1. SKIPPING BREAKFAST
Whether you skip breakfast because you wake up late for work or because you simply have zero appetite in the morning, I invite you to listen up. Skipping breakfast is one of the fastest ways you can start your day out on a blood sugar rollercoaster leading to late morning fatigue. It also slows your metabolism and could lead to sugar or carb cravings later on. Try drinking hot water with lemon and ginger first thing in the morning. Quite often, this will help stimulate appetite 30 minutes later allowing you to desire breakfast. Or, if you’re in a rush, consider making smoothies (or making them the night before) and grabbing these on the go. Make sure you add protein powder and a little fat like avocado or coconut oil to make sure it properly satiates you and turns off your hunger afterwards!
2. RELYING ON FOODS & DRINKS AS STIMULANTS & DEPRESSANTS
This may sound crazy but technically, our bodies were designed to get energy from 2 things; sleep and food. We were also designed to fall asleep with ease. But nowadays, it seems people are perma fatigued leading to dependency on coffee and have difficulty falling asleep leading to reliance on wine, melatonin or prescription sleeping aids. Although solutions for these 2 issues will go beyond the scope of this article, here are some simple tips that can help. Balancing blood sugar is key to maintaining energy throughout the day. Make sure every meal you eat contains a fat + a carb + a protein and avoid refined carbs (bagel + cream cheese) and stimulants (coffee + energy drinks) which will causes blood sugar crashes leading to consistent fatigue and sugar or carb cravings. If falling asleep is an issue, do whatever you can to de-stress as your body cannot sleep if it is in the ‘fight or flight’ mode of stress. Avoid stressful evening conversations, work emails and electronic stimuli (laptops, cell phones, TVs) which will inhibit melatonin from naturally rising in your body.
3. LACK OF DAILY PLEASURE
Have you ever found yourself procrastinating pleasure in your life as if it were a luxury? You’d really like to go on that day spa trip with your girlfriends, go out for dinner during the week or go to an evening art show but you keep telling yourself, ‘I have to get more work done’. Well, here’s the thing ladies, there will ALWAYS be more work, no matter how much you get done today. And guess what, your body actually craves this thing called ‘pleasure’. Pleasure it NOT a luxury, it’s a necessity your body needs to relax, de-stress and get into the parasympathetic mode where your body can actually relax and heal. I invite you to find a way to bring pleasure into your life on a daily basis. Whether it be a decadent bubble bath, an evening walk, Skyping a far away friend or curling up to a sexy, foreign film, this Nutritionist is mandating it for you!
4. CONSTANTLY DRIVING YOURSELF
Ambition is awesome but it can also lead us to burn out if we’re not careful. If you’ve found yourself working non stop, networking in evenings, running your childrens’ PTA board, launching a Meetup in your industry and driving your kids to a million different afterschool activities, you might know what I’m talking about. One of the top traits I see in my clients is that they’re in what I call the ‘GO GO GO’ mode and have Superwoman syndrome where they think they can get by on 5 hours of sleep and drinking double espressos to fuel their ambitious desires. But the reality is, we can’t. Our bodies were not designed to continually ‘Go’. Eventually, our bodies’ burn out, specifically our adrenal glands, and this can put us on the bullet train towards health issues leading to disease. I invite you to itemize which activities are imperative to your career and life and which you could forgo. Then, look at ways to add pleasure and relaxation into your life to balance out your awesome ambitions.
5. STAYING UP LATE EVEN THOUGH FATIGUED
One of the top complaints I hear is that people are dragging themselves through the day, reliant on coffee, then come home, start cleaning, making dinner, helping kids with homework then BOOM, they activate the 2nd wind which gives them the best energy and mental clarity they’ve had all day. Suddenly, they can work productively until 2am. Next, you become what’s called ‘tired but wired’, where you’re so exhausted you can’t fall asleep. If this sounds like you, I invite you to try avoiding that 2nd wind by not overexerting yourself when you get home and by trying to fall asleep between 10pm and midnight, which will give you the best, quality sleep.