- Sufficient Sleep
- Stress Management
- Physical Activity
Plus 2 Bonus Ways to Boost Energy
- Take CoQ10
- Drink fresh, organic veggie juice regularly
Do you want to know something really cool about energy? It is always honest. If we need more, our bodies will always let us know. We just have to be paying attention.
Energy is a limited resource, just like water, clean air, and your patience. So your body will do what it can to conserve energy. Some things take higher priority over others.
This is really important to understand in regards to your health.
When energy is in short supply your body will divert energy from less important areas to more high priority places like your heart and brain….slowing down things like digestion, reproduction, and healing.
Energy is the currency of life. Most chronic diseases can be ultimately attributed to disruptions of energy.
So, when you feel tired, that is a very loud message from your body, telling you to REST. Not to drink coffee!!!!
When energy is low, you are not at your best. There are no ifs, ands, or buts, about this.
How do you increase energy?
#1 Well, you may not want to hear this but, through proper sleep!!
My gosh, why is this so hard for us? It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?
There is not one area of your body that is spared some compromise when you are sleep-deprived. It affects every little nook and cranny.
There is a bunch of research that shows we need AT LEAST 7 hours of sleep per night to avoid all kinds of scary diseases and dying prematurely.1
But what we also see in research is that for optimal functioning, we need at least 8 hours of sleep.1 No joke.
If you want to be just ordinary and most likely suboptimal, skimp on sleep. If you want to be your absolute best, make sleep your top priority.
Here are 4 ways to get better sleep.
- Give yourself at least 8.5 hours of sleep opportunity each night. If you have trouble falling asleep or you wake up a lot, bump that to 9 or more.
- Go to bed at the same time every night
- Sleep in a cool room (65-68 degrees F seems to be ideal)
- Sleep in a dark, dark room
- Meditate before bed, or if you wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling asleep again
Yes, there are more, but try those first.
And remember that sleep deprived people do not realize how tired they are. And one study showed that people that only got 6 hours of sleep per night for 12 nights were just as tired as people that stayed up all night one night!!!1
#2 Manage Your Stress
Have you noticed that when you are more stressed, you are more tired? You may feel wired and hyper for a while but eventually you feel absolutely exhausted right? Like on Saturday morning you wake up and feel like a truck hit you?
This is stress!!
And it hugely impacts our energy levels.
I could give you a long list of supposed ways to manage stress, but the most important thing you can do to get the quickest, best results is to meditate.
Yes, I know, it’s hard to meditate. But it’s so important. Unless you just don’t have any stress….anyone?
Let’s keep it simple: Stop messing around and get a meditation app.
I really like 10% Happier because it has a ton of different options.
Just. Do. It.
I’m telling you, besides sleep, everything else you could do for stress, pales in comparison to the power of consistent, daily meditation.
AND PLEASE don’t go out and spend a bunch of money on “adrenal support”. It’s not your adrenals that need help.
Get more sleep and meditate. We tend to want to find a pill that is going to help us so we don’t have to do the harder stuff like change our behavior.
But pills are never, ever, ever, ever going to fix your stress-induced fatigue. (that being said, I’m not against a good adaptogen like Ashwagandha to AUGMENT your sleep and stress management practices)
And don’t believe me, watch your resting heart rate and heart rate variability and you will see the proof.
If you have fatigue a lot, I do highly recommend tracking these things, if you don’t already.
#3 Get regular physical activity
There’s nothing like a good walk to energize you!
And the rule of thumb here is that you do physical activity that you enjoy! You don’t have to suffer.
Working out regularly, whether it’s hiking, lifting weights, or swimming, will boost your energy dramatically.
I suggest aiming to get at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day. Really we should all be doing more but if you are not moving a lot then start small. You can even start with a 10-minute walk outdoors once a day. Watch your energy (and your mood) rise!
But remember you have to be sleeping well first. If you are sleep deprived and you try to kill it at the gym, you’ll probably just make yourself more tired later.
So listen to that body you got there. You only get one for now at least. Take care of it.
BONUS TIPS
A high quality CoQ10 supplement can give you a subtle yet noticeable boost in energy without any side-effects at all. It’s not like coffee; it won’t make you wired. If you struggle daily with low energy, besides doing the suggestions above, you can add 100-300 mg of CoQ10 a day. I like the one by Metagenics called NutraGems, it works remarkably well but it is a little pricey. The other option is Designs for Health CoQNol.
Fresh, organic vegetable juice can give a huge boost in energy. If you do it regularly, you can expect an overall elevated level of energy from your norm. After awhile you’ll get used to it and may not notice it as much but it is still there. The name of the game with veggie juice is to get variety. Avoid drinking the same veggies day after day in order to avoid creating any imbalances.
1. https://www.sleepfoundation.org/professionals/whitepapers-and-position-statements/white-paper-how-much-sleep-do-adults-need
