Lack of Energy? This May Be The Reason Why...

I was thinking about this today as I was driving to teach yoga... I thought, "Why have I felt like I've had such low energy lately?" At first I thought, I should call my mom and ask her about it (she's also a chiropractor, and could help me figure it out). Then I thought, maybe it has to do with my head injury, I felt like I've never had the same energy since then. And I just started going down this thought path of trying to figure it out.

There can be a myriad of things that can cause lack of energy. This is just one avenue. But think about this with me for a moment, have you ever noticed when things are going pretty well (you feel rather healthy, you're pretty happy, and just things have been going smoothly in general) you maybe start to put in less effort?

I'm talking about things on a small scale here. Like, what have you been eating recently? Maybe you're like me and you want to eat a healthy diet, but last night I picked up a pizza... which is different if it's just a once in a while thing, but has it become more of a habit lately?

The Likely Culprit of My Lack of Energy

Lately I have been very happy overall, things have been going well, I've been healthy and have been enjoying the summer and work is going well. Things are good.

So when I thought about my lack of energy I thought about all of the things I have let fall to the wayside. 

Yes it is true that I haven't had the same energy since my head injury, but I know because of that I need to get a lot of sleep every night (9-10 hours). However, for most all of the summer, I've been getting between 6-8 hours most nights (usually 7ish hours). You can do the math there and find out how much sleep I've been missing out on. That alone could be my issue, right?!

I've been so busy this summer doing both fun things and so many projects, that I've let sleep fall down on my list of priorities.

Other Things I've Let Slide That Could Be Zapping My Energy

I take a lot of supplements, like WAY more than any of my patients. Partly because I know how much they impact me and I like to improve many aspects of my health at once, and partly because I've had a lot of health issues in the past (i.e. nausea). However, in the past couple of months, I've been feeling good. I used to have some kind of pain or nausea or discomfort almost every day, and lately I've been feeling good.

Which means I've been super sporadic about taking my supplements. Instead of taking all of the ones I'm supposed to, I've just been taking some, and not on a consistent basis.

Well you can imagine how effective that is. Anytime you do part of something, and sporadically, it doesn't have great results, right?

Diet: Usually I have a very good diet. In the recent past, if I didn't adhere to a good diet, I was incredibly nauseous and felt terrible.

Since doing the Blood Type Diet and figuring out chicken was my biggest problem, my nausea has become almost non-existent. So I've been finding more and more often, I've thought "Well maybe tonight I'll have pizza," or "I don't feel like cooking, I'll just quick go pick something up."

I know my diet hugely impacts my energy level, because I have found if I eat unhealthy food (i.e a bagel for breakfast) and then try to write my blog, I can't because the words don't come to me. Versus if I have a healthy breakfast (i.e. eggs and fruit), I can easily write my blog and the words flow.

Lack of Yoga: Over the summer, I have still been teaching yoga several times per week, however, I also usually go to classes at a yoga studio. My typical routine is to go to the studio 2-3 times/ week. However, with traveling and working on projects over the summer, I've only been able to go once or twice per month! I have still been getting plenty of exercise from the projects and doing outdoor activities. But I've noticed that going to yoga significantly helps decrease my stress level and just increases my overall well-being. As of last week, I'm getting back into the studio and making it more of a priority.

Too busy: Almost anyone could say this right, it all depends on what your definition of too busy is. In my case, I have been prioritizing most things this summer over my self-care. Which has helped me make a lot of progress, and has also allowed me to do many fun things. But it has definitely been contributing to my low energy.

Pain/Discomfort Is A Motivator

All of the things I've mentioned so far are completely in my control. Really, they are things I've not been paying attention to because overall things have been good.

Have you noticed when you are in pain or uncomfortable you are very motivated to make the right choices? When I was very nauseous I did everything in my power to avoid that situation. I was excellent at taking my supplements and eating right. After my terrible head injury when I had a lot of issues, I MADE SURE to get enough sleep. I'm sure you've found a similar pattern in your life as well.

What Will Be Your New Motivator?

Ok so what if you don't have pain/discomfort? Or you have much less than you used to so you don't notice it much anymore?

What can be your new motivator? For me, I want to be more VIBRANT!

I want to go through the day feeling energetic, and light. To explain the light feeling, think about how you feel after eating sushi or a salad or Vietnamese food. Then think about how you feel after eating Thanksgiving dinner or pizza or steak and potatoes. I like the light feeling better :) Not that I don't enjoy eating those things once in a while, but I would like to feel lighter more often!

sushi

fried food

I want my body to feel really good, like when you go to a workout class and you're still sore from the class before, but it's the good kind of sore. I want to feel both strong and flexible.

 I want to feel like my mind is SHARP. I've been noticing lately I've been having a hard time with word recall. When you know what you want to say but you just can't spit out the word you're thinking of, or it takes you WAY LONGER than you would like. I have a supplement that I take that helps keep my mind sharp and also brings words to mind very quickly. It also helps with circulation (I have terrible circulation without a little help). I need to start taking that again this week. If you're interested in this supplement, talk to me!

Essentially I want to feel like this picture!

Those are my new motivators, what are YOURS? Think about it! What's one thing you can do this week to feel a little more vibrant? For me it's been actually getting enough sleep and getting back to yoga. About to be getting back on track with my supplements! Start small, take one step today!