Andrea’s case – she feels tired all the time.

My friend Andrea recently asked me why she is feeling tired and out of energy most of the time. She is 27 and she doesn’t sleep well.  And she is gaining weight too. Andrea has an office job where she sits on her butt in the front of computer all day.

Here is Andrea’s day:

Breakfast:

Andrea gets up from bed at 7:00 AM and she has almost always the same breakfast. She gets coffee and danish on her way to work every day.

Mid-morning snack:

She said, that she likes snickers candy bar and she usually gets one as a mid-morning snack from office kitchen vending machine.

Lunch:

She is having her lunch with her coworkers in some nearby restaurant where she usually gets sandwich, burrito or some Thai or Indian food.

Afternoon snack:

At around 2 PM Andrea usually feels sleepy, so she has another coffee and eats energy bar like Luna bar or Cliff bar.

Dinner:

When she comes home from work, she is tired to cook so she heats up some prepackaged meal and eats it while watching TV. She has couple  glasses of vine after and scoop of ice cream.

Andrea exercises only occasionally when she feels like it. And that’s almost never. She  goes to sleep at around 12:30 – 1 AM after her 2 hour facebook ventures.

Advice for Andrea and everybody who wants to have more energy:

1. Don’t eat sugar. The only sweet things you can eat are fruits and vegetables.

2. Don’t eat flour products and processed grain products like breads, pasta, white rice. Eat only whole grain variations in moderation.

3. Exercise every day. Strength train 2 times per week all major muscle parts in your body and do cardiovascular exercise the other 5 days for at least 30 minutes. Add interval training to them 2 times per week. Stretch 15 minutes everyday. 

4. Don’t drink coffee and other caffeinated beverages after 11 : 30 AM. It takes about 22 hours for your body to get rid off caffeine from your system.

5. Everything you drink should be 0-zero on sugar. You are left with only water, teas, mineral water and coffee.

6. Sleep at least 7 hours everyday. Some people need more than that.

7. Don’t eat red meat and processed meats. Red meat is  heavy on saturated fat and processed meat products are full of sodium and conservatives.

8. Eat enough lean protein every day and have it with every meal.

9. Eat at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every day. Especially green leafy vegetables are great for more sustained energy.

10. Always eat nutritious breakfast.

11. Eat every 4 – 5 hours a meal containing lean protein with vegetables and fruits and some olive oil or nuts with it.

12. Don’t eat  sport energy bars and don’t drink energy drinks. They are loaded with sugar. And too much sugar is bad for your energy.

13. Don’t eat baked goods.

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