We all want more, more, more these days, but that’s not always a bad thing — one of the things I want, for example, is more energy. More energy to do more things, to stay up later and not be tired the next day, to not get drowsy, worn down, tired and sick.
So part of what I’m looking forward to as I remember the year of my birth is examining the difference I feel if any when I avoid known energy-suckers (eg, cookies, candy, cakes, and the like) and explore the connection between what you eat and how much energy you have.
I start my day early every morning — at 4:50 am — and that in and of itself has always discouraged me from pushing at the end of the day, whether it be for networking, housework, or even catching up on a fave TV show. Usually, the baby goes to sleep and I’m not far behind. At the risk of complete humiliation, I’m going to admit that I crawl into bed anywhere between 8 and 10 pm, and usually the only things I have the energy for, if anything, include face cream and dental floss. But still — even on a good day, that’s only nine hours of sleep max, and even then that’s only if we all sleep through the night, which is rare these days because of my son’s teething. On top of that, I couldn’t tell you the last time I had a nap.
So I know that processed foods are good for nothing, and fruits and veggies with complex carbohydrates do a body good — but this is nothing new to me. I’ve tried the “perfect” snack of an apple and string cheese; I’ve tried nuts, dried fruit, lots of water, half a sandwich. But as I move forward, what I’m working on now is some way to track on this site what I eat, how it makes me feel, what I was doing before I ate (if there is any sort of stressor or emotional connection that’s worth exploring) and what scientific evidence exists to back up why I might feel more energetic throughout — or at the end of — my day. It’s kind of a daunting task because everything I’ve tried thus far just gets cut off in the margin, but if worst comes to worst I’ll just group small lists and try to identify any patterns that way.
Hope you guys are enjoying the nice long weekend…it is rainy and horrible here, but maybe that means we’ll get to stay home and watch movies today, yea!