Top 5 Wellness Tips
Wellness tips from a panel of energy experts. If you feel overworked or overwhelmed by how much you have to do, you’re not alone. Here, five get-up-and-go wellness gurus offer their top tips for a revitalized, more revved-up you!
1. Eat healthfully – and often
It’s the most obvious way to get pumped up but just eating anything isn’t enough. You need to eat well, says Dr Jacob Teitelbaum, author of From Fatigued to Fantastic. For sustained energy levels, he suggests eating smaller, more frequent meals (ie. six meals of approximately 300-450 calories each) comprising 50 per cent complex carbohydrates, 30 per cent protein and 20 per cent fat.
2. Don’t sit still
A daily 30-minute blast of moderate to high-intensity cardiovascular exercise is essential for sustained energy levels, but even two to 10 minutes of brisk movement has a remarkably energizing effect, says Robert E Thayer, author of Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. Although brief activity probably won’t spike endorphin levels the way it would with a regular exercise programme, Thayer’s research has shown that it will increase your heart rate and keep you feeling revved and peppy for up to two hours.
3. Turn down your inner-volume
Meditating is one of the best ways to offset stress, a huge factor in fatigue, says Dr David Simon, author of Vital Energy: The 7 Keys to Invigorate Body, Mind & Soul. Dr Simon suggests a daily practice of meditation that shifts the focus from the negative voices in your head (“I feel overwhelmed and helpless”) to a mantra (“I have power over my life”), a soothing sound (that of the ocean or wind in the trees) or the sound of your breath.
4. Go on a technology and/or news “fast”
Sitting in front of a computer all day can lead to a “technodespair”, a term coined by Dr Judith Orioff, a Los Angeles psychiatrist, to describe the fatigue and depression that can set in after being, even briefly, around machines, including computers and phones. “Refuel by going out for an invigorating walk,” she says. A news fast – avoiding newspapers, the internet and TV – can also give you a much-needed break from draining, disheartening images and information
5. Consider the glass half-full
“We rarely acknowledge the progress we’ve made,” says Bill Ford, author of High Energy Habits: The Busy Person’s Guide to More Energy – Without Diets or Exercise. Stopping to look how far you’ve come is energizing. Pat yourself on the back and feel the charge!