The majority of us, we want more energy.

Look at it this way, if you had more energy all these things would improve: your mood, your patience, your ability to run wild with the kiddos, your sleep, your concentration, your sex (you bet we just said that), and your weight.

Did you know that over 55% of individuals report that they are less careful about what they eat when they’re tired and stressed? We feel like that number is more like 90%.

As Winter begins to approach, we start to hear the calls for some Winter ‘hibernate’. Why? Well everyone is feeling that fatigue, there are a million after school activities that are next to impossible to keep up with, and that ‘winter coat’ lingering around the midsection… that thing has gotta go.

Sometimes we just need action items for real life to make it all possible.

LET’S REBUILD HOW YOU FEEL

Let’s use this season of rejuvenation to ditch the juice cleanses and ‘instant fixes’ and instead dig a bit deeper to get to the core of what will make you feel better for the long haul. Let’s rebuild how you feel from the inside out. Smartest way to do that? Give your stress hormone, cortisol, a little bit of love.

So you’ve gotta meet him first. Cortisol. And believe me he is working in overdrive with the way we live these days. Support healthy cortisol levels and you support yourself – your entire system. We need to have balanced cortisol levels in order to have balanced moods, weight and sex hormones.

Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal that cortisol.

Here’s some of our best get your energy back advice.

1 | GET YOUR B’S.

B vitamins that is. These guys help our body produce healthy red blood cells needed for everything from the maintenance of brain cells to the metabolism of carbohydrates, the brain’s source of fuel. They turn our food into energy and power our metabolism. B’s are necessary for production of our neurotransmitters, which regulate mood and conduct messages through the brain.

Kind of seem pretty important? We think so. Here’s some stellar places to find them:

Leafy greens.

They detoxify your blood, provide strong antioxidant support, help boost your immune system, repair tissue and SO much more. We actually have a love affair with them. The list could go on.

Nuts and seeds.

These guys provide support with B1 (thiamine – which is directly needed to produce energy, B3 (Niacin – a big detoxer and adrenal supporter), B6 (pyridoxine – which has the most dramatic mood elevating effects of all the B vitamins), and more.

Lean meats and fish.

These help provide essential fatty acids, power metabolism and assist in nerve cell production.

Nutritional yeast.

This is our little rabbit in the hat. If you don’t know nutritional yeast – it’s time to meet it. Nutritional yeast is a flakey, yellow deactivated yeast that is very high in protein, minerals and chock full of B vitamins. It has a cheesy and somewhat nutty flavor, and is delicious on salads and mixed into things like rice. We often use it in place of Parmesan cheese when called for in recipes.

2 | DANCE WITH A LITTLE MACA.

This little amazing powder supplement has been used for centuries, and is known to act as an ‘adaptogen,’ which simply means it naturally regulates cortisol levels.

Incorporate some in your morning yogurt or smoothie and get ready for some energy.

It’s also been proven to help with sleep, mood, memory, and even sex hormone stabilization (yep we’re talking night flashes). Final push on Maca? It raises libido. Oooh la la.

1/2 – 1 teaspoon to start. What a way to stabilize adrenals and get energy. It’s also perfect mixed into a little cocoa…  well it’s double whammy.

3 | BREAK UP WITH SUGAR.

Just like any break up, it can be tough, but here are some helpful tips that might make this one a little easier:

Like a bandit, sugar robs us of energy.

Now that’s just mean. It’s depletes our stores of B vitamins (you now know how important those guys are) and creates that blood sugar spike and then… CRASH. Leaving us worse off than how tired we might have been in the first place.

The average daily sugar consumption is 22 teaspoons (330 calories, yow.)

Consuming 330 calories a day, equals 2,130 calories per week, equals 9,240 calories per month. Trying to lose weight, specifically body fat? Consider that there are 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. Doing the math, this is an excess of almost two pounds per month.

Don’t let artificial sweeteners fool you.

Unfortunately, we consider them even worse than the real deal. Artificial sweeteners cause “calorie dysregulation,” meaning they can cause us to overeat. Aspartame is a known neurotoxin, Splenda is “chlorinated” sugar, and chlorine is a known carcinogen, and they ALL contribute greatly to glycation and inflammation, translation = aging wrinkles.

Take this challenge – 1 week no added/refined sugar.

Fill up on natural sweets like fruits, veggies, and use sweeteners like real honey, real maple syrup, stevia to replace refined or artificial sweeteners. If you don’t feel a wave of increased energy after one week – come knocking on our door. We’ll set this straight.

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Feature article: 9 tips to boost your energy — naturally