Are You Wanting More Energy?

Are you wishing you could have more energy?

Are you wondering why you are always tired?

Fatigue is a lack of energy or motivation and is very common today. Approximately 20% of Americans claim to have a lack of energy or fatigue that interferes with being able to live their life normally.

Emotional or mental factors contribute to between 40% and 80% of fatigue cases.

Lack of energy or fatigue is a symptom. Here are some words that a person may use to describe their lack of energy or fatigue:

• lethargic
• listless
• tired
• worn out
• weary
• exhausted
• sadness
• feeling run down

These are common complaints among many clients. Of course your energy can be improved by diet and lifestyle, but what if I told you that you can increase your energy without necessarily changing anything you eat?

Let me give you a few ideas of areas in your life where you can begin to utilize principles from Eating Psychology to actually find more energy:

Start to Eat For Energy, Not Fullness

Most people will tend to eat until they feel full of food, but what if you eat until you feel full of energy?

This means you will need to practice eating to feel satisfied and yet still allowing yourself to feel a little hungry for something more. That something more though is not food but for all the other important things in your life that are missing and can truly nourish you.

What Are You Assimilating In Your Life?

After eating a meal, the next important function of your body is assimilation. This means that your digestive system will break down and assimilate vital nutrients from your meal.

But your body requires so much more in the way of “vital” nutrients. I am talking here about things like visual stimulation from natural beauty, like nature’s colors, and art; the sensory feeling of touch, companionship, friendship, and community; the beautiful sounds of music, nature’s sounds, or even just allowing yourself to experience silence; the sense of smells or natural fragrances. It’s time to start pleasing all of your senses!

Most importantly from a very deep level of heart and soul we all crave and need to receive LOVE.

When you allow yourself to receive and assimilate all these things into your life, especially more LOVE, even more love for yourself, the more fulfilled you will become. In other words, there is so much more than food that can fill you and provide you with energy!

Allowing Pleasure Into Your Life

If you do not allow yourself to receive the nourishment available from all the beautiful things in your life, then you can actually become hungry for many wrong things. If you truly open your eyes you will see beauty that surrounds you in your daily environment. By allowing yourself to take in and receive pleasure from this beauty around you, you will in fact receive more energy!

Inviting More Sweetness

Allow yourself to take in all that is pleasurable for you in your life. Did you know your brain is wired to love things that are sweet? That is why you may often crave sweetness from food. Sugar is addictive for this reason. But why not begin to receive sweetness from your life?

There are so many areas in your life where you can receive sweetness. You can receive so much just by being with your friends, your children or grandchildren, your pets, or being out in nature. Who can deny the sweetness of the smile from a young child, the faithful companionship of a pet, walking in the sand, watching the sunset or the stars in the sky, or hanging out with those you love.

Your heart and soul crave sweetness just as your taste buds do. So start feeding your soul with these other forms of sweetness listed above. Besides, too much sugar from food can actually drain your energy, whereas the pleasure and sweetness you can receive from other areas in your life will give you more sustainable energy.

Finding Balance

While you can feel full from eating food, too much food can make you tired and lethargic and then you may let your life pass you by.

There is a delicious fullness you can allow yourself to receive if you remain hungry for life. Allow yourself to remain hungry, hungry for your life and your purpose in this world. What is your gift that you are here to give to others, to give to the world?

By allowing yourself to be hungry for your life purpose, for your gift, you will find that your hunger for food will become more intuitive and instinctive. You are no longer looking for fullness from food, but rather wanting to experience more fullness from your life! Your inner hunger or desire to be fulfilled will give you more energy!

Consider Your Life As The Meal!

Here are some wise words from my mentor, Marc David from The Institute for the Psychology of Eating;

“What if you considered your entire life as the meal? Dinner is served, and your entire existence is the main course. Let the world consume you, eat you, digest you, and feast upon all the contributions large and small that you came here to make. In this way, you’ll be perfectly digested, assimilated, and a useful nutritional contribution to the world body. By giving energy, we receive it right back. Your life is a like a super food for the larger life that created you. So if you want to receive superior nutrition, be superior nutrition.”

Final Food For Thought

In closing let me ask you this: What do you do with the energy you already do have?

Are you using it wisely – or are you abusing it?

An interesting homework assignment might be to make a list of everything in your life that provides you with energy. And then make a second list of everything in your life that drains you of energy.

Compare these lists and then in order to receive more energy, do more of the things that give you energy and start removing some of those things that take it away!

I would love to help you transform your relationship with food, body and health and empower you to achieve a balanced life of health, purpose and vitality!

Your Nourishing Nutritionist,

Lynne Bowsher

Nourishment for body, mind and spirit