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Hole-In-The-Bucket Mistakes Tired People Make
Yesterday we discussed how you DO have energy, but a whole lot is getting wasted. It’s like trying to fill a bucket that has a hole. It doesn’t matter what you put in – it’s all leaking out before you can use it.
We usually think in terms of getting MORE energy. We want to add water to our bucket. (Tough job, considering that hole.)
And get this: Our desperate attempts at energy often exacerbate the problem. They actually make the hole bigger, throwing our bodies more and more out of balance.
So today we’ll talk about how to stop breaking that bucket of yours. Tomorrow I’ll give you alternatives to try when you’re feeling tired. After that I’m going to give you a strategy for actually repairing your body and letting that energy find its way back to you.
Trap 1:
“I’m hungry but I’m too tired to cook.”
We’ve all been there. Open a box of mac-n-cheese. Pop something in the microwave. Or just grab that bag of chips, the heck with it.
Listen, anything that contains artificial colors/flavors, preservatives, additives or ingredients you can’t pronounce is a processed food. Anything that you can’t make in an average kitchen, like a Dorito…that’s a processed food.
Giving your body processed food is like giving an office manager a job that his or her department is not meant for.
Imagine. The office manager receives the job order. She’s not sure what to do with it so she goes back and forth, spending time and energy sorting it out. Finally, she passes it on to someone on her team and tries to explain the situation. They bring in a few others to take a look. Everyone tries their hardest but no one really knows how to handle this job! So they spin their wheels, go round and round, and of course the job never gets resolved. In the meantime, they’ve wasted so many billable hours it’s ridiculous.
That’s essentially what happens when you put processed foodstuff into your body. Your body tries its darndest but honestly has no idea what to do with it. It wastes time and energy doing its best to sort things out.
Don’t you think the office aka “your body” would run much more smoothly if it were given things to handle that it’s designed for?
The food would go in, get digested easily, the nutrients absorbed and the waste removed. Simple. Effortless.
And that would leave YOU with energy to spare.
Trap 2:
“Man, I’m beat. I need a pick-me-up.”
It’s practically un-American to not have a cup of coffee in the morning.
The reason caffeine works to wake you up is because it produces an adrenaline rush in your body. It’s the same kind of adrenaline rush that happens if you saw a bear in the woods and had to run for your life.
Adrenaline can save our butt, that’s for sure! But when it’s overused, our adrenal glands become depleted.
It’s not one little cup in the morning, is it? It’s like, 3 or 4 grandes throughout the day?
It reminds me of driving a Prius. As you might know, a Prius is powered by both gas and electric. When you’re tooling around town it uses very little gas and gets over 50mpg. Super energy efficient. Your body, at its best, can work like a Prius!
The Pruis also has a Power mode button which gives it a surge of gasoline and therefore lots of horsepower to accelerate quickly. Use the Power Button often and repeatedly, you’re going to run out of gas.
Science tells us that caffeine may have some redeeming health benefits. But let me tell you something. The mild health benefits from caffeine are NOTHING compared to the major increase in steady, efficient, natural energy your body can produce for you when it’s caffeine-free. If you’re a person who is struggling with energy, then you’re also a person who could benefit from kicking the coffee habit.
And we’ll talk more about that. I know, at first blush, you’re probably thinking ‘Screw that, I’m not giving up my coffee!’ I don’t blame you.
Don’t worry, I have some techniques to help.
But for now, back to our list.
Trap 3:
“Hmm…I could go for some cookies right about now.”
Whether we’re sad, frustrated, tired or just plain bored…we often turn to sugar.
I’m not talking about the sugar found inside of a whole food, like an apple. I’m talking about sugar that has been processed and added to food as an ingredient. White sugar. Brown sugar. Evaporated cane juice. Corn syrup.
You consume a bit of naturally-occurring sugar, maybe a nice apple or banana, and your body responds with a bit of insulin. No big whoop.
But we don’t eat little bits of sugar, do we? Americans eat something like 130 lbs. of sugar every year. No wonder everyone is exhausted. We eat 2 muffins and wash it down with a Caramel Macchiato. Or we think we’re doing something healthy eating a whole grain boxed cereal and soymilk (augh, don’t get me started on soymilk) but guess what? Those are full of sugar too.
Our blood glucose shoots through the roof and causes our pancreas to panic. It produces a bunch of insulin all at once, often overshooting and leading to low blood sugar. Now we’re on a rollercoaster of high and low energy that’s pretty dang hard to bring into balance.
Just like regular caffeine consumption can cause our adrenals to crap out on us, regular sugar consumption causes the pancreas to become overworked and less efficient. We get way out of balance and our energy levels tank.
There are people who will disagree. There are studies that will say that there’s nothing at all wrong with caffeine or sugar or boxed cereal or Doritos, it’s all good man!
And then there is your lived experience. I have never had a client go off of caffeine and sugar and NOT report and increase in energy. Now, I’m no purist. I have a little sugar here and there. But when I go off it completely, I feel the difference.
If you don’t want to believe what I’m telling you, the most obvious thing to do is give it a try and see for yourself!
And yes, that is a dare.
Hey, don’t freak out about never eating sugar again. I’m telling you, there are ways of managing this and still enjoying sweet treats without driving your body out of balance. Trust me. We’ll get there.
Tomorrow I’ll be sending you ideas to boost your energy naturally throughout the day.
These little fixes are gonna help you avoid the traps mentioned above.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
I’ll also introduce you to a bigger plan to gather your energy back in a MAJOR way.
Wouldn’t that be even nicer??
For now, a little homework:
Write down everything you’ve had to eat or drink today. Next, circle every instance of processed sugar, caffeine and processed food. (Sugar is tricky…it’s in a lot more than you think!)
This simple step will help you build awareness.
Then tell me in the comments below: WHAT TIRED TRAP DO YOU FALL INTO MOST OFTEN? I’d love to hear about it and will try to respond to every comment.
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