Over the past couple of months I had been feeling so utterly tired. I did not really understand why I was so unbelievably tired. Being tired isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But in my case it was starting to affect my productiveness throughout the day. I could barely keep my eyes open when at uni or at work and just had no energy to create content for the blog. Like I said, it’s completely normal to feel this way from time to time, but I had been feeling like this from April until June, that’s quite a long time! So I decided to take control and made a few lifestyle adjustments that definitely helped me have more energy throughout the day.

Drink a lot of water

The first thing I discovered that has definitely helped me have more energy throughout the day was increase my water intake. Who would have thought that not drinking enough water could actually affect how energized you feel – or maybe you all do know and I am just completely ignorant. Anyway, I tried to start drinking 2 to 2,5 liters of water throughout the day and definitely have noticed a big difference, especially when I am at work. I normally would drink coffee instead, but at work we have machine coffee and that usually has lots of sugar in it, which only leads to me feeling even more tired.

Avoid products with sugar in it

That brings me to the next thing that helped me feel more energized: avoiding products with sugar in it. Sugar is the ‘secret addiction’ of many people and it’s definitely an addiction of mine too. I love eating candy, chocolate and love to drink a latte macchiato, which basically is a sugar bomb. That’s why nowadays I try to avoid as much sugar as I possibly can. Before I used to eat sugary products to get more energy, after about an hour I would usually end up feeling even more tired after eating a candy bar for example. Cutting out as much sugar as I possibly can makes such a difference to me. However I definitely find it hard to avoid sugars completely and definitely cheat and have some candy every now and again. Besides that it’s also very difficult to avoid sugar completely, as there are also natural sugars in fruit and vegetables, which I tend to eat a lot more now.

Fresh food, lots of veg and fruit

Like I said, I am eating a lot more fresh foods nowadays. Especially during the month of April I had been eating horrible, processed foods that definitely aren’t good for you. I even noticed that it also triggered my acne to flare up a lot more again. So during May I already stopped with all the processed foods. I made an effort to actually make myself a proper lunch if I would go somewhere and would eat carrots, apples, cucumber or clementines as a snack instead of a store-bought muesli bar.

Eating fresh foods and avoiding fast food definitely has helped me feel a lot more energized. Just like I love my candy, I also love to eat French fries. So I have to cheat every once in a while to get my ‘french fries fix’.

Exercise

This past year I have definitely been slacking at exercising. I still am lacking but I am definitely trying to make a bit more of an effort to go to the gym at least four times a month – which is quite a lot for me. Life has just been so busy this past 1,5 year, that I barely found the time and energy to get myself off the couch and actually go to the gym. I definitely do know better now and try to make more of an effort to go to the gym at least three times a week. Not only to get ‘in shape’, but also because I notice how many benefits exercising has for the mind as well as your energy levels.

Create a proper sleeping patter

The final thing that I have adjusted now, is creating a proper sleeping pattern and routine. I am definitely a student and tend to be up until later than I probably should. I always used to wake up tired and ‘annoyed’ by my alarm, but I have made the decision that I want to be more aware of how much sleep I am getting at night. Nowadays I try to be in bed by 11 at its latest so I can sleep for a while and then wake up anywhere between 6 and 7 in the morning. Sometimes I definitely do still wake up tired and annoyed by my alarm, but I have found that recently I also have woken up before my alarm actually goes off. I did not wake up feeling tired or if I had not gotten enough sleep at all. Apparently this means that you have slept enough according to your ‘biological clock’ or something.

I have definitely tried to be more aware of my sleeping pattern at night, but what I struggle with most is falling asleep. Which is why I am trying to be a lot more conscious of the process before falling asleep too. I try to cleanse my face immediately after I have had dinner and also try to wind down afterwards as much as possible.