Boost your Energy with 5 Simple Diet Changes

A few years ago I had a major crash in energy.

I was a busy mom, working 60+ hour weeks, running marathons and more.

Overnight:  it seemed that My Stamina for making it through the day was so exhasutingly low; my sleep became irratic (tired all day, couldn’t sleep deeply at night), my digestion was annoying (lots of bloating), and my weight started to go up–ugh.

I was unable to find a diagnosable reason for this, as every test that came back showing everything was essentially “normal.”

For a while, I chalked it up to stress. Afterall, I was super-busy and super-stressed. So it made sense?

But eventually it became more than fatigue, and more of an annoynance, as low energy began to drastically effect my very quality of life.

I did some research on my own, became my own “health detective”, and found out some interesting facts: not only was I allergic to specific foods and chemicals (including food coloring) leading to leaky gut (IBS); but I was also stuggling with adrenal fatigue and autoimmune thyroid issues.

I begin to deep-dive into nutritional research to see what I could do to not only help my digestion, adrenals and thyroid recover, and also to find a solution to get my energy back–to get my Life back.

First, I stopping eating the foods that I knew for certain I was allergic to–this was emotional and sad at first, since many of the foods I needed to remove from my diet were foods that I really liked and had emotional attachments to, but it needed to be done. So the obvious foods were nixed.

Then, I started a food diary. Using a food diary, I discovered there were foods that affected me in an adverse way and that avoiding them made me feel a whole lot better. I also learned that there are specific foods, in general,  that increase inflammation in the body for all people globally, and can cause fatigue– including processed GMO grains, dairy, sugar, soda, and processed foods. So I nixed those.

Here are the changes I made that dramatically improved my energy, digestion, thyroid, and adrenal function:

1. I changed the grains in my diet to organic quinoa, millet and couscous. And I decreased the amount of grains that I eat to 3 times a week. I dont eat bread, crackers, or over-processed grains of any kind. I have found a HUGE improvement in my energy, and better tolerance to stress, avoiding processed grains and keeping my diet limited to a small amount of organic, nonGMO grains. What did I eat in place of grains you ask? Lots and Lots of greens, veg, fruit, seeds and nuts. It’s amazing how much there is to choose from when you expand from grains.
2. I stopped eating/drinking dairy entirely. None, zip, nothing. I found that dairy created stomach pains, constipation, gas and drained my energy. Quitting dairy has been HUGE for me.
3. I quit processed sugar. I realized I was eating too much processed sugar and high fructose corn syrup– and switched to a more natural sugars in my baking, and in my salad dressings. Sugar creates a major inflammatory reaction in the body, is highly addictive, and created energy crashes and leaky gut for me. If I want to thrash my adrenals, all I need to do is mismanage my stress, and eat sugar.
4. I quit soda. 100% done with it. Soda is terrible, absolutely nothing nutritional or of value in it. I made it a point to drink lots of water, drink more detox waters, teas, organic homemade juices and smoothies.
5. I increased my healthy fats. I added more olive oil to my salads and veggies, coconut oil for cooking, avocados and flax. Pushing up my health Omega 3’s has also helped my energy, my metabolism, my mood and my sleep. Ground flax is full of healthy omegas. This is so different from the fat-free craze of the 80’s–remember? Fat was bad, so we taught to cut out the fat–but when we went fat-free, we went sugar-full, and the rest is diabetes, heart disease and obesity history.

Bonus Tip: I went through all of my cookbook and gave away every book that was full of processed grains, dairy, cheese, flour, sugar and all of the foods I was removing from my lifestyle.

And I researched, then purchased, the books I cook 95% of my meals from now that include mostly vegan, raw cook books–why? because this is plant-based recipe style is simple, and I can add grain as needed or meat if wanted.

I especially like to cook from:

*Dr Fuhrmans “Eat to Live”

Does this sound radical or extreme to you? Some people have told me that it does.

But what seemed radical and extreme to me, was to watch (and feel), my life spiral out of control–to have my energy zapped, be unable to enjoy life, feeling exhausted all of the time, unable to run and race like I Love to, less energy for fun, kids, family, and more. That was radical to me.

For me, the lousy way I felt was so terrible, so awful, that I was willing to “radically” change my nutrition habits to a more vibrant and healthy life. This change has given me back my life, and my ability to live a vibrant life, to be a good mom and to be a healthy, happy person. And ultimately, to age well.

Food is connected to our mind, body and soul–our traditions, our culture, our social experiences, our daily habits, and our comfort. And for this reason, when our bodies are struggling, we need to use the wisdom we all are born with, to determine what works for our unique bodies, and to understand that the more whole the food, the better it is for our bodies. Eating foods full of chemical, preservatives, and pesticides, and foods that are highly processed, GMO, and nonOrganic, will ultimately affect our immune systems, gastrointestional systems, moods, sleep, hormones, aging and quality of life.

Sometimes we have to make choices in our nutrition that are hard for us to make in order for us to feel better.

I’m not perfect. I eat 80% well. But when I dont eat well, I know why I dont feel well–it’s not a mystery, and I dont need a pill/powder/potion to fix it. I just need to get back on track and eat better again.

And the truth we learn about ourselves, and how food can effect our quality of life can be hard, just like the lifestyle change can be, but when you find what works for you,  it’s 100 worth it–and much less extreme than living a less than optimal life.

You just need to decide to do it, and make it happen for yourself.

Feel empowered to make your life better, and to take your life back.

Just like I did.

Live Life Optimally,

Kristie

 Previous Post

My Top 3 Healthy Aging Tips

Next Post  

Kale, Cucumber and Avocado Wrap