Maybe you wake up and you’re already tired as you think about the day ahead. Perhaps you feel fine in the morning but end up with that afternoon slump. Your body relies on energy to help you get through the day, but most people aren’t doing enough to ensure their bodies remain energized and productive each day. Luckily, there are ways to boost it and help you maintain the lifestyle you want.
Get More Protein in Your Diet
An often-asked question is “Does protein give you energy?“. Simply put, the answer is yes. If you eat meat, it’s a good idea to use it as a source of protein during each meal, as it takes the body longer to break it down, which means it sustains you for longer. Eggs are an excellent choice for breakfast while lean chicken or ground turkey is good for lunch and dinner. Other protein-rich options to consider include yogurt, peanut butter, and nuts.
Eat More Often
Traditionally, people eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and perhaps have a snack throughout the day. Realistically, many people only eat one or two meals per day because they are so busy. The fact is, though, that you should be eating a small meal every 3-4 hours. Smaller meals throughout the day help to prevent the energy dip you get as your body finishes processing your food. Of course, everybody is a bit different, so it’s important to listen to the hunger and fullness cues that yours gives you. Active people are more likely to be hungry more often since they use energy more quickly.
Add More Magnesium To Your Diet
Your body needs a variety of vitamins and minerals to thrive and magnesium is one of them. If you feel tired regardless of which other methods you try, it may be due to a magnesium deficiency. This deficiency causes your heart and lungs to work harder while you go about your normal daily tasks, which leaves you feeling exhausted more quickly. Women need about 300 milligrams of magnesium per day while men need about 350. You can add it to your diet by eating cashews, hazelnuts, almonds, bran cereal, and fish.
Spend Some Time in Silence
From social media to work emails, your brain is probably always on the go throughout the day, which tends to cause fatigue and makes it harder for you to concentrate on the necessary tasks you need to complete. Luckily, you can reboot your brain a bit throughout the day. If you find yourself tired and unfocused, take 20-30 minutes and avoid all mental stimulation. Turn your phone to airplane mode, close your laptop, and put on noise-muffling headphones (without any music or white noise, which causes your brain to keep working in overdrive). Just half an hour of no interruptions allows your brain to reset itself, overcome fatigue, and get back to the tasks at hand.
Spend More Time Asleep
The average human needs 6-8 hours of sleep per night, but many adults don’t get that. They work late, make dinner, help the kids with homework, and so on, and eventually, the night gets away from them and they’re crawling into bed way too late. Factor in bedtime social media scrolling and the lack of sleep becomes even direr. When you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t have the energy you need to make it through the next day. Set a time for yourself to be done with tasks each day, then spend an hour or so taking a bubble bath, reading quietly, or journaling. Keeping yourself away from your phone will help your brain relax and prepare itself to go to sleep so that you fall asleep earlier.
Everybody feels a little depleted from time to time. However, if it’s beginning to affect your life in a negative way, try the above ideas to see if you begin to feel better. Keep in mind that you can also talk to your doctor to see if there may be underlying causes of your lack of energy.