Energy Make-Over

Noticing a trend?  My last entry was about the benefits of napping, and this entry is about how to keep energy levels high, safe to say I’m really getting exhausted. This morning, as I heard my alarm go off I almost started crying, and I hadn’t even gotten out of bed!

There is so much to do in day.  There are meetings in the morning, meetings in the evening, and classes in between.  How does one not carry a pillow pet with them to class and snooze?  It’s because of energy.  While reading Fitness magazine, I came across an entry that really has helped me lately and it is advice worth sharing.  

Put the coffee down people! Follow these tips insteadJ

Step 1: Boost Your Brain -- Turn Off the Tube

Instead of numbing your mind as a way to rejuvenate, stimulate it. Take a walk along a scenic trail; spending time in nature helps restore people's energy and focus, a 2008 study in Psychological Science found. What to skip when you're low on energy? The mall. You'll get more mental stimulation than you bargained for, which will leave you exhausted.

Step 2: Avoid the quick fix

It's no surprise that the food on your plate can be the deciding factor between a sluggish and a supercharged day. But more often than not, you don't need a total diet overhaul; small adjustments can go a long way toward optimizing your energy intake, says Ashley Koff, RD, a nutritionist in Los Angeles and FITNESS advisory board member. For starters, don't ditch caffeine. "A small cappuccino, tea with honey, and dark chocolate, all of which contain caffeine and sugar, are perfectly legitimate 'energy Band-Aids' when you need a lift in a hurry," Koff says. "The trouble comes when people rely on them daily. Spiking and plunging blood-glucose levels create an unhealthy cycle of energy highs and lows."

Step 3: Stick with your work out

Expending energy on exercise actually creates more for you to use. "Research shows that physically active people feel more energetic overall than sedentary people," says Patrick O'Connor, PhD, director of the University of Georgia exercise psychology laboratory in Athens. In one Australian study of 40,000 women, the more weekly physical activity they did, the more they reported feeling revved up. "It's likely that exercise stimulates neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, and this creates feelings of greater energy," O'Connor says. Aim for 20 to 40 minutes of cardio four or five times a week.  It’s starting to get warmer so get outside and take a walk if your bored of the same routine.