All parts of our body need energy to work, which comes from the food we eat. The human body is powered by the energy produced by the breakdown of one chemical compound, called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is essentially the energy currency of the body. Mitochondria are the main site for ATP synthesis in mammals, although some ATP is also synthesized in the cytoplasm of the cells that don't have mitochondria.
The human body uses the molecules of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates from food that we eat to yield the necessary energy to drive ATP synthesis.
We all know that our energy levels don't remain the same throughout the day. Mostly, our lifestyle habits are to be blamed for our low energy. Many a time, our body could be under siege from a surprising energy zapper. The most surprising energy zappers are as follow:
Physical Inactivity -
We naturally lose muscle mass as we age. If you have less muscle mass, you have fewer mitochondria and less ATP, which results in low energy. Being sedentary further compounds the problem by weakening and shrinking muscles, which causes them to use energy inefficiently. Therefore, physical activity strengthens muscles, makes them more efficient and conserves ATP. Do the recommended 30 minutes per day, at least five days per week, of moderate-intensity exercise. The 30 minutes can be spread out into several shorter periods. In addition, include strength training at least three times a week.
Unhealthy Diet -
An unhealthy diet brings down your energy level. So eat a balanced diet that includes a variety of unrefined carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, with an emphasis on vegetables, whole grains, and healthy oils. Limit the refined sugar and white starches to only occasional treats. You may get a quick energy boost but the feeling fades quickly. And it can leave you depleted, craving more sweets. Where low energy is the issue, it's better to eat small meals and snacks every few hours than three large meals a day.
Inadequate sleep -
Poor sleep quality can make you feel sluggish throughout the day. A peaceful night of sleep can leave you feeling more energized and alert when you wake up. The sleep quality is only part of how sleep affects your energy levels throughout the day. A fresh and clean bedding, low noise levels, and cool temperatures in your bedroom will contribute to giving you a more satisfying sleep experience.
Stress -
Our body cannot sustain prolonged exposure to mental, emotional, or physical stress for long without consequence. Anxiety may further contribute to over-stimulation of the stress response, elevating nutrient depletions. Long term stress and anxiety can result in higher levels of cortisol, with a negative impact on sleep, further affecting energy levels due to sleep deprivation.
Medications -
Some medications may cause a lack of energy as a side-effect. If so, tell your doctor so that the medications may be changed if required.
Chronic illnesses -
Feeling tired once in a way is fine. But if you are living with that feeling always, then it's time to see your doctor to find out if you have any chronic illness. Illnesses like depression, diabetes anemia, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and sluggish or overactive thyroid can give rise to the lack of energy.
We know that mitochondria are the "energy factory" of our bodies. Mitochondrial diseases are a group of disorders caused by dysfunctional mitochondria. They are chronic and inherited disorders. Mitochondrial diseases can be present at birth, but can also occur at any age. They can affect almost any part of the body.
The secondary mitochondrial dysfunction can affect many diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, muscular dystrophy, Lou Gehrig's disease, diabetes, and cancer. Individuals with secondary mitochondrial dysfunction don't have primary genetic mitochondrial disease.
The Conclusion -
We all feel fatigued and lack energy at some point in time. However, if you find it hard to perform everyday activities at your normal levels of energy, it needs further investigation. Probably, you could be under siege from a surprising energy zapper.
Often it's the simple act of Making The Decision to move from:
Where -or- Who we Are Right Now - To - Where -or- Who we Want To Be
Surrounding ourselves with:
The people who are already there or on their way to Where or Who we Want To Be.
&
With information which will get us to that place.
Sometimes you feel like you REALLY got to change something. Maybe it's an annoying habit. Maybe it's more serious. Maybe it's losing weight, or stopping smoking. Whatever it is, you just get fed up with the situation. You're motivated to change.
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE!
Maybe it's occurred to you - either you think of it yourself, or you read it somewhere - Draw A Line In The Sand!
