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> Hints > Past Newsletter Editions > Articles > Kick constant tiredness for six

Kick constant tiredness for six

Last month I had one of those mini epiphanies that bring about positive change.

For the past six months I'd been feeling constantly tired. At first I put it down to working too hard; launching a book, working through the school holidays and writing four major grant applications to support my ongoing research into effective weight management.

In early April I submitted the last of my grant applications (hurray!) and started catching up on sleep and doing things that normally help me to recharge my batteries. Despite this, every day saw me waking up feeling just as lethargic as the last.

I was beginning to wonder if I needed to see a doctor. But before then, I decided to see if a shift in my diet would boost my energy levels.

One of my last remaining unhealthy habits is skipping lunch. When I'm racing to get things done before the school bus arrives, skipping lunch is an all-too-easy way to squeeze everything into the day. I'll often grab something convenient on the run; a caffe latte, a handful of VitaWheat crackers and a pat of peanut butter; or a cup of tea, a big handful of almonds and sultanas and a chocolate frog. Not exactly an unhealthy lunch, but when it's the same thing every day, it's not as rich in nutrients as it could be. And although I load up on fruits and vegetables at breakfast and dinner, I'm not getting any of that veggie goodness in the middle of the day, either. I wondered if this stale habit could be contributing to my constant tiredness.

I made a decision to start eating a varied lunch every day. It turns out that better nutrition is exactly what I needed. In less than two weeks my energy levels are through the roof again. Even after I've finished a full day at work and have tucked our children into bed for the night, I have energy left over to go to the gym. I started going to the gym on Wednesday nights as well as Monday nights, and this has no doubt further contributed to my higher energy levels.

When I see my face in the mirror, I'm amazed at the change. I look like I imagine I'd look if I spent a week at a health retreat focusing on eating well, exercising regularly and re-connecting with myself. And when I see my husband after work, he no longer asks me if I feel tired; I guess that what I see and feel in myself is showing on the outside, too!

Easy ways to boost your nutrient intake

So here are the things I did to boost my nutrient intake, the things that have made all the difference to my energy levels. If you're struggling with constant tiredness, you might want to consider some of them. When you see how much better you can feel on a more nutritious diet, the extra time or money you spend will seem like a small investment in your health.

1. Make a bottle of to-die-for salad dressing and keep it handy in the fridge

One of the best ways to boost your vegetable (and therefore nutrient) intake is to keep delicious salad dressings on permanent supply in your fridge.

Here's my current favorite recipe, inspired by Paula Goodyer's excellent book, Fit & Firm Forever. I made two batches of this a couple of weeks ago, and it's so delicious that it's easy for me to want to eat salad, even at lunchtime. When I take a salad to work with me, I also take a couple of tablespoons of this in a small glass bottle to pour over it just before eating.

4 large cloves of garlic
Juice of 1 large lemon
1 heaped teaspoon of traditional Dijon mustard
1 heaped teaspoon of honey
200-250 milliliters of white balsamic vinegar
250 milliliters of olive oil
Salt to taste

Peel 4 large cloves of garlic and dry roast in a pre-heated oven until golden brown.

Pour the lemon juice into a tall graduated container suitable for use with a stick blender (1 liter capacity or more). Add mustard, honey and garlic. Add white balsamic vinegar until the total volume is 250 milliliters. Add 250 milliliters of olive oil, to a final volume of 500 milliliters.

Blend with a stick blender until smooth and velvety, and season with salt to taste. Pour into a large glass bottle and keep in the fridge for whenever you need it. Shake well before use.

2. Use convenience salads from the supermarket

You know those cellophane bags of salad that you can buy from the supermarket these days? The ones containing salad that's 'washed and ready to eat'? Get into them!

I never used to buy these ready-made salads because they seemed expensive compared to the cost of washing my own greens. But given that the only time I'd make a salad from scratch was at night with the family, and given my inability to shake off my recent spate of tiredness, I changed my thinking and decided that buying ready-made salads for my lunch would be an invaluable investment in my health.

In the morning before work I half fill a large seal-able glass bowl with baby leaves straight from a packet, top with a mound of ready-made coleslaw straight from another packet, then fill the edges with the drained contents of a tin of four bean mix. The whole process takes less than 60 seconds. Even if I still have my quick-fix staple lunch of a latte with crackers and peanut butter, at least I'm getting a load more energy-giving nutrients into my day from my super salad.

Having seen the difference that including vegetables with my lunch has made to my energy levels, I now keep these convenience salads in the fridge permanently.

3. Use ingredients that give your veggies ZING

Have you ever wondered why the salads or vegetables you eat in restaurants or cafes are so much more delicious and enticing than the salads or veggies you make at home?

Many people assume it's because restaurants and cafes laden their foods with fat, but that's not necessarily so. Often it's because chefs make really interesting additions to salads and vegetables that you wouldn't normally consider yourself, especially if you're escaping from Diet Dungeon and you still think of certain natural foods as 'fattening' or 'forbidden'.

Inspired by something he ate in a cafe, my husband recently asked me if I wanted him to add sunflower seeds and sultanas to our salad. At first I said No thank you! (I have memories of gagging over a carrot and raisin salad at a friend's house as a child), but he urged me to try it and I did. I can't quite understand how it happened, but this simple addition lifted our salad to a higher plane.

Try adding different combinations of nuts, seeds, spices, marinated vegetables, antipasto or oils to your salads and veggies and see what killer combinations you can come up with. Whatever makes you want to eat your vegetables will help you to increase the nutritional value of your diet, thereby maximizing your energy levels.

4. Go out to lunch

Buying lunch outside the home is something that many people - myself included - view as an extravagant expense. But when I started questioning whether my lack of lunchtime nutritional variety may be contributing to my prolonged lethargy, I decided to think of lunch outside the home as a long-term investment in my health.

So when my bags of ready-made salad are depleted, or when I feel like a change at lunch, I take myself to a nearby cafe and have a latte and a nice toasted wrap of some sort, preferably containing something I haven't eaten in a while to increase the nutritional content of my overall diet.

If you find it hard to get varied, nutritious foods into you at lunch (or at any other meal), try going out and paying someone else to make healthy food for you. You'll probably find that by having a proper meal to look forward to when you get hungry, it will be easier for you to avoid eating things you don't really feel like eating when you're not hungry. Moreover, by eating a proper meal (when you feel hungry for it), you'll be able to forget about food for many hours, and this will make it easier for you to get on with living your live to the full, being active and consequently losing excess weight and keeping it off.

Over to you

Here's something you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

When you're very young, you can eat poorly and 'get away with it' in that you can still feel just fine.

But as you clock up the birthdays, it's especially important to maximize the nutritional value of your diet; your body not only needs more nutrients as you mature, it also becomes less adept at absorbing nutrients from what you eat and drink.

So, are you missing out on any valuable opportunities to load your body with energy-giving, famine-busting nutrients?

What does your usual breakfast, lunch or dinner look like? Is it time to give any of your usual meals a makeover by increasing the number of nutrient-rich foods you include with them, such as fruits, vegetables, protein-rich foods and whole grains?

If you've struggling with constant tiredness, then this boost to your nutrient intake may be just what you need to put the spring back in your step and make it easier for you to do what you need to do to be your healthy best.

I wish you a fantastic month, and if you'd like to comment on this newsletter, please click reply and send me a note.

And if you'd like to take advantage of my 2-book offer before May 13th or before stocks run out, click here.

Sincerely,

Amanda

Dr Amanda
Connect with your body
www.DrAmandaOnline.com