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Fatigue Fix

Nutrition

Between sugar-laden cereals and white flour bagels, breakfast too often becomes a nutrient-free zone. But an inadequate breakfast can affect your whole day. Our mitochondria depend on the nutrients in whole, healthy foods -- they burn the carbs, fats, and protein and turn them into energy.

The Fix
Eating a wholesome breakfast that contains some protein is crucial. It helps normalize blood sugar levels and provides your body with the fuel it needs early in the day. Noshing on healthy snacks -- like fruit, nuts, or yogurt, not candy or chips -- throughout the day can also help boost energy levels. Skip processed foods, which tend to contain refined carbohydrates that set your body on an energy roller coaster. Instead, choose whole foods like fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, eggs, and lean fish and poultry. Foods that are rich in antioxidants and other phytonutrients, such as berries, green tea, and cocoa, can also boost energy.

Supplements

Even if you're eating a balanced diet, you may be missing out on crucial vitamins and minerals -- and it may be causing low energy levels. That's because your body depends on certain vitamins, minerals, and other compounds to create the chemical reactions responsible for energy metabolism. In particular, deficiencies of magnesium, vitamin B12, and vitamin D -- nutrients that can be hard to obtain from food alone -- may contribute to a lack of energy. Digestive problems such as irritable bowel syndrome and celiac disease, alcohol overuse, and even stomach-acid-blocking medications can also affect nutrient absorption.

The Fix

The first step in resolving a nutrient deficiency is to address underlying medical or lifestyle issues that may be causing it. That said, some supplements can complement a healthy diet. To help normalize energy and prevent deficiencies, take a good multivitamin-multimineral supplement that contains all the B vitamins as well as a calcium/magnesium/vitamin D supplement with at least 400 mg of magnesium and 1,000 IU of vitamin D.

Manage Stress

When you're juggling the multiple responsibilities of work and home, being frazzled can start to feel normal. Many people have never learned healthy ways of dealing with stress, instead turning to alcohol or nicotine. And although stress starts in the mind -- you might be worried about a parent's health or dealing with a demanding boss -- its results can be decidedly physical. The result: Your adrenal glands keep releasing stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline, which impair mitochondrial function. So you eat more, sleep less, and burn less fat, setting yourself up for low energy.

The Fix

It's nearly impossible to eliminate stress, so your goal should be to manage it. Yet for most of us, following the recommendation to "stress less" isn't as simple as it sounds. There's no shortage of relaxation techniques to choose from: Stress-soothing options include breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, qigong or other physical activities, guided imagery or visualization, creative approaches like drawing or journaling, frequent saunas or massages, and even sex. The key is discovering what works for you and doing it regularly. Diet can also have surprisingly powerful effects on your stress levels. Fluctuations in blood-sugar levels caused by refined sugars and carbohydrates can actually create stress in your body, while the nutrients in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts help reduce it.

Reduce Caffeine

Most Americans in need of a jolt of energy reach for a stimulant. Whether we're getting our fix from an espresso maker, a teapot, or a vending machine, caffeine is the drug of choice for people who need to feel fired up fast. Caffeine boosts energy by stimulating the central nervous system and increasing the heart rate and blood pressure. But this pick-me-up can also let you down. Sensitive people tend to feel jittery and anxious, not jazzed, after a cup of coffee or a can of soda. Caffeine can also sabotage your sleep, setting up a bad pattern: use caffeine, sleep poorly, need more caffeine the next day to compensate. For some people, caffeine is addictive; the slump you feel when its effects wear off compels you to consume more -- turning it into a crutch.

The Fix

The obvious solution to a dependency on caffeine is to consume less of it. But as anyone who has tried to go cold turkey knows, withdrawal symptoms like throbbing headaches, nervousness, irritability, and fatigue are no picnic. A better way to cut back? Gradually decrease the amount you consume -- drink one fewer cup of coffee every day, for example. It also helps to know how much caffeine is in common foods and beverages: A cup of coffee contains 135 mg, a cup of black tea has up to 70 mg, a Red Bull has 80 mg. If you still savor a steaming beverage once or twice a day, try green tea. It has less caffeine than coffee (25 to 40 mg total) and is rich in antioxidants.

Breathing

When you're stressed or anxious, you breathe more shallowly. This can set up a downward energy spiral: If you're not breathing properly, you're not ferrying enough oxygen to your tissues, and that oxygen deficiency impairs energy metabolism. Shallow breathing also allows toxic metabolic waste to build up in your cells, he explains, making you feel sluggish and ill.

The Fix

Take a deep breath -- or several. The best way to get more oxygen is to breathe slowly and deeply from your diaphragm, not your chest. Plus, take your mother's advice and sit up straight: Poor posture tires out your muscles and compresses your organs, so your body doesn't work as well as it should. Practicing yoga can help you cover both bases. Basic breathing exercises also help. A couple of times a day, sit with your spine straight, your eyes closed, and your abdomen relaxed. Take a breath in, imagining that you're filling the bottom of your torso -- let your belly expand -- then the middle, and finally the top. Exhale in reverse: top, middle, bottom. Repeat for 10 breaths.