And step over it. And things just change.
It's tempting. Especially if you're really exasperated. While it can work, it often doesn't. Here's why:
Because the follow-through is either lacking or it's inadequate. So the motivation is faulty. It's easy to say the words:
"I decided! I'm going to change!"
But what really determines whether that decision 'sticks' or not?
Two things:
1. The state you're in when you make that decision.
If you're filled with your own power - in touch with yourself - standing on a firm foundation - that decision or choice is more likely to stick. If your foundation is filled with exasperation, worry, frustration, weariness, anger... then it probably won't stick. Because the motivation is not solid.
If it's filled with love and will, there's a much greater chance it sticks. The more of your own personal power you can muster as you're making the choice or decision, the more likely it will be to really change things.
As a child, you made many fundamental choices and decisions that are quite alive today. Generally speaking, you were filled with emotion - REAL emotion - and that gave them the punch to continue influencing you even today.
One powerful choice can change your life. Many childhood choices and decisions did. If you search your past, you can find those fundamental choices and decisions - to either accept them or change them.
2. How skilled you are at making choices and decisions.
Which basically comes down to practice. Out of necessity we make choices and decisions all day long. Whether we want to or not. Whether we realize it or not:
"I guess one more scoop of ice cream won't hurt anything."
But often we end up blaming those choices and decisions on circumstances, other people, or even our own subconscious or unconscious minds.
"Everybody else is doing it."
"You talked me into it."
"I didn't consciously choose that."
Blame is always a lie. But beyond that, we're not letting ourselves develop the POWER of choice - or the POWER of decision.
Thus, when it comes to drawing a line in the sand, within minutes or hours or days, we're back to 'normal'. Because there was no power behind the drawing of the line. Due to a faulty foundation, or a lack of skill, or both.
What's the solution? Stop drawing? Give up - retreat back into pity; or the judgments? Accept our miserable lives the way they are? Put on our coat of nobility?
"I guess it's just my lot in life to suffer. That's my fate. I can't change things..."
That's one option. Or, you can accept responsibility for your life. Realize WHY drawing a line in the sand doesn't work. And get about the business of changing it.
Besides the personal shortcomings you may or may not have, there's also one fundamental flaw with even drawing that line in the sand to begin with. That is, it presupposes that all you have to do is draw the line. Then it's over. Then you don't have to be responsible for what you chose or decided. Now you can go back to sleep. Now it should 'just happen'.
In other words, you're setting yourself up to fail.
But if you HAVE made a powerful choice or decision, then you WILL follow-through. By making all the *secondary* choices that MUST BE MADE - if you want your first choice to stick.
If your primary choice is to stop eating ice cream, then at the very least, you'll need to make a secondary choice to stay away from it! Stop buying it. Stop walking into the ice cream store.
You'll need to draw that line in the sand over and over and over. Not just once. Sooner or later, if you're persistent, then the pattern will be laid. And it will no longer be a 'contest of wills'. Instead, it'll be second nature. You won't have to think about whether or not you'll eat that ice cream.
But until that happens, you'll need to follow-through. Otherwise you're just spinning your wheels and you'll look foolish.
So what would stop you from the follow-through? Usually it's unresolved thoughts and feelings which comprise the patterns of the past. Those patterns compare to cracks in your motivation. Heal those patterns and you heal your faulty motivation.
Then it becomes much easier to draw a line in the sand... that changes you.
Mark Ivar Myhre, The Emotional Healing Wizard, writes articles on all aspects of emotional healing.
Stress is bad for your health. But it's not as bad for some people as it is for others. A lucky few sail though life exposed to less than their fair share of external stressors. But more importantly, some people are less affected by stress because they've got more stress resilience than others.
How do you build stress resilience?
You build stress resilience the same way you build muscles (or, in fact, the way you achieve anything in life): through practice.
Great advice from Doctors Kitchen:
