10 Ways to Improve How You Feel Today
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Who among us doesn’t need more energy and feel better? Yet many of the go-to strategies for getting a quick ‘hit’ of energy or boost in mood—sugary foods, energy drinks, a tall caramel latte—can often end up being counterproductive.
While they may temporarily make us feel better, that boost is transient and quickly followed by a crash. Luckily, research has shown that there are a broad range of interventions we can use to attain and sustain higher energy levels throughout the day.
Below are ten of our favorites.
Drink More Water:
Studies have shown that even very mild dehydration—the type of thing that often happens in our daily lives, and might leave us feeling a little thirsty—can have a significant impact on our mood, energy levels and cognitive function.
That’s why it’s important to develop strategies to be drinking plenty of non-alcoholic, non-sugary fluids throughout the day. These might include starting your day with a tall glass of water, drinking water every time you eat, and then carrying a reusable water bottle with you throughout your day.
No Naked Carbs:
Potato chips, candy bars, crackers— many go-to snack foods are primarily carbohydrates. And when we eat carbohydrates in isolation, our body turns them quickly into fuel. This creates a spike and then a crash in our blood sugar levels.
Making sure we pair carbohydrates with protein or a healthy fat— cottage cheese, guacamole, etc.—can help to moderate that effect and provide more sustained energy. Also switching to carbs that also have fiber in them (e.g. an apple instead of a candy bar) can help to ensure slower, more sustainable digestion of those sugars.
Adequate, Quality Sleep:
It goes without saying that both our bodies and our minds need sleep in order to feel rested. Increasingly, research has shown that it’s not just the amount of sleep we get that’s important — but the quality too.
In addition to directly impacting our moods and energy levels, there also appears to be a correlation between the quality of our sleep and how likely we are to engage in other behaviors that either positively or negatively impact our energy levels (e.g. physical activity, unhealthy snacking etc.)
That’s why Whole Health Partners works with our patients to adopt behaviors that may enhance healthy sleep, and to avoid behaviors that may get in its way.
Get Moving:
Sometimes physical exercise is the last thing we want to do when we’re tired and lacking in energy. Yet even a 10 minute walk can result in significant improvements in energy levels, as well as a reduction in feelings of tension or stress.
In fact, when participants in one study were asked to alternate eating a candy bar, versus taking a walk, on different consecutive days—the walk was much more likely to offer a sustained boost in energy levels, while the candy bar resulted in a temporary high followed by a crash.
Manage Stress:
When we’re stressed, our minds tend to zero in on thought patterns or ideas that we have little or no control over. And that, in turn, can leave us feeling fatigued or lacking in energy.
It can also interfere with other behaviors (sleep, rest, motivation to exercise) that help us to maintain our energy levels. That’s why it’s important to both identify stressors in our lives, and to develop strategies for dealing with them.
Soak Up the Sun:
Our bodies evolved to rise with the sun, yet modern life can sometimes leave us isolated indoors. That’s why it’s important to make sure you get outdoors during the day, and ideally also increase the amount of natural light you are exposed to indoors.
If you can regularly take a walk in the late afternoon, for example, you may find that your mind starts sending signals to your body that it’s time to start winding down.
Limit Smoking:
Most of us are aware that smoking is linked to a variety of health issues, including cancer. What’s perhaps less well known is that it can also impact energy levels and mood.
Exposure to cigarette smoke, for example, can disrupt sleep patterns and even cause sleep apnea, yet because it is also a stimulant, it can actually mask your exhaustion levels — meaning it’s harder for you to notice when you need to rest.
Manage Alcohol Intake:
As we already shared, it’s not just the quantity but the quality of sleep that’s important. Yet alcohol intake can disrupt our ability to achieve the amount of Rapid Eye Movement (R.E.M.) sleep we get, leaving us feeling drowsy or lacking in energy.
In fact, some studies have suggested that alcohol may be a factor in as many as one in ten cases of persistent insomnia. Everybody’s relationship to alcohol is different, but even modest changes in consumption — for example introducing more alcohol-free days during the week — can be a great way to get started.
Eat for Sustained Energy:
The reason we eat is to fuel our bodies, so it’s pretty obvious that what we eat will impact how we feel. We’ve already looked at how a diet that’s rich in protein and fiber can provide more sustained energy than excessive carbohydrates, but other nutrients play a role too.
Boosting the amount of magnesium (greens, pumpkin seeds, dark chocolate) and Vitamin D (pasture-raised eggs, mushrooms, fish, as well as exposure to sunlight) are all ways to help your body feel energized throughout the day.
Putting It Into Practice
You don’t have to do everything at once: Start by observing your energy (rate it 1-10) and document how that changes as you progress.
Make tiny changes and expand on those over time, and be sure to plan ahead to make sure that behaviors are built into your routine.
As your mood and energy levels improve, you can use that to build motivation for the larger or more ambitious behavioral goals. (See our separate post on practical behavior change here.)
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Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance
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