Boost Your Energy...Now!

It's not uncommon to suddenly find yourself in an energy rut, at some point during the day. Even with the perfect diet, sometimes we could use a boost of power now and then.

A lack of energy can be caused by many things ranging from a sedentary lifestyles, missing components in your diet, mental exhaustion or even something as simple as not sleeping well the night before.

Here are five tips to boost your energy right away:

• Eat fruit. Fruit is packed with healthy carbs, water, antioxidants and natural sugars. Being dehydrated and hungry will make you sleepy and fruit is the perfect combination combination of healthy calories and hydration to get you up and going again. Many people pick up a chocolate bar (sometimes labeled as an energy bar...Mars Bar, I'm looking at you) thinking it will wake them up. Processed sugar may make you feel alert...For about 20 minutes and then you are right back where you started. Probably even worse off than before.

• Breathe. Taking approximately 1 minute for taking deep breaths will help you feel relaxed rejuvenated. Deep breathing triggers your lymphatic system to release stored toxins in to the blood stream. Breath from your diaphragm. Inhale slowly through your nose. Hold the breath for a few seconds and then exhale even more slowly through your mouth. Repeat for 1 minute.

• Go for a walk. It takes 10-20 minutes of walking outside to boost not only your mood but your energy for up to two hours! Personally speaking I always have to run some errand during the day and I tend to wait until I'm feeling an energy low. By the time I'm back, I feel brand new.

• Have a latte. A little caffeine plus the protein from (low fat) milk makes an excellent pick-me-up snack. However, drinking too much caffeine actually wears you out mentally as it overstimulates the nervous system. So treat yourself to a latte if you don't regularly drink a ton of coffee.

• Power nap. You would think that if you are trying to keep your eyes open, the last thing you want to do is fall asleep! Actually, closing your eyes for 10-45 minutes will re-charge your brain and start to reverse the information overload. Don't fall asleep for too long though. You might wake up groggy.

These tips are quick-fixes for the occasional energy shortage. If you find that you are tired often, you may want to visit your doctor. Long term fatigue can be the result of something as simple as a magnesium deficit in your diet to conditions such as depression, thyroid dysfunction and anemia.

Energize!