Contents
If you suffer from a lack of energy and constantly experience fatigue, you are not alone. Similar symptoms are observed in most people. Stress and poor lifestyle are to blame. We have put together a few strategies that will help you stay strong until the end of the day.
1. Chew your food more thoroughly
How we desire it affects the process of digestion. By chewing each bite, we make it easier for the body to absorb nutrients and convert them into energy. Digestion requires a lot of energy, and if we swallow food, the body will have to spend all its energy reserves on digestion. “How many times to chew a piece? There is no definite answer, usually at least 25-40 times are recommended. This helps to normalize appetite,” says nutritionist Edwina Clark.
2. Drink less coffee
The caffeine in the invigorating drink blocks the receptors in the brain for adenosine, a neurotransmitter that makes you feel tired.
“Although caffeine blocks the action of adenosine, the substance itself continues to be produced,” says Niket Sonpal, assistant professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York. As soon as the effect of caffeine wears off, all the accumulated adenosine begins to act, so you feel a sharp decline in energy. Here, of course, you want to sip coffee again, but you find yourself in a vicious circle and deprive yourself of energy.
Knowing It’s Time to Cut Your Coffee Addiction Can Be Frightening
To get out of the trap, try drinking less strong coffee and taking a break before the next cup (and refrain from it after the first half of the day so that there are no problems with sleep). This way you can reduce your caffeine intake and prevent a sudden drop in energy without suffering from a lack of coffee. “Knowing it’s time to cut your coffee addiction can be scary, but in the long run, it will help you feel more energized,” Sonpal says.
3. Take 250 Extra Steps
Movement improves blood circulation, so the body can spend less energy to maintain life. “By taking 250 extra steps a day, you will accustom yourself, muscles and the body’s energy system to constant movement, become more resilient,” says sports physiologist Menahem Brody.
As your cardio-respiratory endurance (the amount of exercise you can handle without getting tired) improves, your daily activities will become easier and easier. Walk around the room during telephone conversations, walk around the office, use stairs instead of elevators.
4. Practice deep breathing
Cells need oxygen to get energy. If breathing is weak, the body begins to experience weakness. As Sonpal explains, shallow breathing is another of the unpleasant effects of stress. When we don’t breathe often and deeply enough, we send a signal to the nervous system that further exacerbates anxiety. By accustoming ourselves to the correct rhythm of breathing (you can train while traveling to and from work, standing in line and even sitting in the toilet), we simultaneously reduce stress and energize the cells.
Try the exercise: inhale through your nose to a count of three, exhale through your mouth to a count of three. Repeat several times.
The brain is so arranged that it reacts to unpleasant events like Velcro
“The more you practice deep breathing, the more natural it will become, and over time you will begin to breathe deeply all the time,” says Connecticut psychologist Dori Gatter.
5. Add Fiber-Rich Foods to Your Diet
“Complex carbohydrates (rich in whole grains, vegetables, legumes, seeds) contain glucose, the main source of energy for the body and brain. Since they have fiber, they take longer to digest and provide energy for a long time, ”says Florida nutritionist Lisa Cooper. Another plus is that they improve sleep, which in turn increases alertness and energy. “A diet rich in fiber increases the length of so-called non-REM sleep, and such sleep helps you feel well rested the next morning,” says Vikas Jain, an Illinois sleep medicine specialist.
6. Check if you are drinking enough fluids
“When you become dehydrated, your blood pressure drops, your heart rate increases, and blood flow to your brain slows down, leading to feelings of fatigue,” Sonpal says. To make life easier for the body, try to always drink water. In the toilet, pay attention to the color of urine – it should be pale, straw-colored, but if it is darker, you obviously need to go to the cooler more often.
7. Write down three joyful events that happened during the day.
“The brain is so arranged that it reacts to unpleasant events like Velcro, and to pleasant events like Teflon (to which nothing sticks). It so happened in the course of evolution, for us to survive, it was important to remember what causes pain and discomfort, and the memory of joyful events was not so important, ”says Elizabeth Cohen, a clinical psychologist from New York.
These days, when you constantly worry about troubles and worry about possible future problems, this signals the body to release more stress hormones. Since he is not designed for this, exhaustion appears.
In the evening, remind yourself to think about the good, write down three pleasant events that happened during the day, or list something for which you are grateful. The exercise will help tune your brain so that it pays as much attention to the positive aspects of life as the negative ones, reducing the production of stress hormones and saving strength.