Start Making Small And Manageable Changes
If you want to make some positive changes in your life, especially when it comes to your energy and patience, start where you're at and make small, manageable changes. This can really make a huge impact on your life.
I’m going to give you a few ideas to get you started. Pick which one is going to be most applicable to you and your situation, and just try it out for a week. Find out for yourself how it impacts your energy as well as your patients.
Drink Enough Water
I can’t say this enough - hydration is insanely important. And many people don’t drink enough water. About 60% of our bodies are made up of water. This is why it's incredibly important, right down to the cellular level, to be properly hydrating yourself.
It’s an easy action to take because it doesn’t require a lot of preconceived thought or planning in order to drink water – you just get the water, put it in your mouth, and swallow.
What is considered enough water? Take your body weight in pounds, and then divide that in half. That's how many ounces you want to drink per day, plus whatever was lost in sweat. If you weigh 160 pounds, then you'd want to drink at least 80 ounces of water or 90 ounces of water if you are an active person who sweats on the regular.
Balance Your Meals
You want to do this throughout the day AND within the meals themselves. We all know there are challenging times when we’re running around like crazy, and maybe skipping meals or eating really light for part of the day and then later on in the day making up for it. That's going to impact your blood sugar levels, and your energy throughout the day.
If you are able to balance your meals and spread your calorie intake out relatively evenly throughout the day, then you're also going to be spreading your energy levels out evenly throughout the day too.
For example, you could try eating a third of your calories for breakfast, a third of your calories for lunch, and then a third of your calories for dinner and see how that impacts your overall energy (and patients). If you are running on fumes and you're hangry, there's not a lot of patients when you're at that level of hungriness. It doesn't necessarily have to be breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you can think of it as meals one, two, and three because it really doesn't matter what time you eat.
And when it comes to meals themselves, you want to balance those in a way that you're including protein and carbs for energy, fruits and or vegetables, for a less energy-dense carbohydrate source and some heart-healthy fat that's going to help that meal stick to your bones so you're feeling full for a long time.
Establish A Bedtime Routine
This one's not nutrition-related but it supports a healthy lifestyle. Give yourself an hour before you go to bed to wind down. This could be shutting the screens off - no more TV or looking at your phone. Anytime you're looking at your phone or computer, that artificial light, too late in the day, can disrupt your REM sleep cycle and start impacting the quality of your sleep. You could read a book or take a bath. Or it could be setting yourself up for success for the next day and getting your breakfast and lunch prepped or packing your kid's lunches.
Try these out for one week and see how that impacts your overall energy level and patience level
If your goal is to get leaner and build sexy curves, I can help with that structured plan. Oh, and you won't have to give up cake either or carbs or any food you don't want to give up. Learn more about my 12 Weeks to Fitness group coaching program here.