Extra Help with Energy
Increase:
- “Breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” is the best recipe for sustained energy, providing us with constant fuel sources that we can use when most awake and active. Include protein for breakfast like eggs, nuts, seeds and try smoked salmon, avocado and sesame seeds on rye bread.
- Digestion demands a lot of energy and doing other things whist eating can hinder the process and make us feel sluggish – prioritise eating slowly and allowing time for digestion, which will also help you to fully absorb the nutrients you need to produce energy.
- Our blood sugar levels naturally dip around 4pm, causing reduced energy at this time. This can be worsened by caffeine or sugar intake, as they cause a spike and then a crash of energy. Snack on raw nuts or fruit before you get hungry for dinner to keep blood sugar levels up.
- A busy day uses up B vitamins and vitamin C as we react to demands. Ironically these nutrients help us cope with stress and deficiencies can lead to tiredness – especially when adrenaline finally drops! Eat nuts, seeds, pulses, vegetables, fruits and fish to replace these nutrients.
Lifestyle:
- Before reaching for the caffeine or sugar, rub the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue. This can wake up the nerves there, which will then wake up those in your brain.
- Read or listen to music instead of watching TV to catch up from the day’s excesses. Don’t resort to just watching TV, which can drain us with the continual flickering. Be kind to yourself with just a short walk or meet just one friend – someone low-maintenance who makes you laugh!
- Look at the balance between ‘doing’ and ‘not doing’. If you see an imbalance, give yourself recharges throughout the day with continual breaks and a walk. When we run on adrenaline in the day, we can get a crash in the evenings or at weekends when we finally allow those stress hormones to come down. Our bodies conserve energy when they think they are in crisis, so you may need to look after yourself more.
- Aim to be in bed in the week by 10 or 11pm, the time that sleep restores us most.