Would you like to have more energy and perform on a higher level? Life can be very hectic at times and you may feel that you are running in a constant rat race and low in energy. Your to-do list is endless and sometimes you may question how you will get through your day. Sounds familiar? Next, I will share three hacks on how to boost your energy levels so you can perform on a higher level in your everyday life.
1. GET YOUR BODY MOVING
If you wake up in the morning feeling tired and lack of energy, or you are in the middle of your workday and hitting an afternoon crash, one of the simplest ways to get more energy is to get the body moving.
Go out for a walk, do some form of exercise, stretch or do a little dance in front of a mirror. Whatever type of movement you fancy doing. Coffee and caffeinated drinks can give you a little boost, but you may notice that you hit another crash and feel tired again within 2-3 hours when the caffeine boost wears off.
Whenever I wake up in the morning feeling tired or hit an afternoon energy crash, I go for a walk, do some form of exercise or swim in cold water. Out of these options, I have found that the most efficient energy hack to boost my energy levels is cold water immersion -either swimming in a cold lake, plunging in a cold plunge pool or having a cold shower. That boosts my energy levels and mood for hours.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU EAT
The second energy hack is to pay attention to, what you eat. The gut is the second brain and if it’s not getting the right type of fuel or functioning well, you probably may not perform at your highest level. What I have noticed quite often is that people claim that they are eating healthy. But in reality, they are consuming foods that are likely to cause inflammation and irritation in the gut, or mess the gut microbiome, which then leads to a state, where they are not performing at their highest level. There is no judgment here as I used to be one of those people not understanding or having the knowledge of how different foods were affecting my body and performance. I thought I was a high performer, but in fact, I was doing a lot within my day and didn’t know what high performance was as I had never reached that level or even knew, what was possible when you optimise your diet.
A big game changer for me to get more energy was to cut out dairy, gluten, processed foods, refined carbohydrates and sugars. It may sound like a mission impossible to do, but what I did, was I cut one category out at a time over a period of five years. So you can start with one thing at a time and see what the impacts are on your energy levels. Next, I will share with you a few examples of how dairy, gluten, refined carbohydrates and sugars may affect your energy levels.
Dairy made from cow’s milk has over 50 different types of hormones, which may mess up with your own hormones, spike your insulin levels and make you feel tired. What I noticed myself that dairy products, like milk and yogurt made of cow’s milk, were making me feel very tired, and as soon as I cut them out, my energy levels started rising up. As I didn’t want to give up dairy products completely, I swapped over to goat and sheep milk, which the body is usually able to handle better, and occasionally have goat cheese and yogurt made of sheep milk.
Gluten can also mess up your gut and your energy levels even if you are not celiac. And here is one of the reasons. The crops get sprayed with pesticides and unfortunately, the pesticides do carry over to our food, and our digestive systems are not designed for pesticides. So, if you feel that gluten is causing irritation in your stomach, this could be the reason why. I used to get brain fog and felt sluggish after eating pasta or bread and when I cut them out, I felt so much more energetic.
There are lots of other foods that can irritate your gut, like beans, eggs, nuts, coffee, alcohol and cacao. So, it’s the question of figuring out how your body is reacting to different foods. The easiest way to do this is to cut them out for a little while, reintroduce them, and see how your body reacts to them.
The reason why it is important to cut the foods out of your diet that cause irritation is this. The irritation can cause inflammation, which is the evil start of different kinds of diseases. The second reason is that about 95% of serotonin, which is the happy hormone is produced in your gut. So if your gut is out of whack, it may not be able to produce serotonin, which then may cause you to feel down, anxious or irritated.
3. HAVE MINI-BREAKS THROUGHOUT YOUR DAY
We often have a tendency to push through our days trying to achieve as much as possible in 24 hours. We are always feeling busy and stress is a constant visitor in our days. So, how do you have more energy during your busy day? Have 15-20min mini-breaks. Put your phone on do-not-disturb mode and find a place where you can be undisturbed. You could go for a walk, put headphones on and listen to relax, get a cup of tea and watch the view out of the window. The idea is to give your brain a break and a chance to relax and just be.
One of my favourite techniques is to have a 15-minute break, put noise cancelling headphones on, listen to relaxing Alpha brain wave music, and either lie down or look at the view out of the window. If I have a problem that I’m trying to solve, I ask my mind how I should solve problem x. Then I don’t think about the problem at all and somehow the answer pops in my mind when the brain is in the relaxed state.
So, if you want to have more energy in your busy day, give these three hacks a go. Get the body moving, pay attention to what you eat and have mini-breaks throughout your day. There are a lot more energy hacks you can do to boost your everyday performance and energy levels so stay tuned for more!
