Happy St. Patrick’s Day y’all!
I’m not remotely Irish to my knowledge but I’m wearing green just to keep things fun and avoid pinches.
I’m also feeling of so much better today. Thank you guys so much for the comments and thoughts on my post about feeling tired all the time. I was seriously worried about things last week because that awful feeling had persisted and worsened during the week.
However, it seems that the things I started Friday and did all weekend have helped – I feel energetic and excited!
Here’s what I did, my recipe for energy:
- Exercise: I went for a looooong walk with JuJu on Saturday and hit the gym for weights and cardio on Sunday. Exercising always gives me more energy in the long run.
- Vitamins: I went ahead and bought a maximum dose version of B 12 and then took it, a normal muti-vitamin, and a higher dose of vitamin D. I have to say, I think this helped.
- Naps: I gave in and took a couple naps when my body felt so completely exhausted. I normally don’t take naps but they were so helpful to catch up on some rest my body clearly needed.
- Food: I cleaned up my eating. I focused on nutrition and foods with iron. I ordered salads when I went out and ate healthy meals at home like this mix of kimchi, turkey, and zucchini (so good).
All those things together have me feeling very energetic and back to my normal self. I have to say, feeling so tired and fatigued really scared me. It was frightening to think that if I make the wrong choices I could feel like that all the time. It was a good reminder/wake up call to focus on taking care of myself in all aspects because if I don’t the consequences really suck!
So I’ll be continuing my recipe for energy this week with healthy food, proper vitamins, daily exercise, and self-care. It’s going to be a good week!
What’s your recipe for energy? What makes you feel energized and awake? What should I add to my list?
If I drink more than a cup of coffee or eat more than my allocated amount of sugar (I keep the amount as low as possible normally), I will get a burst of energy and then crash and burn (feel like I need a nap). Clearly, caffeine and sugar are only temporary energy boosters.
Usually, a 30 minute workout will actually boost my energy levels and keep them high. If I do a weight lifting workout, I find the protein shake immediately after the workout helps too.
for me it is to my DISMAY :-) WATER WATER WATER WATER
Yeah actually water does help a lot! Good call.
I have discovered recently that I love to jog. Jogging helps to get me centered and gives me the good kind of rush my body needs. However, the weather in Atlanta is very bipolar and the past couple of days have been freezing and rainy, so I haven’t been able to go outside.
On days like that, a nice hot chai latte from Starbucks helps! =)
Music!!! And exercise. And going out dancing. And hanging with friends. Some tea/mate or iced coffee helps sometimes too, although not too much or I crash. But a little music, exercise and the concious thought to switch my brain over to positive, happy, constructive thinking has been giving me a lot more energy and making me in a usually good mood lately after being down in the dumps.
I agree with Carla…water…water…water…I also find sunshine helps my energy levels too. Another thing is to let yourself completely relax. So many of us take work home, we stress about family stuff, pets, kids, etc that we never truly relax. Find something that relaxes you. Shut off your brain for a bit. Meditation works well for me when I’m faithful about it.