Many people are stressed and tired these days. They don’t get enough sleep and use coffee and energy drinks to help them get through the day.

Caffeine may be a short-term solution, but once it’s out of your system you crash. Caffeine can also be addictive. I believe that dependence on any kind of substance limits your freedom and takes away from your quality of life. Here’s post to read if you’re dependent on caffeine.

There are other ways besides consuming caffeine and sugar to boost your daily energy levels.

Get the Right Amount of Sleep

We live in a sleep deprived society. Lack of sleep speeds up the aging process and makes you less productive.

Too much sleep can also be bad. If you’re sleeping too much, you will feel lethargic. Consistently getting more than 9 hours of sleep per night has been linked with health problems and depression.

Most adults need 7 to 8 hours sleep a night. Experiment and see what amount of sleep is right for you.

Exercise

Daily exercise helps boost energy. Exercise raises your heart rate, increases your circulation and causes you to get more oxygen to your cells. All this helps give the body more energy. You may feel tired immediately after your workout, but that will pass in an hour. As exercise becomes part of your regular schedule you’ll notice that you’ll start feeling better and better.

Eat Right

Healthy food can do wonders for how you feel. Eating a lot of processed foods full of fillers can zap your energy and cause disease. You all know by now that I believe in eating natural whole foods and as little junk as possible. Watch this interview with Michael Pollen if you need more convincing.

Increase your intake of fruit and vegetables. Many people hear this and notice the fruit part, but neglect the vegetables. Fruit is high in sugar. While they are good for you, eating too many can cause a problem. Do more to increase your vegetable intake than your fruit intake. Eat a variety of different kinds of vegetables, but, especially, try to increase your intake of dark leafy greens, like spinach and kale.

Drink Water

If you’re feeling low on energy you may be dehydrated. Your body needs water to function. Just a 2% drop in your water levels has a noticeable effect on your body. Here’s a post about the health benefits of water.

Doing these few things can help you have more energy and feel better everyday.

Photo by Shermeee

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