Are you tired? Worn out? Feel like you’re completely out of gas more often than not?
Wishing that you could have a continual IV drip of caffeine?
Most of us are, and with good reason. But, there’s something we can do about it.
Today, I’m going to tell you why we’re so tired and how you can find renewed energy and vitality.
Let’s get you to where you feel 20 years younger!
First, continual fatigue and low energy states are not normal.
In fact, being tired and zapped most of the time is usually a sign of a problem with your body and how it runs.
I’d estimate that 70-75% of the problem is your lifestyle and the daily choices you make.
In fact, we doctors say that 50% of your health is dependent on the choices you make, 20% is dependent on your environment (including toxins in air and water), 20% on your genetics (some of which are modifiable and turned on and off like a light switch based on your lifestyle), and only 10% is dependent on physicians and surgeons.
I have a private concierge practice in Nashville where some pay as much as $50,000 a year to maximize their health and reverse disease, get off meds, gain energy and increase their healthspan with comprehensive testing, cutting-edged science and technology.
The reason I used the term healthspan instead of lifespan is because it doesn’t do much good to live an extra 20 years if you’re on 15 meds a day and have no energy.
As I’ve helped my patients, I’ve discovered several “secrets” that keep showing up over and over.
In fact, they are common sense solutions and you probably already know them, but may not be taking advantage of them.
One of the most important variables that affects your energy levels is sleep. I used to say, “I’ll sleep when I die”.
Nothing is more stupid. It’s been proven that a lack of sleep reduces your lifespan, increases obesity, and increases your risks for diabetes, cardio and cerebrovascular disease, and even cancer.
The healthiest people sleep an average of 8 hours a night. The secret here is to sleep as much as your body tells you it needs.
In other words, don’t use an alarm clock. If you must, you’re probably not going to bed early enough.
Nutrition is also vital. We should eat for energy. Period. That should guide what, when, and how much we eat. Calorie restrict. Use intermittent fasting.
Focus on a high fat, moderate protein, low carb vegetable-based diet.
Instead, most of us eat for comfort, boredom, companionship, community, etc., and then we tend to eat cheap, processed, chemical-filled, nutrient deficient, high calorie, high fat, high carb diets, and wonder why we feel horribly.
Your body is screaming for clean, high octane fuel. Stop giving it junk. The worst diet isn’t high fat.
The worst diet is high fat/high carb – it is a death sentence. Fats are fine, as long as you minimize carbs.
Get rid of simple carbs that drive insulin up – bread, pastas, potatoes, sodas…
Carb loading is fine for long distance marathons, but that’s it, because if you just eat carbs for carbs sake, you drive insulin up, increase hunger, and worsen your health.
If you want carbs, stick to good complex carbs like veggies. I could say so much about this topic.
Let me just finish up by saying many high-performance athletes and Special Operators are switching over to a vegetarian lifestyle and seeing dynamic results.
The precise diet you eat doesn’t matter as much as cutting out simple carbs.
The third leg of our three-legged stool is exercise. Daily activity that gets your heart rate up. Park farther away. Take the stairs. Use a standing desk. Exercise every day.
Just do something. Pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, pull ups, jump rope, burpees, dynamic stretches, something. Every day.
Stress/Emotional Health can be a problem that affects your energy level. Once you’ve lived long enough, you realize that stress is a constant part of life. It’s not going away.
So, it is essential that we develop a habit of consistently dealing with stress in healthy ways. Meditate. Breathe. Find joy. Smile. Sing. Read. Paint. Be grateful.
Stop focusing on your problems, fears, and what you don’t have. Instead, focus on what you do have, opportunities and possibilities.
Seek healthy relationships (the most important part of why we’re here). Become a generous giver of smiles, time, affection.
Go out of your way to help others. Manage your stress – don’t let it manage you. It is a choice.
Watch out for toxins. Get that mercury out of your head (teeth) and away from your brain, filter your water, filter/ionize the air you breath, don’t eat meat that is antibiotic and hormone filled, and avoid vegetables grown with pesticides and herbicides.
Finally, if you need hormone supplementation, do it. There is no risk of increased cancer rates, heart disease, or untoward benefit.
In fact, they can only help you when taken as prescribed. Remember, our hormones don’t decrease because we age; we age because our hormones decrease.
Testosterone supplementation will increase your energy if your levels are low. However, you can try to increase your levels before you supplement.
Try taking DHEA, do sprints, use weight bearing exercise, get your heart rate up, sleep 8 hours a night, eat a healthy low carb diet with calorie restriction and intermittent fasting (only eat in a 6 to 8 hour window a day).
In my concierge practice, you know where clients pay as much as $50,000 a year to have me help them get healthy again?
I focus on a 3-pronged approach – decreasing inflammation, decreasing oxidative stress, and improving immune system function.
Do what I suggest above, and you’ll be well on your way towards doing just that.
And guess what will happen? You’ll find that you have more energy than you’ve had in years.