Exercise

We're bipedal creatures, designed to walk, run, and dance, yet we spend much of our lives sitting still, whether at our desks or in front of the television. You might think this lack of motion helps shore up energy, but the opposite is true. Being sedentary makes you lose muscle mass, which decreases the efficiency of your mitochondria, causing energy levels to plummet. When you're tired, you don't feel like moving. But inactivity exacerbates fatigue, setting up a vicious cycle.

The Fix

When you're feeling drained, hopping on a treadmill, picking up a pair of dumbbells, or stretching your limbs into Downward Dog may be the last thing you want to do. Yet you need to expend energy to get more of it. That's because regular physical activity not only improves your mood and helps you sleep better, it can increase both the number of your mitochondria and how efficiently they work. For the best results, aim for a half hour of aerobic activity most days of the week -- swimming, cycling, or a daily speed walk on your lunch break -- plus strength training and stretching a couple of times weekly. Try interval training, which combines short bursts of high-intensity exercise (such as sprinting) with longer periods of lighter exercise (like brisk walking or jogging). This can help you burn more calories while you sleep, boosting your metabolism and your energy levels.

Enjoy a Midday Snack

Healthy Snacking Tips

As adults, many of us ignore between-meal hunger pangs and tell ourselves we're "being good," or pretend we're not eating while grazing through bags of pretzels and M&Ms. Either way, we end up facing mealtime as cranky as a preschooler. Anyone who's ever opened the fridge and ended up eating last night's chocolate cake before setting the table knows where that will get you.
For those who get hungry between meals, a healthier approach starts with recognizing your body's signals before your brain starts flashing images of chocolate-chip cookies -- and responding, not with guilt, but with a nutritious snack. By keeping blood sugar levels steady, says Keri Glassman, R.D., author of The Snack Factor Diet, "snacking keeps your metabolism up and your cravings down." As for the fear that adding snacks will lead to weight gain, those who snack smartly -- eating small amounts of healthy foods -- often find they eat less later in the day, says Lori Reamer, R.D., nutrition director for Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts. "Snacking helps you coast into your meal versus accelerate into your meal."
By following a few simple principles, you can transform your relationship to snacking and, potentially, eat more healthfully all day long.

7 Ways to Eat More Healthfully All Day

+ Redefine your terms. Many conventional snack foods, like chips and cookies, are low in nutrients and high in quick-burning carbohydrates and unhealthy fats. To start snacking healthfully, says Reamer, think less about conventional, processed snack foods and more about foods that would fit into a healthy eating plan. A small portion of leftover beans and brown rice makes a healthy snack; fruit, nuts, and yogurt are great choices, too. For best results, combine food groups. "Protein and fat digest a little slower than straight carbohydrates do, so a combination will help to keep you fuller longer," says Glassman. "They also add to satisfaction, which can increase satiety." Ideally, you'd have a healthy source of carbohydrates, fat, and protein -- perhaps apple slices (carbohydrate) and 2 teaspoons of almond butter (fat and protein) -- but having two out of three works fine. For example, combine berries (carbohydrate) and low-fat yogurt (protein) or leftover turkey (protein) and high-fiber crackers (carbohydrate).

+ Be proactive, not reactive. Figuring out your "hunger clock" will help you preempt strong cravings. What time do you start calculating the number of feet to the pizza place on the corner, or start feeling grumpy and distracted? If it's 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., plan your snacks for 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. "For most people, it's the afternoon-into-evening time when things start to fall apart," says Glassman. "If you are going to make just one change, add an afternoon snack." Timing your snacks will keep you clear-headed enough so that you don't succumb to the notion that Baby Ruth candy bars are good for you because they have nuts in them.

+ Choose foods you like. You may have read about the nutritional virtues of cottage cheese, but if you don't like it, forget about it. Think, instead, about foods that bring you pleasure. If you like gooey snacks, try a slice of tomato on a fiber cracker with a small piece of cheddar cheese melted on top. If you want something crunchy but low in calories, celery sticks may be your thing. Pleasure and satisfaction contribute to satiety, says Reamer. "Don't go with the most obvious options if they aren't pleasing to you."

+ Plan your portions. When you're delving into a box of crackers or a big bag of almonds, it's hard to stop. To avoid overeating, portion out your snacks ahead of time and put them in sandwich bags or small containers. And remember that Mother Nature has a thing for packaging. "Think of a banana," says Reamer. "For most, one banana would be a serving. You probably wouldn't think to eat the whole bunch." The ideal size of a snack will vary depending on how many calories you need in a day (see mypyramid.gov) and the size of your other meals. As a guideline, shoot for a snack in the 100 to 180 calorie range, says Glassman. (For example, try 10 cherry tomatoes and one string cheese stick; a hand-ful of baby carrots and 10 almonds; a peeled and sliced cucumber with a quarter of an avocado, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, and salt to taste.)

