Empower Your Vitality : Enhancing energy through lifestyle choices

Here is how to make deep rooted habits to feel energised everyday.

I know, you want to feel like you are mentally prepared, positive and that energy is flowing through you making you feel alive. You can see those people who are just full of life and think how nice it must be to wake up excited for life. It does come naturally for some, but for the rest of us it requires some patience and the ability to notice when our habits are falling short.

In the wellness space, there is a huge push and pull on certain things that we have to do to feel our best selves. Nevertheless, it is exhausting to be told all these things and get nothing out of them except the feeling that we should be doing it all. 

The goal of feeling energised is not to weigh yourself down with anxiety or feeling like with the limited energy you have that you should be doing more.

These things I am about to say are not only obvious;  there will be one or two you are not doing, but also are for the most part low in cost or just outright free.

Stop Scrolling. Start Sleeping.

As I said before, obvious. Nevertheless, getting enough sleep is so important for feeling energised. It can be hard, knowing what is enough, and knowing how to get it. Some people don’t need as much, and some wish they could get it before, but having something standing in the way.

It is recommended to get 6-9 hours of sleep a night, so going to bed at 10, and waking up at 6 is a perfect example.

 Set a specific routine. 

An hour before bed, put screens away. I put mine downstairs, and also means when the alarm goes off I have to go downstairs. Pain in the bum, but it gets me out of bed.

Making your environment sleep ready. And your body.

So we want to have low lights, maybe you do skincare before bed, read a book. I will swear Magnesium has changed my life, take that before you go to bed and put the spray or lotion on your feet. In the summer, wearing a mask will help with the darkness, those are pretty inexpensive.

When you do this though, consistency is key, it is okay if  you get home later one night and then have to change your sleep around a bit. But even when it is hard to get out of bed, it is important to stick to your routine. You will feel better in the long run.

Bonus tip, but I am going to make a blog post later about this, having an exciting morning routine, with things you enjoy to make you look forward to the next day.

If you are in a season of life, where this can’t be your focus and you need something else to energise you. Maybe you have long days or a child waking up in the night, sleep can’t be the first focus. Sleep when you can and maybe consistency for you means overall sleep, rather than when you are sleeping at night.

Sleep is going to affect your mood as well. If you wake up feeling run down, it is a lot harder to lift the mood. But these other tips will increase your chances of sleeping, which in turn will help that mood and energy.

Carbs are not the devil. They are your fuel.

Let’s briefly talk about nutrition. 

If this is an area of your life you struggle with, feel free to ignore this. I am going to talk from a personal level.

Making sure I was eating enough calories, changed so much. I stopped focusing on the size of my body or how food affects my physical body, and solely focused on eating 3 - 4 meals a day. This will get you thinking about everything other than food and increase your mental clarity. It makes a energy shift and a huge mental shift.

Each meal, I aim to have protein, something fresh, something with fat in it and a carbohydrate for energy. But also if I feel like something sweet, I respect that craving and eat whatever baked good I have. I try not to skip meals and don’t avoid any foods. 

Some would say this is intuitive eating, but I actually was raised to believe this was just a normal relationship with food.

This is a way of eating that gives me energy. I find if I skip a meal, that could affect my energy in the days after.  So I have to eat 3 meals, and most of the time I add a snack or two.

Making sure you are eating enough affects your sleep and your stress-levels as well.  Sometimes we can’t go to sleep because we are hungry. Just like when we have a short fuse or we feel overwhelmed, maybe we just need a balanced meal or snack. 

I think this habit is so important, because diet culture has flooded the wellness world, making you think not eating or eating less solves your problem. Carbs are not bad for you, and fasting isn’t going to solve for blood sugar. Eat your fuel so you can get on with your day.

If you don’t know where to start with nutrition, talk to a dietitian.

Get out of constant fight or flight.

Being in a stressed place throughout the day is exhausting.

When we are in that place, we find everything is hard and heavy, from the overwhelming amount of things in our life. We feel like we can’t even begin because we have no energy.

Our body processes the stress, using this energy. It affects our digestion, our heart rate and our nervous system. We struggle to get out of this state of overwhelm, and it drags our motivation and focus down.

What you need is systems set up to lower your stress, either before, if you know you will be stressed, or during, when you have found unexpected stress. This could be morning yoga, breathing techniques, walks and workouts. This is also affected by getting enough sleep and eating enough food.

The season of your life will dictate if this is something you can focus on, I know unexpected stress happens every other day for me. I am finding a new routine, and I am a toddler mum so take what you can, when you can. Just as a side note: Sometimes stress is high for a positive reason, like trying something new and exciting, or exercising. I am only talking about the unwanted stress that life gives us.

Having purpose gives you life.

If you have goals and aspirations, feeling more energised will come easier to you. 

Remember, when you were young and/or now, it was christmas day and you would see all your family and open presents, eat lots of food and have a wonderful day of happiness and joy. Do you want that feeling everyday? Yeah me too. 

Make routines something to look forward to, make systems that make you feel prepared and excited to do the most mundane activity. Make them fit with your overarching goals. 

For example, my goals are personal, but I also have a child so I have to make systems that make looking after her and those goals possible. Like making time for myself, giving a positive mindset to myself, to in turn giving to her, and making myself prepared for what mood she is going to bring into the day.

I think, with everything, start small, try adding a goal you can do everyday. Like taking medication, or waking up at 7, or stopping scrolling an hour before bed. When you come up with big goals, like career or fitness, you have a life set up that will make those goals more achievable. Some people work the other way round, and without the big goals, they think what is the point but it is all arbitrary.

A big goal, once for me, was to have a shower everyday, because I was struggling with that simple task. So don’t compare yourself. Start small.

For the love of Guacamole, rest.

If there is one thing i want you to take from this is, you will not have energy if you are constant, go go go. Find rest. 

Find a calming hobby or slow down and watch a show you enjoy. Bake some cookies or slowly knit a blanket. Lie on the floor and meditate or catch up with a friend and have a coffee. 

Rest isn't alway sleep, rest is not putting pressure on a task and taking in the moment for yourself.

Energy levels are forever going up or down, but I hope you enjoy these tips.

I hope you find some peace. xx