More energy. In fact, that’s what we all want. And it seems like we generally have less and less of that…. Why is that? And what can you do about it to get more energy? In this blog, you’ll find some options that will help create more energy.
How do you get more energy?
We adopted this blog from Rachel of Food Your Thought. Rachel is an Applied Psychologist & Orthomolecular Nutrition Coach. She is incredibly fascinated by how food affects our behavior, feelings and health. Rachel believes that the choices we make now affect how we feel 10 years from now. With this, she inspires (young) adults toward daily healthy eating behaviors through lectures, lectures & trainings. In addition, Rachel enjoys writing blogs about the impact of nutrition, psychology and a positive mindset.
But first: Why is it that you experience less energy? Experiencing less energy can have many reasons. I have listed some options below, but by no means all.
- Sleep: You may have had one or more restless nights, leaving you with less energy during the day. Or have broken nights, where you wake up several times halfway through your sleep.
- Distractions: A lot of energy may be subconsciously lost to distractions, such as your cell phone. That you experience continuous stimuli and want to keep absorbing new information, which can make you feel “over-stimulated” at the end of the day.
- Nutrition: It may be that your body continuously uses energy to digest food. This may be because you eat a lot of (small) things throughout the day. Or to detoxify because you are eating processed foods that have “substances” added to them that our bodies are not familiar with. But you may also be low in nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, proteins, fats and water. These nutrients are considered fuel for the body. Without fuel, your body has difficulty making its own energy. Or you eat a lot of foods that have sugar added to them, causing your body to spend a lot of energy trying to keep your blood sugar stable.
- Thoughts: You may be thinking a lot about the future. Worrying about things that (may) never happen. Or, on the contrary, is much in the past. Wanting to hold on to a situation that (may) never return. And a lot of energy can be lost in this.
- Musts: You may find that you “must” many things from yourself or others. That you feel like you constantly have to meet expectations – which can take a lot of energy away from you.
- Relaxation: And you simultaneously do fewer things that you enjoy doing. Who give you energy. And that you take less time to rest. To really recharge.
What can you do about it?
So you see. There can be an awful lot of reasons why you experience less energy. You can go by the above points and see where you can possibly give more or less attention to them. Below I share 5 tips that can help you generate more energy.
1. Take more fat
“Eating fat” is unfortunately still often seen as something “negative. And we prefer to avoid it as much as possible, because we associate it with getting “fat. Unjustified. Because “fat” is not the culprit that causes us to gain pounds. Well, frying fat and trans fats have some influence on that, but really good fats do not.
And then what are the good fats? I am talking about coconut oil, ghee, ox fat, organic moved fish & meat, olive oil, nuts, seeds, kernels etc. Actually, anything naturally found in nature. These fats stimulate energy production in the cells (via mitochondria) – these ultimately cause you to run on long-term “fat burning” rather than short-term “glucose burning.
2. Eating less often
Eating intermittently. This is also known as Intermitting Fasting or Interval Fasting. In short, it entails the following: fewer meal times AND from about 11:00/12:00 your first real meal. Why? Because eating all day takes an awful lot of energy out of your body. Each time, your body has to digest another meal, light snack or something else.
And your body does not have unlimited energy available. The body has to make choices in this. When a lot of energy goes toward digesting – because you often eat something – less energy remains for organs or functions. In addition, Free Radicals are released with every “food moment. Free Radicals are actually byproducts/waste products of our own metabolism and cause damage to our own cells.
Free Radicals are actually always in our bodies. But frequent eating, wrong diet, smoking and lots of stress can make them multiply more and more. To combat Free Radicals, you need antioxidants.
3. Move more
This may be a clue-in. But maybe you’ve experienced it yourself. That before you wanted to exercise you were in absolutely no mood and when you had finally gone – you were bursting with energy! And as tempting as the couch often looks, you’ll experience a feeling of accomplishment after you’ve moved or performed a sport.
But how do you make it easier on yourself? What I often do is prepare my sports outfit the night before, so that I can put it on immediately upon getting up. Or pick a sport that you really enjoy doing anyway, so it doesn’t even feel like a sport. I do salsa 1-2 times a week, and it doesn’t even feel like a sport! Even though I shouldn’t underestimate it either, because after about an hour you can feel your legs 😉
4. Less distractions
Mobile-away.com. Yes, that is the solution. And I’m going to be very honest, this is also still a struggle for me. I have a love-hate relationship with my cell phone. On the one hand, I really like it and I can share what I experience with Food Your Thought and have great conversations with other Instagrammers and on the other hand, it also gives me a lot of distraction.
I have now set times for how long I ‘may’ sit on it and agreed with myself that I will have 3 moments when I can really just look at it for up to 15 minutes. Throughout the day I do share via Instagram stories, but will not consume myself on social media ;-). This will be my 2019 challenge. What a luxury problem actually…
With fewer distractions – and therefore less “wasted” energy – you create more focus.
5. Enjoy more
This also goes a bit with the previous point. More in the now. Less on the phone and more in the now. Looking around me. Spontaneous conversations with (new) people. Reading a book. Paying attention to my breathing. Enjoying the food on my plate. Living more in the now also allows you to recharge.
When our thoughts are much in the past or future – it sucks away our energy, so to speak. Instead, by shifting your attention more to the now, you can regain more energy. And meditation or taking a walk in nature can be applicable to this. What do you find a pleasant way to get more into the now?
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