Choosing High-Energy Foods
Today we’re going to talk about high- energy foods, foods that give you energy rather than take away. Why are these important? The more energy you have, the better you will feel, the more motivated you’ll be to take care of yourself, exercise and address the other aspects of your life – like your job, your relationships, your finances, etc.
When we feel tired or lack energy, we start making poor choices. We reach for foods that are maybe convenient but don’t give you the energy that you need. For example, if you wait too long to eat and you are hungry while you are preparing your food, we tend to snack on something that is in the cupboard – bread or crackers, things that are processed and easy to grab. On the other hand, when you feel uplifted and positive, you will be able to make more conscious choices for yourself in every area of life.
Have you ever thought about which foods you tend to default to or eat regularly for a quick pick-me-up or quick satisfaction? And how do you feel when you eat those foods? And what time of day you tend to go towards those foods or alcohol? Is it when you have been running around all day and you are starving and just need something to kill the hunger pains? Or is it when you are really stressed out and you just need to take the edge off?
You may reach for crackers, sugary foods like cookies, cake, ice cream, muffins, bready foods or even a glass of wine. These foods do raise the serotonin levels in your brain, which are those feel-good chemicals that brings about contentedness, which allows us to relax. In some ways, although these foods can have you feeling sluggish or drained, eating low energy can actually help you relax, comfort foods can be a solution to calm your nervous system. BUT… There is a big BUT here…
These kinds of foods make you feel temporarily better while you are eating it, but then your body crashes.
The foods that leave us sluggish and drained have a time and place – you don’t want to deny yourself of the sweet or salty treats, you want to be able to identify that you have choices, that you can either choose to feel sluggish and drained or energized and alert. Notice what your body needs in that moment. Strengthen your intuition about what your body needs, trust it and make choices that align with it.
This is not an overnight magic switch, but little by little your body will start to relax and no longer feel that desperation to have those foods that rob you of energy.
Denying yourself of the sweet or salty treats and focusing on what you don’t get to eat can be destructive, you want to focus on what you DO get to eat. Choosing high-energy foods that make you feel great, energized and alive! Who doesn’t want to feel that way most of the time?
By thinking in terms of what you DO get to eat, you start to nurture a healthy relationship to food. You train yourself to feel pulled naturally towards supportive habits versus self-destructive ones. If you follow this consistently you will start to tune into your own intuition about the foods that make you feel alive, energized and alert, and which ones make you feel lethargic, slow and energy-drained.
Being present with what you fuel your body with helps you get to a place where you feel aligned in every aspect of your life, where you feed yourself high-energy foods because to do anything else wouldn’t make sense. You simply choose foods that nourish you, that give you the most energy and you don’t even think about the ones that don’t.
In summary, here are 3 tips to choosing high-energy foods:
1. Transform judgement into curiosity, gathering information about what works for your body and what doesn’t
2. Tune into your intuition and what your body is telling you it needs
3. Focus on what you get to eat versus what you don’t
When you feel alive, energized and alert, you have the ability to tap into your personal power, you feel unstoppable, you make crystal clear decisions, you feel focused, creative, patient, and in tune with your own body’s needs.
If you found this article interesting and informative, follow me on Instagram @tanyacaragolcoaching for more tips on how to develop healthy eating habits.