How I Majorly Improved My Energy in a Matter of Days

I don’t know about you, but up until fairly recently I 100 % agreed with the quote on the picture above. I was always tired or exhausted, with little to no energy to do anything I enjoyed. And most people around me seemingly felt the same way. I know a good amount of people that have multiple cups of coffee just to make it to noon. Luckily, it never was that bad for me, but I would always feel super drained and tired in the afternoons. So much so, that I would just sit on the couch with a cup of coffee & my phone, where I would mindlessly scroll through Instagram.

But after doing a little bit of “research” – aka reading a couple of books – everything changed. Now I don’t need any coffee at all to feel energized throughout the day. And instead of spending too much time on my phone – which really messed with me mentally – I now get to do things I actually enjoy. Like reading books or writing blog posts. And the way I did it is so insanely simple! So I thought I’d share it with you on todays blogpost.

Improving Your Energy in Just 2 Easy Steps!

So, what it boils down to when we talk about energy is pretty straight forward: Nutrition and sleep. I’m pretty sure everybody already knew that. But even though you did, if you’re still feeling tired all the time, clearly there must be something wrong. I’m not saying this to make you feel bad or anything – I was exactly the same. So let’s get into it & see, if you can improve your energy with these simple tips.

Tip #1: The Importance of Sleep on Energy

Everything I’m going to talk about in this section is based on what I’ve learned from Matthew Walkers book Why We Sleep. Or, if you’re not into reading, there is also a great podcast that the author went on and explained a lot of the stuff he’s talking about in said book. I’ve already talked about how I fixed my sleeping in a recent favorites post, but I’m going to go over it once again here. In a nutshell: I was getting 8+ hours of sleep every night, just as is recommended by professionals.

But still, every morning, my alarm would pull me out of deepest sleep, and I would not be able to properly function for a good while. I never really reached my full potential all day I would say. And then in the afternoons, I would feel even more tired and sluggish. Which then resulted in me going to bed earlier and earlier. But nothing really changed.

Finding Your Bedtime

After listening to the podcast I linked above, I took this quick test to determine my chronotype. And I would highly encourage everybody to take it, regardless of whether you feel tired throughout the day or not. I’ve always thought of myself as a morning person, and I wasn’t completely wrong. I am a morning person, just not quite as early as I had thought. I would usually get up at 6 am – some of you might think that’s crazy early, others might not. But after taking the chronotype test I changed my alarm to 6.30 am, so just 30 minutes more.

And these 30 minutes have changed the game for me. I actually wake up naturally – no alarm needed – a few minutes before that. And once I wake up, I am ready to go. I don’t feel sluggish or tired at all. I obviously don’t know this for sure, but I think when I got up at 6 am, my alarm would disturb my deep sleep. Whereas just a few minutes later, that sleep cycle has already ended and my body is “happy” to wake up.

Waking up 30 minutes later hasn’t just improved my energy levels in the mornings, but all throughout the day. Like I said, I have a lot more energy during the afternoons now. And I actually stay up a little longer. Before, I would sometimes fall asleep at 9.15 pm. Now, it’s more like 10 pm. That might be early for you, but I don’t care. Because this system works 110% for me!

Like I said: find out your chronotype and then do your best to schedule your bedtime accordingly. I know we live in a world where most people are forced to get up early, which is bad news for the night owls. But luckily more and more employers will let their employees start later in the day now – which is a win-win situation, as productivity improves with good sleep!

Allow Yourself Enough Time In Bed

Another thing that is blatantly obvious is the fact that you need to allow yourself enough time to sleep, aka time in bed. I think everybody has heard at some point in their lives that you should aim for 7-8 hours of sleep per night. But that doesn’t equal 7-8 hours in bed! Especially if your day to day life is kinda hectic, sometimes it takes your body a while to calm down and induce sleep. So to get 8 hours of it, you might have to spend 9 hours in bed.

And with all this said, always keep in mind that it might be different for you! Just because the “average person” (whoever that is) needs 7-8 hours doesn’t mean you do, too. It’s unlikely you need less than that, but there is a good chance you need more.

Tip #2: The Best Nutrition For Improved Energy

This section of the blogpost is largely based on the tips & tricks from Jessie Inchauspés Glucose Revolution, which I have gushed over before. And once again, there is this podcast that also tells you a lot of the stuff written in the book.

You have probably, like me, experienced something like a food coma. Or maybe a less bit extreme, feeling really tired after a meal. Even if it was a pretty healthy one, something like a jacket potato. We all know highly processed, sugary foods aren’t great for us, and we wouldn’t feel surprised if we felt a bit tired after having something like that. But a potato? Isn’t that supposed to be healthy, lift you up and give you a lot of energy?

What you (and I) maybe didn’t know, is that it’s not just the ingredients in a food that make us feel tired, but also the glucose (blood sugar) spikes it creates. And since a potato is high in starch (= carbs), it’s going to give you a pretty big spike. What happens next is that you pancreas secretes insulin. That is a good thing! Because you need this insulin to get to sugar from your blood into the cells, where it is burned for energy.

But, as with a lot of things, there can be too much of a good thing when it comes to insulin. Because not only can it cause a variety of health issues (Diabetes Type 2 being an example), but it can also lead to too little sugar in your blood. And that is either giving you an energy slump – or makes you crave sugary things. Please note that I have just very briefly summed up what a lot of doctors could explain far better, so don’t judge me on it. There is a whole lot of information out there, so if you’re interested in learning more, you definitely can.

Control Your Blood Sugar Spikes

So the answer to keeping your energy levels stable throughout the day is to minimize the spikes and consecutive crashes of your blood sugar. Sounds hard? Don’t worry, it is actually super simple. It could be as simple as taking a 10-20 minute walk after lunch (or any other meal). By using your muscles you can lower your blood sugar even without your pancreas secreting insulin, because they obviously need the glucose for energy.

Another simple way to control your blood sugar is by having some kind of veggie/salad before a meal. Veggies contain a lot of fibre, which slows down the uptake of glucose into the blood stream. Hence, there isn’t as much of a spike, and less of a crash.

The third tip I have implemented into my life from Jessies book is to have some vinegar before a meal. Vinegar has the same effect as fibre: it slows down the carb uptake. The idea of having vinegar might sound a bit gross at first. But you can easily just use it in your salad dressing. I personally will do either that or use apple cider vinegar and add a lot of water to it. That way I actually enjoy the taste, it’s pretty refreshing.

For more super helpful (and entertaining) tips from Jessie make sure you check out her Instagram. She of course explains everything way better than me, plus has a lot more information on her page.

Told You It Was Easy!

Like I said, fixing low energy can be super simple if you know how. If you want to get more information, I highly encourage you to read the books I mentioned and/or listen to the podcasts I’ve linked above. The combination of much improved sleep and diet has changed my life drastically – for the better. And I sincerely hope you get the same amazing benefits!

Lots of Love,

Lena

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored.