Three things that will increase your energy

“You may not feel outstandingly robust, but if you are an average-sized adult you will contain within your modest frame no less than 7 X 10^18 joules of potential energy—enough to explode with the force of thirty very large hydrogen bombs, assuming you knew how to liberate it and really wished to make a point.”
― Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything

Fatigue is by far the main complaint I hear from my patients. As Bryson said, additional energy is in there, but it’s up to you to cultivate it.

Here are three areas to address to fine-tune your energy:

1. Improve sleep quality
2. Rule-out underlying issues
3. Stick to a stimulant schedule

Don’t give the day to last night

If you're not waking-up feeling rested then you're dealing with physiologic fatigue, which is likely caused by an inconsistent routine. There’s a lyric by Atmosphere that says “The sunlight hit me dead in the eye like it's mad that I gave half the day to last night.”

Sean Daley was referring to a hangover, which will definitely tank your sleep quality, but the same loss of energy occurs when you go to bed late, eat late, or exercise late.

Yesterday's choices impact today's energy.

Rule-out issues that drain your energy

Common issues that lead to fatigue are easily diagnosed with blood tests, and easy to treat. This includes low iron, low B12, hypothyroidism, low testosterone, low progesterone, and low vitamin D. All these underlying issues are easy to fix after you figure out why they’re low.

Do you snore, or wake up in the middle of the night with a headache? Sleep apnea, where your breathing stops while you sleep, is another common issue that leads to fatigue. It’s diagnosed with a sleep study at home or in a sleep clinic. Treatment is less than ideal with a CPAP machine which looks like a something you would wear in space, but my patients say it changed their lives because of the immense boost in energy.

Be strategic with caffeine

Caffeine is the most common stimulant in the world because it works so well as an energy-booster, focus-booster, mood-booster, and anything else you need boosted.

You have to use the energy though otherwise it will impact your sleep. Metabolizing caffeine can take up to 10 hours, so if you want to sleep better, stop drinking caffeine after noon. To tell if you're over-caffeinated, ask yourself if you're stuck in the last line of the classic Robert Frost poem:

“And miles to go before I sleep."

If you’re a coffee person then delaying your first cup by 1-2 hours after you wake up will improve your body’s natural awakening response that cortisol provides. Combining peak cortisol in the morning with a cup of caffeine is how you maximize your energy for the day.

As for energy drinks, a simple rule is that the fewer ingredients, the healthier. Monster, for example, has 21 ingredients while black coffee has…one. The difference is a handful of additional stimulants that will add to the jittery, sleep-impacting affect of caffeine.

Takeaway

Your routine tonight will dictate your energy tomorrow. If fine-tuning your night doesn’t get the job done then have your doctor order some labs to rule-out a hormonal imbalance or a nutrient deficiency. Lastly, practice intermittent-drinking of caffeine with a window of around 8am-12pm. Let me know if you need additional support.