Certified High-Performance coach, speaker, author, husband, adventurer, former commando-paratrooper, and tsunami survivor.
Tired of being tired? You are not the only one. In this article, I will share 6 simple, natural, and FREE ways to feel less tired and more energized throughout the day.
I used to feel exhausted on a regular basis. And to be honest, most people I know are feeling the same way. So I assumed that it must be normal. Humans are tired, that’s just how we are… so just drink coffee, eat energy bars and stop complaining!
Wait, what?
That sounds ridiculous – but funny enough this is how most people go through life. Until they are feeling so exhausted of being tired that they decide it has to change! If this is you right now, perfect! If not, have a cup of coffee and keep reading anyway.
I’m joking! The reality is that everybody wants to stop feeling tired.
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I hear that all the time. With releasing weight and feeling better, having more energy is one of the main objectives of the people looking to improve their health and joining my groups for the WILDFIT 90 DayChallenge. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could feel full of energy every day? Empowered and motivated to work on your projects, spend time with your family, your kids, your friends, have fun, learn,… Actually, let me ask you this: what would you do today with more energy? Ok. Let’s stop dreaming and just make it happen!
Here are 6 simple (and free!) ways to feel less tired and more energized.
But here comes the trick, it’s not about choosing one. Nope. The secret is to approach it holistically and work on all those different aspects simultaneously because they are ALL essential.
It’s not a secret that nutrition directly affects how you feel. Our digestive organs require a lot of energy to function properly. When we eat, the body needs to process all food entering the digestive system. To do that effectively, it has to focus his energy on digestion and slow down the rest.
Feeling tired after eating?
Depending on what and how much you eat, your body will have to do more or less effort to metabolize the food. During our evolution, we developed nutritional dependencies on the foods we could find in nature. We became really efficient at digesting them because those foods became key for our survival.
When we feed our body a good variety of whole fresh natural foods, we satisfy our nutritional requirements and we make it easy for the digestive system. Every time you eat food that recently made its way into the human diet (only a few thousands of years ago, like dairy or wheat), your body has a hard time dealing with it.
Even worse, when you eat processed food containing additives, preservatives, pesticides, colorants, flavorings,…, your body simply does not know how to process it. In the long run, it creates fatigue, inflammation, auto-immune diseases, allergies, skin problems,… The closest you are to a natural way of eating the better your body will function.
Another aspect to pay attention to is the type of food we eat in a single meal. As hunter-gatherers, we mostly had mono meals (a meal composed of one ingredient). The issue is that nowadays we can have 10, 20, or more ingredients in the same meal.
The digestive system is a bit lost, receiving too much information to process different types of foods at the same moment. The result is slow and difficult digestion requiring a large amount of energy which leads us to feel tired and do nothing else but take naps.
Improving your nutrition start first with learning how to give your body all the nutrients required to function well. “Your health is far more determined by you having enough of the good stuff than removing the bad stuff.” – WILDFIT
Increase the quantity, quality, and variety of fresh fruits and vegetables you eat. Take a break from processed food for a while and see how you feel.
Our ancestors used to get most of their water intake via the food they were eating (they didn’t have plastic bottles to carry water around). When we are thirsty our body actually sends the signal that we should eat something.
But nowadays, most of the food we eat contains very little water. Bread, rice, pasta, cereals, cookies, to name some. We need water to function at our best. Water is essential for our brain and all the other organs but also lubricates our joints and even affects our mood. We simply need water.
The most common cause of fatigue is dehydration. Even with slight dehydration, your blood pressure will drop, reducing the blood flow and ultimately the irrigation of the brain. You start feeling tired, lightheaded, your muscles are aching,… I’ll stop here. Dehydration is ugly.
The problem is that most people are dehydrated on a regular basis. When you are thirsty, it is too late. So how to stay hydrated?
Start your day with a big glass of room temperature water and keep drinking a minimum of 6 to 8 glasses of water (2 to 3L) throughout the day. Note that you might go a lot more to the toilet at first, but your body will eventually adapt and store more water on a cellular level. Give it some time!
Well, you might think that if I move I become tired! This is true, but NOT moving is indirectly making you even more tired. Our bodies are made to move. We evolved having to be really active to gather food, hunt, build shelter, protect ourselves from animals,… Every day, our ancestors would run, jump, push, pull, crawl, walk, climb,…
Nowadays we can live without leaving our couch or with minimum movement. You can order food online, work online, use a car, escalator, life, moving sidewalks, etc. This laziness is deeply ingrained in our DNA, because in the past food (aka energy) was scarce so we had to make sure to conserve our energy to survive.
That’s why our mind doesn’t complain so much about this convenient and comfortable world where we live in today. But what does our body has to say?
PLEASE MOVE!
