Day 4
How do we ensure we optimise our energy levels throughout the day? Good sleep each night is one of the key factors, but here’s a few other tips we can use to help us feel our best, even during busy periods.
For a good night’s sleep, try to eliminate or reduce blue light and electronics after 9pm. Blue light blocking glasses will help if you want to use a screen. But lessening or dimming lights in the house works well too. This way the brain can start producing melatonin effectively.
Not eating after 8pm also helps so the digestive system has time to rest through the night. Equally, alcohol obviously affects sleep quality. Andrew Huberman has a great podcast about the impacts of alcohol, which we all know to some extent. But a drink can be part of socialising so if you do drink, just hydrate where possible.
Equally getting light into the eyes in the morning is important. It sounds obvious but natural light is best. If you can eat breakfast near some natural light or get outside for 15 minutes first thing- it’s scientifically proven to boost cortisol and get the body going in the morning. It increases immune function, alertness, and “sets” a timer to fall asleep ~14-16 hours later. On clear days do 5-10min. Overcast days 20-30min. Don’t stare.
Caffeine should be ideally a minimum of 90 minutes after waking up. This prevents it causing a crash later in the day by superficially increasing cortisol. I love coffee too! But I try to stick to one per day and switch for Matcha a lot of the time to get a more balanced caffeine release rather than a spike. Green or black tea are also great options. Or avoid caffeine altogether.
Working out in the morning works best for some, but certainly working out too late in the evening is to be avoided. If you workout in the morning particularly, a sauna and cold shower or plunge afterwards is incredible for the immune system and overall wellbeing. It sounds crazy, but a cold shower increases dopamine and raises mood and energy levels.
Eat your main meals and snacks before 8pm. Intermittant fasting for 14-16hours after dinner until breakfast is a great way to aid metabolism. If not, then eating to keep blood sugar levels stable is key to avoiding energy crashes. Look to lower to medium GI foods and whole grains and veggies where possible. Nutrition tips later in the week!
Finally, get some movement in every day. Pilates is low impact but fantastic for toning as part of a healthy lifestyle. Walking is also ideal as it’s low stress and burns calories. Walking 10K steps a day is something I always get done and it’s one of my favourite parts of the day! But whatever movement you choose, make it consistent and don’t over do it.