Introduction

If you are a baby boomer like me, the realities of physical decline hit every day.  Not that I’m hobbling with a cane, but my energy dissipates much quickly than in years past.  I know I have to plan out my day to take advantage of when I have the most energy and also understand my energy limits and plan the duration of activities because once energy has depleted for the day; that’s it.

Mental Energy – Get some Sleep!

I plan my schedule so that I will tackle the most challenging mental items first thing in the morning, since I am sharpest first thing in the morning.  I schedule the most important items first and do so the night before.  Seeing what I have for the next day, tells me what time I need to get to bed.  And while I usually go to bed at the same time, if I have work to tackle and know it will need a period of dedicated time, I may go to bed 30-60 minutes earlier since I will be getting up earlier than my normal time, which is 5 am.

Sufficient sleep is a must for energy, especially brain energy.  Sleep studies have shown that most people have about 5 sleep cycles a night.  Sleep cycles for most people last about 90 minutes and with 5 sleep cycles, it means the average person needs about 7.5 hours of sleep a night.  Some people have shorter sleep cycles of 75 to 80 minutes.   If your sleep cycle is 80 minutes, then you need   (80 x 5 or 400 minutes which translates into about 6 hours and 40 minutes).  The easiest way to find out how much sleep you need a night to go to bed at your normal weekday time on a weekend and when you wake up Saturday morning (without alarm), see how long you slept.  Try this for a couple of days.  You’ll end up sleeping about the same amount of time.  If you wake up after 8 hours of sleep then you need to go to bed so that you will have 8 hours of sleep.  If you need get up at 6 am, then go to bed at 10 pm.  Do this every day so your body gets into a rhythm of sleep cycle.

A couple of points about sleep cycles and their importance.  Our deep sleep is in the first part of the night and our physical body gets the rest it needs.  The last few cycles of the night are for REM sleep (rapid eye movement).  It is during REM sleep that we form our long-term memories.  Cutting our sleep short on a regular basis will impact our ability to remember thing and slow our thinking ability.  If you are sleep deprived and feel like your mind is in a fog, it actually is, because long-term memories are not forming properly.  Proper sleep is one of the most important activities in your day.

 

Mental Energy – Fuel that Race Car!

The second area is nutrition.  Our brain needs good food to function well.  What is very interesting is our brain is very choosy on the nutrition it will accept.

The Harvard Health Letter says, “Like an expensive car, your brain functions best when it gets only premium fuel. Eating high-quality foods that contain lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants nourishes the brain and protects it from oxidative stress — the ‘waste’ (free radicals) produced when the body uses oxygen, which can damage cells.”

Unfortunately, just like an expensive car, your brain can be damaged if you ingest anything other than premium fuel. If substances from “low-premium” fuel (such as what you get from processed or refined foods) get to the brain, it has little ability to get rid of them.”

Harvard Health Newsletter

 

So, what Should we Eat?

Good Foods

• Oily Fish –
  • salmon,
  • mackerel
  • tuna
  • herring
  • sardines
• Dark Chocolate

• Berries –
  • strawberries,
  • blackberries,
  • blueberries,
  • blackcurrants,
  • mulberries

• Nuts and Seeds –

• sunflower seeds,
• almonds,
• hazelnuts

• Whole grains – brown rice
  • barley
  • bulgur wheat
  • oatmeal
  • whole-grain bread
  • whole-grain pasta

• Avocados

 

Physical Energy

As you get older, it is more important that take good care of yourself.  To get more energy you need to expend energy.  Energy is not something you can save up.  Here is what you need to do.

1. Put yourself on a daily physical exercise program. It doesn’t need to be anything complex.  Simply go walk for 30 minutes each day.  If it is rainy outside, walk inside your house.  If you have stairs, walk them.  Get a step tracker (there are tons of apps) for your phone and carry your phone in your pocket all day long.  Set a goal for how many steps you want to do each day.  Slowly increase that goal
2. When you walk, hold your head high and your chest out. This will help with your posture and helps build confidence.  How you hold yourself has a big impact on your mental state.  As Tony Robbins like to say, “motion creates emotion”.  If you want to feel good, move.

I can attest to these recommendations.  I had let myself go physically with a lack of exercise and poor eating habits.  I took a look in the mirror (looking sideways when I got out of the shower) and was appalled at big my stomach was.  Coming back from vacation, my wife and I decided we would make a major change.  We decided to eat healthy (incorporating the food items on the list), eliminating process foods, eliminating white flour, eliminating sugar and sugar substitutes, and greatly reducing salt.  We started to walk, gradually increasing our walking to 7500 steps a day.  Since I started doing this, I’ve lost over 31 pounds during a two-month period. I feel much better and have more energy than I’ve had in years.

 

How to get more Energy

1. Plan your meals; write out your grocery list. Only buy from the list.  Eat before going to the store.  Don’t go to the store hungry, otherwise you will pick up junk.
2. Schedule a time to go to the store. This way you will make sure you buy the items you need for your meals.  My wife and I go Friday nights.
3. Schedule a time when you will cook for the week. My wife and I cook Saturday morning for the week.  We prepare various items and eat them during the week. We vary the recipes.  By cooking our nutritious meals, we won’t eat fast food (because there is nothing in the frig).  There is always something good to eat at the house.
4. Plan your exercise, schedule it. If you don’t, you won’t do it.  We walk in the early morning, checking the weather the night before to see if we can walk outdoors, or if we need to walk inside on the treadmill.

If you put good food in your body and add moderate exercise to your daily activities, you will lose weight.  No fad diet needed, just common sense and a mindset that will keep you doing this, day after day.

The last part is key.  To be successful at weight lost, your mindset for eating needs to change.  What I mean, is if you feel not eating certain foods is depriving yourself; keep in mind the first 3 letters of diet is DIE, then your weight loss will be a failure.  You’ll put the weight back on once you go off the diet.  Because you view yourself as someone that eats fast food, donuts, etc.  However, if your mindset is one of a healthy person someone that eats foods that is good for your body and mind, then not only will your weight loss be successful, you’ll keep it off.

My mindset has changed to that of a healthy person, someone that eats good food and takes care of my body.  For example, I never read food labels in the past.  Now, the first thing I do is look to see 1) how much sodium is in the container and 2) how much sugar, especially added sugar in the product.  If it is too much, I don’t buy the product.  The recommended daily allowance is 2000 milligrams of salt  sodium_dietary_guidelines.pdf

As a point of reference, a teaspoon of salt has 2325 mg.

I was shocked to see an 18.5 oz. of Progressive New England Clam Chowder has 1820 mg. of Sodium; almost my entire recommended intake of sodium for the day!  No wonder nearly half of adults in the United States (108 million, or 45%) have hypertension defined as a systolic blood pressure ≥ 130 mm Hg or a diastolic blood pressure ≥ 80 mm Hg or are taking medication for hypertension, according to the CDC.

You want to have more energy, change your mindset.

I’d love to hear how you sustain your energy level, day in and day out.

Reach me at alan@babyboomercashnow.com or leave a comment below.