Your Fuel List Needs a Glow-Up
- Jacob Moore
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
Ever tried to run a marathon on a bag of stale chips and energy drinks? Didn’t think so. But let’s be honest — most of us expect our minds and bodies to work miracles on junk Fuel every single day.
And I’m not just talking about food. I’m talking about everything you feed yourself: the news you binge before bed, the endless doomscroll at lunch, the company you keep, the conversations you replay at 2 a.m. Your Fuel is the sum of what goes in through all five senses— so what comes out is either energy and purpose… or burnout and brain fog.
One of the core ideas in the 5 Bridges approach is this: your inputs matter more than you think. Let’s talk about how to upgrade them.
What Exactly Is Fuel?
In the 5 Bridges system, Fuel means every single thing that enters your system. Not just what you eat, but what you drink, what you read, what you watch, what you scroll, and even the words you say to yourself. If it touches your body, brain, or spirit, it’s Fuel.
Picture yourself like an garden. The quality of your soil, water, and amount of sunshine, will determine the quality of flowers — or weeds — your produce. If you want your life to bloom, you’ve got to tend to what’s feeding it.
Why Fuel Matters: The Science
Some may scoff at the idea that lunch can change your mood, but the science is clear: your gut and your brain are besties. Over 90% of your serotonin — the chemical that helps you feel calm and steady — is produced in your gut, not your head. (Harvard Medical School, 2024)
One large study found that people who stick to a Mediterranean-style diet — colorful fruits, vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, fish — have up to a 50% lower risk of depression than those who stick with a typical processed food diet. (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2024)
And that’s just the food part. Your information diet matters too. The American Psychological Association found that people who take in a constant stream of stressful news can see stress levels jump by as much as 70% during tough times. If you wake up and go to bed with negativity in your feed, it’s basically like eating junk food for your brain.
What Does Fuel Look Like Day-to-Day?
Nobody’s Fuel list is perfect — and that’s not the goal. The goal is to get aware of what’s going in so you can make small, steady upgrades.
In the 5 Bridges system, Fuel shows up in three buckets:
What you eat and drink: Meals, snacks, drinks, supplements — the usual suspects.
What you consume mentally: News, social media, podcasts, music, books.
What you absorb emotionally: Conversations, gossip, self-talk, even the spaces you spend time in.
It’s like peeking into your pantry. Some things are fresh and nourishing; some are stale and should have been tossed last year.
The Upgrade Your Fuel List Activity
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