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5-Minute Hacks to Maximize Energy 24/7
Pasadena Independent Jun 14, 2018
Avila Lighthouse Suites is a cheerful boutique hotel steps from the beach. – Courtesy photo / Avila Lighthouse Suites
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We would all like to be able to maximize energy all day long, yet we all have trouble staying in shape and looking after our own bodies. Even as a personal trainer, I find that there are times when I struggle with maintaining certain parts of my own routine. In order to make it easier for me to maximize my energy all throughout the day, I’ve built up a collection of simple five-minute (or less) tasks that can help me skyrocket my health and fitness all year long.
Topics covered today:
- Quick and easy breakfast recipes
- Energy boosting morning smoothie
- Tricks to improve sleep and maximize energy
– Courtesy photo
Quick and easy breakfast recipes
Most of us are too rushed nowadays to be able to wake up and cook a homemade breakfast. That usually leaves us with a couple options – fast food, freezer, or fasting. While fasting may have its role in some people’s routines, the prior two are rarely options that support stable energy throughout the day.
Instead of rushing out to the start of your day with a poorly fueled diet, try planning out quick breakfast recipes that you can throw together, or have ready the night before, to power up your energy and focus for the rest of the day. Here are a couple of my guidelines that I use to make quick and easy breakfast recipes:
- Keep the ingredients to five or less.
- The less cooking required, the better.
- Find ingredients that can be kept in bulk.
If you’re looking for a couple quick and easy breakfast recipes that can help you keep your energy levels up throughout the day, check out my 3 delicious breakfast recipes for under $3.
– Photo by Yajen Tan / Beacon Media News
Energy boosting morning smoothie
Waking up to a heaping serving of blended greens and berries is, by far, my favorite part of the day. Not only does the green smoothie help me start my day off hydrated, it’s packed with a ton of nutrients that help me stay energized and focused throughout the entire morning.
If you’re interested in trying to build your own green smoothie recipe, here are my suggestions to help you optimize your recipe:
- Buy frozen fruits to reduce wash and prep time.
- Pre-washed salad mixes give you great variety while saving time.
- Freeze salad mix to make it easier to compress before blending.
- Large chunks of fruit can be challenging to blend after freezing.
- Ratio of vegetables to fruit is based off personal preference.
- Small add-ons can really pack a healthy boost to start your day.
These suggestions were taken from my energy-boosting green smoothie secrets article, so take a read if you’re trying to maximize energy with a morning smoothie!
– Courtesy photo
Tricks to improve sleep and maximize energy
Sleep is one of those things that we all know we need, but with the invention of apps like Netflix and Facebook, we’ve started knocking sleep further and further down our list of priorities. I’ve personally experienced difficulty sleeping periodically throughout my life – mostly due to poor choices. Fortunately for most of us, the following causes of disrupted sleep are very easily fixable by making a few small changes.
- Alcohol consumption in the evening.
- Caffeine consumption past early afternoon.
- Using electronics in bed.
- Overthinking before bed.
Not only do these activities interrupt the quantity of our sleep, but they also greatly reduce the quality of it. If your sleep is regularly disrupted by any of those four actions, you can greatly improve your sleep and maximize energy by:
- Cutting out alcohol consumption in the evening.
- Cutting off caffeine consumption early in the afternoon.
- Keep electronics as far away from bed as possible.
- Avoid working late into the evening and have some relaxation scheduled before bed.
If you’re curious how those four strategies help with your quality of sleep, read my full 5 sleep tricks to boost productivity all day article on my blog.
If you’re interested in taking your quality of sleep up another notch, my favorite trick is to use essential oils. Not only do essential oils help me unwind and relax at the end of the day, they also significantly increase the quality of my sleep throughout the night. Knowing that sleep is critical, I have made lavender oil an essential part of my sleep routine. I use an electronic essential oil diffuser, that only requires water and my oils of choice, to help me maximize energy 24/7.
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