Your tips for boosting energy?

[FreelanceWanderer]

I'm very interested in boosting and keeping up my energy. I'm a motivated person who likes to get a lot done and feel productive, but because I suffer from anxiety and depressive disorders, sometimes I don't have enough energy to be productive.

But these last few weeks I've been feeling great! here's what I'm doing, and I hope you can add to the list:

* Taking two fish oil capsules per day. I read in one of the YOU guides that omega-3s can help with energy.

* Setting the alarm for 7 am every day instead of letting myself oversleep, which I will invariably do and which makes me feel sleepy, frustrated, and unproductive. (I'm a freelancer so I can wake up when I like.)

* Using a light box for 1/2 hour every morning...my doc let me borrow a nice one so I don't fall into depression again this winter from lack of natural light.

* Exercising: I train with a trainer for 1/2 hour twice a week, walk on the treadmill (on a steep inclune) for 1/2 hour a few times per week, do yoga twice a week, and do tai chi once a week.

* Drinking small amounts of caffeine throughout the day. For me, that means a tea in the morning and 1/2 cup of coffee slowly sipped throughout the afternoon.

That's all...and I'd love to do more to keep up this great energy. Hubby and I are adopting a baby who is due in December, AND I need to keep working as much as possible because the adoption is freakin' expensive -- so I need all the energy I can get.

So...what are your tips for boosting and maintaining energy?

FW

[pyrogen]

If I have the following for breakfast, I'm good to go for the day, lots of energy...

* Smoothie made with whey protein and some of the following: milk or juice, yogurt, fruit

* Half a peanut butter sandwich.

Discovered this because I was doing physically intense work, and everything else I ate, I'd have a "crash" after my first hour and be ravenously hungry no matter what it was. But for some reason this wasn't happening to me drinking Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo'd (but not their other smoothies) with whey protein and fiber boosts for breakfast. I bought a blender and started experimenting... I figured out that I needed the fat from the peanut butter, and some kind of roughage, to make the thing complete.

So, that's the result, and it works for me... I'm good to go, and it's great too if I plan to do heavy exercise.

[FreelanceWanderer]

Thanks, Pyrogen! I am trying to alter my eating habits. Typically I would get up late, eat a late breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a huge dinner. Not exactly the best way to keep your energy up. Now I'm trying to eat smaller meals throughout the day, like red pepper and hummus, a mini whole-wheat bagel with a cheese round, or Wasa crispbread with lowfat goat cheese.

You may like the "peanut butter and jelly" smoothie I developed that I sometimes have for breakfast. This serves two:

Blend:
1 banana
2 tsp ground flaxseed
2 heaping tablespoons natural peanut butter
1 cup frozen cherries
Enough lowfat milk to make it the consistency you like (I eyeball the amount so I'm not sure how much I put in.)

Yum!

FW

[pyrogen]

Originally Posted by FreelanceWanderer

Thanks, Pyrogen! I am trying to alter my eating habits. Typically I would get up late, eat a late breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a huge dinner. Not exactly the best way to keep your energy up. Now I'm trying to eat smaller meals throughout the day, like red pepper and hummus, a mini whole-wheat bagel with a cheese round, or Wasa crispbread with lowfat goat cheese.

By that post, I'm guessing you're a vegetarian like most people on this board. I'm tempted to post "OMNIVORE ROLL CALL!".

I'm not a vegetarian so this isn't relevant for you if you are. I'm an omnivore and discovered that the issue for me wasn't meat and fat, but all the processed junk and refined carbs.

I agree it's better to be a grazer than a binger... I use celery sticks a lot for things like PB, tuna salad etc.

I drink a lot of milk/eat a lot of yogurt. I eat full fat foods, experiment w this and see if you feel different after eating full fat cheese.

Also, you want to get those veggie fats and fish fats (again if you're not veg).

One thing is to have high protein and enough fat, and an appropriate amount of carbs for physical activity (it will be more for workout days and more protein/fat on sedentary days). That works for me.

I used to be on Atkins (for 2 years), lost weight that I kept off... I didn't follow the diet the way most people think Atkins dieters do it. A lot of the phase 4 stuff in Atkins and South Beach (that is, high protein, lot of veggies, veggie/fish fats, carbs from high-fiber/protein foods such as beans) is just good sense.

[strawbear]

My mom takes CoQ10 and I looked up some information about it...seems usefull for daily boost of energy..WHICH I'M IN NEED OF!

[Lauxa]

I am amazed how much changing my posture has improved my energy levels. When you slouch forward, you don't breath properly and your energy suffers.

[FreelanceWanderer]

These are great ideas! I definitely need to stop slouching at the computer, and I'll check out coenzyme Q10. Also, the YOU book said that anything that benefits your heart benefits your energy, so I was thinking of starting to take baby aspirin...but I'm not sure if I should be taking it with fish oil since I heard both thin the blood.

Pyrogen, I'm actually not a vegetarian, but I eat little meat. I certainly get enough fat...the bad news is that it tends to be the bad kind. I love butter! That's something I need to change.

FW

[Calculusaurus]

I have a "how to have more energy" email series on my website newsletter.

You can sign up here: Sleep Hacks eBook

Learning to have more energy has been a passion/obsession of mine for a few years, ever since I had a huge crash in energy in my early 20s from adrenal fatigue.

Here's some tips:

#1: Omega-3's. This is a no-brainer. Take a daily fish oil supplement. Our ancestors ate significantly more omega-3 meats. Our meats today are fed corn (not a part of a natural diet) and are deficient in these super-critical fats.

#2: Sunlight. Or wide-spectrum light-bulbs. *especially* in the morning. Indoor lighting is very weak compared to sunlight. Sunlight will turn on/off certain hormonal switches in the body, such as switching from melatonin production to serotonin production. Melatonin will leave you drowsy, serotonin will leave you energetic. (Melatonin is *very* important during sleep, but while you're awake you want to switch melatonin production off or else you'll feel tired; sunlight is the best way to do this).

#3 Heavy metal toxins. I won't find my collection of citations, but suffice to say the connection between heavy metal poisoning and fatigue is very well established. Get rid of them and follow good health practices, such as avoiding mercury-contaminated fish.

#4 Repair your adrenals. It is said that 90% of the population experiences some level of adrenal fatigue in their lifetime. Your adrenals need to be fully functioning for optimal energy, *especially* in the morning hours. Repair your adrenal glands by removing caffeine, sugars, refined carbs; also, get lots of sleep and try to avoid lifestyle stress.

#5 Eat primal. There's a million ways to say it, but I'm convinced that for most people, any foods that cause a insulin and blood sugar roller coaster are too prevalent in their diets. Blood sugar roller coaster = energy highs and lows. Our ancestors didn't eat processed foods like bread, rice, etc. Eat good carbs from nonstarchy vegetables, berries, nuts, etc. Switch your metabolism to use fats for energy instead of only carbohydrates.

#6 Control caffeine. I think there are bigger health evils than caffeine. FreelanceWanderer hit the nail on the head: don't drink it all at once. Spread out caffeine consumption. Drink most of it in the morning, before noon, so that enough is out of your system by bedtime. Caffeine from tea is more slowly absorped than from coffee. I'm not entirely anti-coffee, but I've had much better experience with tea in terms of caffeine. Less of a crash.

I'll add more later. Good thread!

[FreelanceWanderer]

Great tips, Calculusaurus! Sugar is definitely something I need to watch out for. I don't eat sugary foods much, but I can't resist chai, hot cocoa, sugar in my coffee, etc. Well, just now I put just half the amount of sugar in my coffee!

FW