+ Don't try to be perfect. Follow the nutrition tips above whenever possible, but remember that there's a spectrum of possibilities. Some people give up on planning snacks because they don't always manage to have steel-cut oatmeal with walnuts and organic raspberries on hand, says Glassman. Instant oatmeal packets and drinkable yogurts aren't perfect snacks, but they're fast and easy to stock. And if having them around keeps you away from the doughnut drive-through, they're a step in the right direction, she says. Keeping a few quick, simple snacks in your purse, such as turkey jerky or a box of raisins, will help keep you on track. Again, they may not be ideal, but they're far better than hitting the potato chips or not eating at all.

+ Embrace your hunger. Many people deny their hunger and treat snacking as a naughty indulgence. When people are trying to avoid eating, they end up not eating as healthfully, says Glassman. "They'll go for the vending machines or start eating out of a pretzel bag because they think it's not 'real eating.' Meanwhile, they've taken in 400 calories' worth of pretzels when they could have had half a turkey sandwich for half the calories and been more satisfied. But in their minds, a turkey sandwich counts as real eating."

+ Pay attention at mealtime. Snacktime calories aren't freebies, so you may need to adjust your mealtime portions. Reamer recommends following the Japanese dictum hara hachi bu, which translates to "eat until you're 80 percent full." "By learning to stop right at the edge of fullness, we can trim our portion sizes," she says. "And this is easy to do if you know that when you're hungry, you can eat again." Embracing snacking means giving yourself permission to listen to your body -- an essential part of any long-term healthy eating plan.

Everyday Tension Tamers

Stretch Away Your Tension

The longer you sit at your desk, the more your posture resembles the curved, compressed arch of a camel's hump -- and the more uncomfortable you feel. Your back stands to suffer long-term misalignment as a result of slumping, while the resulting impaired breathing can lead to chronic muscle tension and drag your energy level down.

With its emphasis on core strength and alignment, Pilates counters these stresses by helping you look -- and feel -- a little taller. "This particular fitness discipline aims to create stability and freedom through the entire body by targeting the muscle groups that support the spine," says New York City-based fitness and Pilates instructor James Darling. That includes the muscles deep within the back, abdomen, and pelvis. By focusing equally on strengthening and lengthening, the following Pilates favorites will foster a buoyant support system for your spine, bringing deeper breathing, more energy, and posture that's both graceful and effortless.

Spine Stretch Forward

What It Does
Creates space between the vertebrae, lengthens the muscles of the back, and reduces lower back pain. Counteracts stress by calming the nervous system.

How to Do It
Sit on the floor with legs straight and spine tall. Drop your chin into your chest and contract your core, as if you're trying to curl your torso up and over a beach ball. Focus on drawing your center in as opposed to curving your spine. Rest your hands where they fall, and breathe here for 30 seconds to a minute. Slowly roll back up to the starting position. Repeat six times.

Double-Leg Stretch

What It Does
Strengthens the core, particularly the lower abdominal muscles, which help stabilize the pelvis and keep the vertebrae of your lower spine in alignment.

How to Do It
Lie on your back with knees drawn in toward your chest, hands resting on your knees, and head and shoulders lifted off the mat.

As you inhale, straighten the legs to a 45-degree angle and stretch your arms alongside your body and up over head.
Exhale and release, returning to the starting position, keeping your head and shoulders lifted off the mat. Repeat six times.

Saw

What It Does

Wrings tension out of the spine and stale air from the lungs, while stretching the backs of the legs and the shoulders. Combats everyday backaches that come from tight muscles.

How to Do It

Sit tall with legs extended and arms in a T, spine long. Inhale, drawing your belly button toward your spine. Exhale and twist your torso to the left as you bend forward at the waist, extending your right hand to your pinkie toe (as if you're "sawing" off your toe). As you twist, squeeze your inner thighs and buttocks and draw your abs in even tighter. Hold for five breaths, then switch. Repeat six times.

Fresh Muesli with Apples and Almonds

Toasting the oats and almonds before soaking them gives this muesli a nuttier flavor. Be sure to buy old-fashion oats, not quick cooking -- the latter aren't as flavorful and chewy.

Serves 2

Per serving: 462 calories: 13 g protein; 15 g fat; 73 g carb; 6 g fiber.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup old-fashioned roasted oats
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat (1 percent) Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup low-fat (1 percent) milk
• 1/2 diced apple
• 2 to 4 tablespoons honey

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place oats and almonds on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until almonds are golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes; let cool to room temperature. In a small bowl, stir together U cup of toasted oat mixture, yogurt, and milk. Cover and refrigerate until oats are soft, 1 hour or up to overnight.
2. Spoon muesli into two bowls. Top with apple and remaining toasted oat mixture; drizzle with honey.