We ALL need more energy but reaching for a coffee, Coke or chocolate bar will only get us so far and then…there’s the crash. UGH! That’s a quick fix that hurts us in the long run. What if you could have LONG-TERM energy NATURALLY every day? Follow these 5 to start getting more energy, clarity, stamina and reduce your stress NOW!
- Drink more water.
YES! Seems too simple? It’s not! Being dehydrated shrinks your brain (and just about everything else) and makes you lethargic and even sleepy. If you are an adult, you need at least half an ounce of water per body weight. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you need 75 ounces of water every day. If you are an athlete, pregnant, breastfeeding or work out in any way, you will need more.
If you consume sodas, you will have a difficult time being able to keep up with the water your body needs because not only are your kidneys flushing out but the soda is super acidic throwing the body WAY off of the ideal alkaline state. Soda’s aren’t just bad because of sugar or the sugar free sweeteners. (More on this another time!) And with that water, goes LOADS of magnesium and trace minerals that your cells need. But don’t give up! Go get your water container of choice. Determine how many ounces it holds. Then determine how many you need to drink in a day. Then put on that many rubber bands towards the top of the glass/bottle. Every time you drink a full one, move one rubber band down. For each rubber band you’ve moved down, it means you’ve put down a full container of water! Good for you! By the end of the day you’ll know exactly how you did. One habit I have done for over 30 years is to drink a very large glass of water every morning before I even get out of bed. I learned that trick from my dad and he lived to be 92! That first glass of water gets things moving and flushes out your system. It also gets you set on your way for your daily needs. Some people add lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar and that’s fine but for the very first glass, I prefer it just to be clean water *with my favorite concentrated minerals added. Keep in mind, filtered water has had many toxins and contaminants removed but also removed are necessary minerals removed through the filtering process. We certainly don’t need the contaminants but we do definitely need those minerals!
If you wait until you are thirsty, dehydration is already starting. Another tip, if you wake up in the morning and you don’t have to go pee right away, you’re dehydrated OR if you do go pee and your pee is super dark yellow or even almost orange, that is a good indication you are dehydrated. If it doesn’t get lighter over the day with adequate water consumption, see a health professional. There could be something else going on. Set an alarm each night for an hour before bedtime to drink a large glass of water. That way you’ll have time to pee it out before bed (which also helps with #4 ⬇️)
- Take purposeful, intentional deep breaths.
Have you ever gone through your day and noticed that you’re barely breathing at times or your breath is very shallow? When our breathing is shallow, our brains are not getting the oxygen we need to think clearly and have more energy. I love the foursquare breathing method. It’s easy to do, easy to remember and with just four cycles of this our brain function shifts and our energy levels rise. It’s ridiculously simple! You breathe in through the nose for a slow count of 4 filling the belly with air. You hold the air in your lungs for a count of 4, you exhale through the mouth for a count of 4 and you pause before the next breath for a count of 4. Repeat this cycle 4 times. Try it now! See? don’t you feel calmer yet energized? What did I tell you? Amazing, right? - Get up and move.
Put on your favorite upbeat music and dance for five minutes even if you don’t feel like it, jog in place, do 20 jumping jacks, 20 push-ups (or even 2 or 3!) get the blood moving! Another great move is to step outside into the sunshine and walk around the block, around your office building or even around your house a couple of times. Just exposing yourself to sunshine for a few minutes is an INSTANT boost. - Get more sleep.
If you’re getting less than seven hours of sleep a night, you should be tired and lack energy! 😂 Sleep is super important!
Set an alarm an hour before bed to get off your screen, turn the lights down, TV off and if you like music, put on something mellow. Then use that hour to prepare for the next day – put your filled water container near your car keys or buy your laptop if you work from home. Make your lunch and plan your snacks. Remember to include something raw and fresh for both! When we have a plan for the next day we are more likely to go to sleep feeling more confident because while we cannot control how our workday will go, we can control that our essential needs will be met and that alone will give us more energy to tackle whatever comes our way. There are multiple reasons why one may not be getting enough quality sleep so if you struggle with this, reach out and let me know. I know some fantastic sleep coaches. Yes that’s an actual thing!!!
- Improve your foundational nutrition.
It’s ESSENTIAL to get good macros (“clean” protein, healthy fats and carbs with friends, aka fiber) and a wide variety of micronutrients from a rainbow of 7-13 servings of fruits and vegetables into your body every single day. We cannot underestimate what this micro nutrition does for our cells and therefore our short term energy and long term stamina. Start counting how many servings you actually eat CONSISTENTLY every single day. Then look at the variety. If you’re like me, I was sitting at 2 to 3 per day and it was definitely limited variety; apples, bananas, carrots, grape tomatoes, and occasionally 2-3 times a week I would throw in seasonal produce; mostly fruits like melon, mangoes, papaya) and some vegetables like yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant (which I later discovered caused serious histamine issues for me. 🙁 None of the “extras” or in-season produce was really consistent and very few of the vegetables were consumed raw. Plus, what I was buying was what was available in the grocery store after it had been picked a week or more before, put on a truck then sat on the grocery store shelf. Sometimes, I would harvest from our garden but that depended on whether we were dealing with drought or flood. The weather here is warm enough but seldom cooperates.
No wonder I had so many health issues over five years ago even though I was eating very little sugar or processed foods. The sugar and processed foods are important to leave out but it’s equally important to include many servings and a wide range of fruits and vegetables for our foundational nutrition. NOTHING can replace that. I will repeat that, nothing, including vitamins, can replace eating raw, vine ripened, freshly picked that day, organically grown produce. So we aim to do our best but even then, most of us, including myself, fall short, ESPECIALLY when our lives are super active and busy. What to do? I absolutely love my whole food supplements of 30 fruits, berries and vegetables that help me get super nutrients into my bloodstream every single day, without fault, and it takes less than 1 minute. I usually take the capsules but also love the delicious gummies! It’s ridiculously easy which allows me to be super consistent. Consistency is everything if we want to see progress! So start counting and be honest. Your secret is safe! You don’t have to reveal your true daily fruit and vegetable consumption to anybody but yourself! And if you need to better and want a simple solution to help bridge the gap between what you eat and what you need to eat, I’ve got you! It’s because of my favorite WHOLE FOOD supplements that my energy doubled, I stopped needing a nap every day, stopped having sinus infections, constipation, missing work due to illness, stopped using my asthma medicine, lost the brain fog and beyond. When I say they were a game changer for me and my family, I’m not joking which is why I decided to share with others about this one simple change anyone at any age can do. You’ve probably heard, “When we know better, we do better.” Unfortunately, knowing is not enough. The progress and results are in the action. If you want to order what I use, do that here https://dedeaux.juiceplus.com/us/en.