How to Get Your Energy Back
/At one time or another we all deal with low energy. Maybe you've been rushing around preparing for the holidays, just came home from a long trip, maybe you don’t sleep well, maybe your immune system is in overdrive.
Fatigue has become a “normal” thing within our fast-paced, keep-going society where rest is considered a weakness. Just like period cramps or hot flashes during menopause, we have convinced ourselves that fatigue is part of life and we need to deal with it. This is SO far from the truth! Fatigue is not normal, it’s our bodies telling us that our tanks are low and need rest. It’s telling us that it’s trying to heal or mitigate something we may be unaware of. We have the power to heal!
Movement for Energy
We all know that movement can increase our energy, but it may not always be the solution. At times it can do more harm than good.
For a moment imagine that the amount of energy you have to get through your day is a tank of gas. When you're healthy, each day you start with a full tank. The “gas” (energy) gets pumped easily to where it needs to go depending on the demand of your day. Then at the end of the day, your tank starts to run low, so you go to sleep, refill your tank and start over the next day with your tank on full.
However, sometimes things go awry in either the amount of “gas” that gets put back in your tank or the "pump" that sends the gas to where it needs to be. If we sleep well, nourish ourselves well, but maybe our digestion is off and we aren’t eliminating properly our “pump” can work less efficiently and we get tired because the gas isn’t getting to where it needs to be. In this scenario, exercise is our best friend. It acts like a “pump” moving our stagnant energy and we feel wonderful after even a little movement.
Other times we may not be sleeping well, nourishing ourselves well, have underlying conditions that are body is working hard to heal (which takes energy) and each day we are only starting with a half a tank or maybe less. We don’t wake up refreshed and ready to go, we wake up tired, leaching out any reserves we may have to get through the day. Then we exercise only to find that we're more tired than when we started, but have been told that exercise helps so we keep going only further depleting our “tank”. In this case, we need rest more than movement. We need to fill our tank back up before expending anymore energy.
In short:
Exercise increases energy = keep moving.
Exercise decreases energy = time to rest.
Nutrition for Energy
Anemia, insomnia, thyroid issues, poor diet, insufficient adrenals, blood sugar dysregulation or infection could be the a cause of your fatigue, but what came before that? What came before the body's dysregulation?
When you start getting down to the root of all dis-ease, it comes down to the daily choices you make and the emotions that drive those choices.
So what do we do? Another cup of coffee, a pill or even a supplement may (temporarily) fix your symptoms, but your daily habits/choices is how you create true healing and lasting change.
Food is a main foundational piece to healing from the inside out. Food is medicine. The choices you make will either help you heal or hinder your wellness.
Here are a few ways to help sustain the fuel in your tank:
Kick the sugar habit
Reduce daily caffeine intake
Increase protein
Attain metabolic flexibility