8 Energy-Boosting Secrets
Updated: Mar. 20, 2019
Do you find yourself collapsing on the couch by mid-afternoon? A low-energy lifestyle will leave you with little energy. Here are a few simple ways you can give yourself more energy by being more active.
1. Make Your Caffeine Boost Last All Day
If you need a quadruple shot of espresso just to bring your eyes to half-mast in the morning, you may be driving yourself deeper and deeper into a low-energy rut. Compelling research from various institutions, including Harvard Medical School, finds that frequent low doses of caffeine – the amount in a quarter cup of coffee – are more effective than a few larger doses of caffeine in keeping people alert.
2. Reduce Your Glycaemic Load
Foods with a low glycaemic load – such as beans, bran cereal, brown rice, wholemeal bread and nuts – have less impact on your blood sugar than foods with a high glycaemic load – including white rice, spaghetti, potatoes, cornflakes, and sugary juices and drinks. Eating more low-glycaemic-load foods will help you to keep your blood sugar steady and avoid the light-headedness and shakes associated with blood sugar drops, which usually follow rises.
3. Smell Rosemary
If you have dried rosemary in your kitchen, crush a small handful and take a whiff or three. The herb’s intense woody fragrance is known to herbalists as an invigorating stimulant.
4. Walk 10 Minutes a Day
Once a day, take 10 minutes to go for a walk and during that time, think of all the thing you are grateful for. After the walk, make a mental note of how you feel. This simple technique gives you both a sense of well-being and the positive benefits of walking and exercise, flooding your brain with happy neurotransmitters and endorphins. It’s simple yet it’s a powerful exercise that energizes the mind and body, and builds mental and physical muscle.
5. Think Positive
When you find yourself having a negative thought, picture a stop sign in your mind. Then either push the thought out of your mind or replace it with a positive one. Negative feelings take a lot of mental energy. Whenever possible, avoid unnecessary self-criticism. Stop blaming yourself for past events that you cannot change. You deserve the same level of respect and kindness as others.
6. Drink Two Glasses of Ice Water
Fatigue is often one of the first symptoms of dehydration, and if all you’ve sipped throughout the day is coffee and soft drinks, it’s quite likely that you’re dehydrated. Plus, the refreshing coldness will serve as a slap in the face.
7. Place a Cool Cloth on Your Forehead
The icy coolness of the cloth will quickly rejuvenate your facial muscles and eyes. It will probably lift your spirits as well.
8. Get Enough Iron
Constantly dragging yourself around? You could have iron-deficiency anaemia, a common cause of fatigue. Iron is essential for producing haemoglobin, which carries oxygen to your body’s cells, where it’s used to produce energy. Good food sources of iron are red meat, iron-fortified breakfast cereal, green leafy vegetables and all beans and pulses. You may also need a supplement; check with your doctor.
