Do you feel you are ‘under the pump’?
Everyone who works under pressure whether it’s in business, or as a manager, an employee, or anyone else who is flat out getting everything done, must have loads of energy! Sometimes nothing else matters… if you don’t have the energy to fuel your own body then you’re most likely running out of energy before all the tasks are done! Being a human at the best of times requires heaps of energy – mental, emotional and physical energy – let alone when you’ve got heaps on our to-do list!!
Every human has it’s own body/energy rhythms
In life there will be peak energy periods followed by quieter times followed by peak periods. Some liken it to the different seasons you experience.
The energy required in the peak of a season is immense. When your personal and work life ebbs and flows, so does your energy. So it’s most important to add the right kind of fuel to your system. If you were a thoroughbred racing horse you would eat the best quality of feed and supplements to be at peak condition for the important carnival races. If you were a high performance car, say a Ferrari, you would have the highest octane fuel to enhance the speed and handling on the race track.
So what about the person who also needs to be in peak condition and work at optimum speed and pace? Well your fuel, that is your food, needs to deliver maximum energy to the body so you can maintain the momentum in the peak periods.
The 3 foods that rob your body
of energy
These are three foods to avoid when you want to be at peak energy levels as they steal energy from you, rather than adding to your supply.
1. caffeine –
the more caffeine you consume the more cortisol surges through your body. This stress hormone breaks down energy reserves and inevitably causes a rise in blood sugar. When you get this ‘high’ from consuming coffee or energy drinks, it is naturally followed by a ‘low’ and our mental alertness and energy suffers.
2. sugar –
when you eat lots of sugary products, you can be stuck in the roller coaster ride of your blood glucose. Lots of foods you think are good for you eg. carbohydrates, bread, pasta or cereals are broken down into glucose. Insulin is involved in removing excess glucose out of the blood. If it has to work too hard to remove all the excess ‘sugar’ then you’ll have a problem as you’ll experience a drop in energy – you’ll feel low, lethargic and grumpy – not at all what you were hoping for.
3. wheat (gluten) –
If you’re experiencing low energy levels and you’ve checked the amount of caffeine and sugar ingested and that’s at an okay level, then reducing the amount of wheat you’re digesting, even if you’re not gluten intolerant, will assist in restoring energy levels. So check out how much grain you are eating…bread, pasta and cereals, and reduce your intake. You may be surprised as to how your energy levels increase and your mood improves.
So, if you want optimum energy, then check out for these 3 energy thieves that may be lurking in your diet!
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I help people stress less and enjoy more! Stress and anxiety is a learned response to things and can be changed using the right tools, techniques and strategies.
If you’d like to know more about how you can increase your energy and control your stress and/or anxiety then go to my website www.outcomesunlimited.co.nz or contact linda@outcomesunlimited.co.nz
