Fuel Your Brain, Fuel Your Venue

Ben Maher
Aug 2
2 min read

The 5PM Club – Bam Bam Culinary Consultants

healthy food next to a coffee and blank notepad. — Fuel your brain

If you’ve been following The 5PM Club, you know we’ve covered:

The 20/10/20/10 Method – moving, thinking, learning, planning to reset your afternoons.
Front-Loading Pain – tackling the hard stuff early to free up mental space and energy.

Now, it’s time for the next piece of the puzzle: what you put into your body.Because no matter how strong your mindset is, if your brain’s running on fumes, your results will suffer.

The Missing Link in Your 5PM Club Routine

Your 5PM reset routine is designed to give you clarity, momentum, and energy heading into your evenings.But here’s the thing: you can’t reset properly if your fuel tank is empty or filled with junk.

Food isn’t just calories — it’s the raw material your brain uses to make decisions, solve problems, and stay calm under pressure.If you’re living on caffeine, sugar, and whatever’s left in the bain-marie, you’re short-changing yourself and your venue.

Why Brain Fuel Matters in Hospo

Hospitality is a mental marathon disguised as a series of sprints.Every day you’re juggling:

Staff management
Customer service
Supplier dramas
A million little fires that all seem urgent

If you fuel right, you can handle it.If you don’t, you end up with:

Brain fog
Short fuse
Poor decisions
A mood that drags the whole team down

Nutrition as a Performance Tool

Think of food as your secret productivity weapon.The better you eat, the sharper your mind, the steadier your energy, and the more resilient your mood.

Small, sustainable tweaks make the biggest difference:

Protein at every meal – keeps you full, stabilises energy.
Complex carbs – brown rice, oats, sweet potato for slow-release fuel.
Healthy fats – avocado, nuts, olive oil to keep your brain firing.
Water first, coffee second – yes, I know. But it works.

The Ripple Effect: Healthy Staff, Healthy Venue

This isn’t just about you. Your team needs fuel too.A healthy, balanced staff meal can:

Keep energy high all shift
Improve moods and teamwork
Reduce sick days and burnout
Show your crew you value them

And if you’re building a strong culture (which is what The 5PM Club is all about), feeding your team well is a no-brainer.

Making It Happen

You don’t need to reinvent your menu or hire a dietitian. Just:

Plan for staff meals like you plan for service.
Keep them balanced – protein, veg, carbs, healthy fats.
Rotate recipes so it doesn’t become a chore.
Eat together when you can – it’s good for culture, not just nutrition.

The 5PM Club Connection

Your brain is your most important tool in hospitality.We’ve talked about moving your body, training your mind, feeding your brain with new ideas, and setting your strategy.Now, this is the fuel that powers all of that.

When you combine: