This is what you really need to boost your energy
Raise your hand if you wish you had more energy? (Seriously, unless you’re a Jack Russel terrier, who doesn’t?)
We all want to be energized, focused and free of brain fog, because we remember how great we felt when we were younger, never giving our energy a second (or even a first) thought.
Maybe you’ve already promised yourself that you’d start to make changes to try to regain some of that lost energy. And maybe you’ve even kept that promise, setting goals and making new plans. You started off on the right foot, or so you thought. But it’s been a minute, and you’re not really feeling much different. And you definitely don’t have more energy to tackle your to-do list.
It’s so frustrating!
You’ve been paying attention. Being more intentional about your food choices. Trying to move your body more regularly, in spite of everything else on your list. As for stress management, the “I’m gonna’ meditate every day” part of the plan? What happened there? Not only is it frustrating, but it feels a bit like you’ve let yourself slip down the priority list again.
But it’s not your fault! You’ve just been doing stuff in the wrong order, and reading this will help you fix that.
So here’s the truth: If you don’t take care of this thing first, you probably won’t have much luck boosting your energy, no matter what else you do. (Ouch!)
What needs to be the first thing on your list? SLEEP! It’s the magic pixie dust that makes everything else work for us. Regularly getting enough, good quality sleep is the foundation for building the more energetic and focused you that you’ve been missing.
Don’t get me wrong. Sleep isn’t the only thing, but it's the one thing that will help all of the other pieces of your energy puzzle fall into place.
Why is sleep such a big deal?
First of all, there are all kinds of cool (and important) changes that only happen while we sleep.
We tend to think of sleep as downtime: unproductive at best and wasted time, at worst, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Sleep gives our bodies time to repair and reboot. It’s when we process new information, and actually integrate it into our brains. Being well rested helps our brain cells communicate clearly with each other so messages don’t get garbled or lost - foggy brain anyone? If you’ve ever been jet-lagged, you know how that feels. Missing out on sleep can do the same thing.
Sleep is also critical for maintaining and restoring our bodies, helping to keep inflammation in check and allowing time for muscles to rebuild and repair. It’s even important in helping us with our physical balance, keeping us steady and strong on our feet, so we can enjoy exercise and everyday activities without the risk of injury or falls.
While we’re asleep our bodies clear out the clutter, mentally and physically. Sleep gives us the time to build new things, like muscles or connections in our brains, and helps us to stay focused and strong all day. And you thought sleep was only about sweet dreams!
There really is wisdom in the old adage, let me sleep on it!
Where does sleep fit into the energy equation?
Aside from the obvious benefit of helping you feel alert and wide awake, we’ve all experienced what happens when we don’t get enough sleep:
Craving foods you don’t usually eat and finding it harder to make choices that line up with your long-term goals. You don’t have the energy or the brain-power to figure out what to eat and cook it yourself, so you reach for the takeout menu or a bowl of microwave popcorn,
Choosing the couch over a walk or a bike ride, because you don’t have the energy to get yourself out the door,
Struggling to keep your stress levels in check, making it a challenge to focus and enjoy the day, and even harder to sleep at night. The more you stress, the less you sleep and the less you sleep, the more you stress. It’s a vicious cycle.
You already know that your nutrition, movement and managing stress are important, and I’m sure you also have a good idea of what area you need to focus on most.
So WHY IS IT SO HARD?!?!?
Sleep really is the missing piece. Think of it as the glue that holds everything else in place. If you want to get your groove back, clear the brain fog and have more energy on the daily, getting quality sleep on a regular basis is where to start.
I’m not saying that what you eat, how you move and managing your stress aren’t all important. They are!
But it will be next to impossible to get a handle on those things if you're run down by a lack of sleep.
It’s kind of like swimming against the tide, all the time. It doesn’t need to be that way.
The best way to set yourself up for success, whatever your goals are, is by getting serious about your sleep.
It can be as easy as starting with these 5 simple things that you can do beginning tonight!
Take the phones (and any other electronics) out of your bedroom
Blue light interferes with our circadian rhythm, messing up our sleep/wake cycle and boosts our cortisol levels at a time when they should be coming down
No caffeine after 11 am
The older we get, the longer it takes for caffeine to metabolize, or work its way through our system. It can take as long as 12 hours for the effects of that morning coffee to completely leave you.
Remove or limit alcohol*
Alcohol may make it easier to fall asleep, but it interferes with our deep sleep later in the night, so we awaken more easily and have trouble falling back to sleep.
Lower the temperature in your bedroom
A lower room temp for sleeping (60-68º) will help you fall asleep more quickly, and increases melatonin production, helping you to stay asleep. Our core temperature rises through the night, so a cooler room will help to keep you from overheating during the night.
Journal before bed
Spend 5 minutes getting troublesome thoughts or your to-do list out of your head and down on paper before going to bed. This will reduce the chance that those thoughts will wake you up through the night. Once your brain knows things are on paper, it won’t pester you to keep going over them.
*Bonus points if you replace the alcohol with a relaxing nighttime drink, like chamomile tea or a soothing bedtime smoothie.
Changing routines takes time, but if you regularly do these simple things, I think you’ll notice an improvement in your sleep and the positive shift in your energy that goes along with it.
Getting enough sleep will make it easier to stick with a way of eating that feels good for you. Eating well helps support your body with the energy it needs to move regularly, and moving regularly will make you feel more energetic and help you to process stress in a positive way. Less stress will lead to better sleep.
See how everything is connected?
When you’re wondering how you can get more energy back into your life, and you’re not sure where to start, the answer is simple: More energy starts with more sleep.
Sleep isn’t the only thing, but it is the thing that will create the foundation for you to build everything else to boost your energy.
If you’re looking for more ideas to get yourself on the right track with your sleep, CLICK HERE to download your free sleep guide. It’s full of information, tips and even a recipe for that Soothing Bedtime Smoothie I was talking about earlier. (It’s delicious, by the way!)