Movement is essential to maintain muscle mass, bone density, stability, flexibility, cardiovascular system, etc. Furthermore, the lymphatic system (responsible to clean your body and maintain the fluid balance) doesn’t have an organ to pump the fluid around the body. The lymph is only circulating when you move your muscles.
You were born to move.
Another funny fact is that most of the things are degrading when you use them. This is not true for our bodies. Our body is actually functioning better and improving when being used. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.
Focus on having intentional movements every day. Walk more, sit less, go to group classes,… You can even start by simply tracking your steps on your phone and set a minimum you want to do each day. Remember, start small and build up over time.
It is obvious that if you want to feel less tired you should sleep more. Common sense but not common practice! Most people compromise their sleep for entertainment or work. It’s an illusion that working late every day will get you to achieve more. You will spend more time at your desk, for sure, but this time is not always very productive.
Your body needs between 7-9 hours of sleep every day to do all the necessary repairs. A lack of sleep affects your memory, mood, attention, the processing speed of your brain and reduces your cognitive flexibility.
So obviously, not sleeping enough affects your overall productivity. Now if you are used to staying up late watching Netflix, scrolling on social media, or going to parties, I want you to think about the cost of it?
I am not saying you should stop, but I am suggesting that there is a way to have fun and relax time while not withdrawing hours from your sleep bank. It just requires a bit of planning and discipline.
Having enough sleep should be a priority. It’s important to create a good sleep routine and stick to it instead of trying to recover during the weekend and ending up feeling tired all year around. what would your ideal night look like? Why not try that for a few days?
We feel stress when we are confronted with danger (any situation where our life is threatened or where we are not able to cope with the specific demands). It’s an amazing reaction of our body to help us survive by injecting a bunch of chemicals (cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) into the blood.
These hormones slow down our digestive system and immunity while increasing our blood pressure, breathing rhythm, alertness, and tension in the muscles. Stress is great, it gives you a temporary superpower!
But as you can imagine, being constantly stressed out is not healthy and leaves you feeling tired all the time.
The problem is that nowadays, we experience stress in a lot of situations where there is no immediate danger to our survival. Job issues, lack of time, relationship problems,… But the body doesn’t know the difference between a life or death situation or the exam coming tomorrow.
If we never show the body that we are safe, that everything is all right. We create this toxic environment and sooner or later start experiencing the negative symptoms of chronic stress.
Take the time to breathe. Deep breathing causes the vagus nerve to signal your nervous system to lower your heart rate, blood pressure, and cortisol level. Taking just a few deep breaths can create relaxation and provide a sense of calm and a higher degree of consciousness.
Bonus points if you close your eyes at the same time! When we close our eyes we reduce the amount of information we receive from the environment and we also communicate to our body that we are safe. It makes sense, we would never close our eyes in a dangerous situation.
Just try it out, it’s free and no material is needed!
What if I would tell you that there is a substance that increases your level of awareness, giving you that feeling to be extra energized. Sounds pretty good right? The only downside is that consuming this substance throughout the day might make you a bit overstimulated, sweaty, restless, anxious and will certainly impair the quality of your sleep. But no problem, because if you wake up tired you can start the day with a high dose of this substance and feel ready to tackle the day again!
Problem fixed! Interested? Would make a very profitable business.. Oh yes, I did forget to mention that this substance is addictive for the body and comes with some bad withdrawal symptoms, so every time you try to stop consuming it you will feel so bad that you will decide to keep having it.
Any bells started ringing? You guessed right, I’m talking about coffee!
My recommendation is to avoid drinking coffee and instead of using it as a daily requirement, only use it as a hack in specific situations.
And let’s not forget another common stimulant: alcohol. Alcohol is also impairing your sleep, but in a different way than caffeine. Alcohol causes brain activity to slow down and induces relaxation and sleepiness. Yes, you might fall asleep faster, but your sleep cycle will be disturbed while your body is processing the alcohol, leaving you with extreme feelings of tiredness.
Best to not consume any caffeinated beverage after 2 PM to ensure a good night of sleep. Keep in mind that the effects of caffeine can last for about 30min to 8 hours.
They are so many factors that contribute to your level of energy. But the most basic things you can start doing today are:
1. Improve your nutrition by making sure you provide your body with all the nutrients it requires. Remember more of the good stuff!
2. Increase your hydration by drinking at least 2 to 3 liters of water per day.
3. Increase intentional movements, carrying grocery bags, taking the stairs,…
4. Breath deeply on a regular base, to give the signal to your body that you are safe.
5. Increase the quantity and quality of your sleep by making sleep a priority
6. Avoid consuming stimulants like caffeine or alcohol.
Before buying a magic powder, a miracle pill, or any of the non-effective money-wasting products, just take a look at what you can do to improve your quality of life today.
You can tremendously improve your health and feel better in your body by simply creating a few simple habits. You might not see an immediate effect, but hold on, it’s gonna build up fast!
Which of my 6 recommendations will be the most tricky for you?
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