5 Simple Lifestyle Changes to Boost Your Energy

In today’s day and age, it can be difficult to know how to feel energized and motivated throughout the day. Horrible traffic, work overload and daily inconveniences can really drain you out. No one wants to feel tired all the time, and fortunately this doesn’t always have to be the case.

Overall good health is all encompassing – not only do you have to look after your body and what you eat, you must also make sure your mental and emotional health are sound. 

Starting small and making simple lifestyle changes can greatly affect how you face your day, and so we’ve listed down a few tips on how to feel energized and motivated.

How to Feel Energized and Motivated

1. Drink More Water for an Energy Boost

When we become too preoccupied with our daily tasks, we sometimes fail to notice that we haven’t had water for quite some time.

Although it is recommended to drink 8 glasses of water a day, each person has a different water requirement to stay hydrated. On particularly hot days, it would help to increase water intake to about 12 glasses per day. 

Our bodily functions operate with water; hence dehydration can make you feel more tired than usual. Staying hydrated not only helps your organs function with ease, it aids the release toxins in your body.

This is because when you drink water, it slowly enters your circulation to become your blood, which then pushes out the fluid already littered with waste products. Drinking water also makes you urinate more, therefore you get to cleanse your body more often.

2. Need an Energy Boost? Get moving

If you workout an hour a day and work an 8 to 5 job sitting behind an office desk, chances are, you need to move more. A 2016 study at the University of Texas found that “a single vigorous workout may do little to counter the effects of prolonged sitting, while strolling around frequently in addition to exercising does seem to keep the harm at bay.”

When it comes to how to feel energized and motivated, sitting still can do more harm than good.

Sitting for prolonged periods increases chances of depression and anxiety, back and neck pain, cancer, obesity, heart disease, weak bones, and blood clots. Plus, doing more exercise helps your body to release more endorphins, also known as the “feel-good chemicals” that induce positive feelings.

3. Get Enough Sleep, Consistently

Not sticking to a routine sleep schedule can throw off your body’s internal clock which affects your circadian rhythm. When it comes to how to feel energized and motivated, getting enough restful sleep is a key factor. 

Circadian rhythms, according to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences in the United States, are “physical, mental, and behavioral changes that follow a daily cycle.” Disrupted or irregular cycles can affect a person’s appetite and digestion, hormone release, body temperature, and other functions.

When left unchanged, your irregular sleep patterns can cause obesity, depression, diabetes, and other sleep and mental disorders.

4. Stay Connected

In psychology, Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory that explains how a person is motivated by five basic categories of needs.

When one need is satisfied, the person goes on to seek fulfillment of the next need. The sense of belonging is included in one category, and it has been found that feeling a sense of belonging is an intrinsic motivator. This means that a person is motivated to socialize because of the natural sense of fulfillment they feel after the activity.

Studies also show that having an active social life can help you live longer, enjoy better physical and mental health, and lower the risk of dementia.

5. Eat Right

Because processed food is full of artificial ingredients, you don’t get the right amount of vitamins and minerals your body needs to function. Processed foods are also high in sugar and/or fructose corn syrup. They’re designed to be addictive; hence you tend to eat more processed food.

Getting the right nutrition in your body is important not only to keep a healthy weight but also to keep energized.

Eating right is vital in maintaining a balance between the calories you take in and the calories you burn when you move. When you take in more calories than what you burn, you gain weight, and vice versa. Eating healthy can guarantee that you will feel more energized and alive, mentally and physically. 

Key Takeaways

Knowing how to feel energized and motivated can help you face your day and improve your overall health.

These changes, albeit small, can be challenging at first. Take it slow and remember to take your time. Make these changes gradually by starting to make it a habit.

Learn from your setbacks, track your progress, and after a few months, see how far you have come.

Keep your goal in mind, and remember that in the end, these small changes can make a lasting difference.