, it was greatly increased fitness and the ability to race at a high level. I had to, however, reduce all other stressors as much as possible to accommodate the augmented physical strain that came with the training load. And, as you may have guessed by now, reducing nutritional stress was the biggest component.
     
    But, as I’ve mentioned, production stress is not limited to the physical. Working tirelessly on a sedentary project can be equally demanding and equally rewarding. Production stress can be viewed simply as achieving. For example, working tirelessly on a project at work or school can undoubtedly be a strain, yet on completion, you have a product. Whether a tangible one as a result of work or simply more knowledge from study, it is something that you did not have before you worked for it. Whatever the circumstances, bringing on production stress by way of striving to achieve something and getting rid of the uncomplementary stress is a sound strategy that I recommend to anyone.
     
    A certain amount of stress is an inevitable component of achievement.
     
     

stimulation
     
    One type of stress can be categorized either as production or uncomplementary stress, depending on how it is used. It is stimulation. Whether for work, school, sport, or any other activity, it is sometimes in our best interest to summon energy through stimulation. When the adrenal glands are stimulated in order to achieve something that could not be done, or done as well, without this stimulation, the stress that results can be classified as production stress.
     
    Here’s an example of a sensible way to use stimulation as production stress. An athlete who has recalibrated his diet (I explain how to do this in Chapter 2) by eating a clean diet and abstaining from stimulating foods such as refined sugar and coffee drinks a cup of yerba maté (a South American herb) tea before a race. The caffeine in the yerba maté will stimulate his adrenal glands, improving his endurance and helping him achieve a better performance than he might otherwise achieve. This will also bring about greater fatigue within a day or two, and that’s fine. At the time of the race, the athlete simply borrowed energy from the future to fuel his performance. Extra fatigue a day or two later will be a small price to pay for his performance. The same holds true for those trying to get more done at work. Stimulation can enable them to achieve more in the short term.
     
    However, if this borrowing strategy is used too often, it will lose its effectiveness and simply become another form of uncomplementary stress. To be effective, the strategy can be used only a few times a month, once a week at most, for those times when a boost would really be beneficial. Ideally, you would rarely, if ever, need it; the Thrive Diet is structured in such a way that there will be no desire or need to borrow energy.
     
    If