It’s no secret I’m a coffee girl at heart. If caffeine didn’t keep me up all night I would be drinking a lot more coffee throughout the day. For now my cutoff is somewhere around noon if I want to go to sleep at a decent hour. Through two pregnancies and nursing two babies I’ve had to find alternative methods to maintain energy all day thanks a limited daily caffeine intake.
Little Man reacted to caffeine no matter how little I had, so I went caffeine free for about 10 months while nursing. Luckily Baby B has handled it a little better so two cups a day seems to fit within our reasonable limit. Long nights still require extra energy to get through the work day so I’ve had to find alternative methods to maintaining my energy.
One. Drink Water
It sounds silly and to be honest I didn’t buy it until Little Man was about one year old. Water has nothing in it that would give you energy you would think. Yet just being properly hydrated makes such a difference in having the ability to maintain energy throughout the day.
A few years ago my husband and I did a 100 ounces of water a day challenge. Both of us often struggled to get enough water in during the day and this challenge was an eyeopener to me. The results amazed me and I have tried to stick with it since then. Not every day is perfect, but I can feel my energy levels dipping down on the days I am low on my water intake.
My Tip: Pick up a cute water bottle and figure out how many times you should fill it up a day to reach your ideal water intake.
Two. Exercise
There is no doubt that I am able to maintain energy a lot longer on the days I run first thing in the morning. The adrenaline kick from a good run is enough to get me almost through an entire day. Yes, physically your muscles can be tired. I’ve often found that mixing exercise with the right amount of water offsets that tiredness.
If you happened to be around me on a day when Baby B was up all night and I missed my morning run…you can expect a whole new level of grumpy to occur.
My Tip: Instead of hitting snooze, hit the treadmill 3 days a week for a morning walk or jog.
Three. Keep Moving
Even with a 3-5 mile run in the morning that gets me close to my 10k steps for the day, I still struggle the rest of the day. To be fair, that comes with the territory of a desk job. I wouldn’t change my job for anything, but I’ve started to force myself to move more at certain points throughout the day.
It’s easy to sit at your desk to eat lunch. I found myself moving even less and burning out even faster in the afternoon. With a quick walk outside at lunch to a coffee shop each day I get a chance to clear my head and get my body moving again. Believe it or not, that makes a huge difference in my afternoon energy.
My Tip: Fitbit suggests you log at least 250 steps per hour. Find a way to make that happen. Take a quick walk at lunch, fill your water bottle, talk to a co-worker instead of sending an email… etc.
Four. Watch What You Eat
Protein is for bodybuilders right? Just high level athletes? Wrong. I’ve always liked a good protein shake but when I was pregnant with Baby B they became a necessary part of my day. I struggled a lot last Summer with getting dizzy and tested negative for anemia. We tried many different things to figure out a solution and one was reevaluating how much protein I was eating.
I was incredibly low on my protein intake.
Not only did I need to find a way to stomach meat, but I started adding protein shakes into my daily routine as well. Sometimes I was drinking two a day just to reach the 75 gram minimum the doctor recommended. Now my day isn’t complete without a protein shake and a protein bar, just to make sure I’m getting enough to maintain energy.
No time for a morning smoothie or protein shake? You can always grab something quick like one of these gluten free, organic, vegan, and soy free protein bars. They are easy to throw in your lunch or grab on the way out the door in the morning.
My Tip: Do not miss out on your daily protein! Find a way to incorporate more into your daily meals or add on a protein bar or protein shake!
Five. Take Your Vitamins
There are hundreds of options out there for vitamins. I’ll admit, I’m not the greatest at remembering to take them each night. Over the last few years I’ve started getting better at taking them. Our insurance requires us to do blood work every year and I’m able to use that to talk to my doctor bout what might be missing. She helped me figure out the best vitamin to take when I was pregnant with Baby B and I’ve been able to keep taking it through nursing.
My Tip: Everyone is different, figure out what vitamins you need and get some ordered!
What tips do you have to maintain energy throughout the day?
Oh yes! I quit coffee five years ago and these are excellent tips! Thanks for sharing.
Good for you giving up coffee! I could never do that, I think I like the taste way too much! It does make such a difference though.
Really like these tips, Kristin – also, your blog name is so cute! 🙂
I try to drink enough water throughout the day and watch what I eat. If I eat something heavy and super filling for lunch, I notice I really want to take a nap and just crash around 2-3 pm.
I could definitely do better with exercising more and staying up and moving during the day though.
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Thank you!
I agree, it is so helpful to eat a much more balanced diet instead of eating way too much for lunch and not wanting to eat the rest of the day!
Agree with all of these tips! I would also try to balance meals well- don’t go TOO heavy on carbs in one meal and low in another.. keep all macros balanced every few hours!
Carrie this fit chick recently posted…10 Ways to Cook with Cauliflower Rice
That is an awesome tip! Carbs can really wear you out fast!
I try to keep moving, too! And I’m the same way as you- if I have coffee in the afternoon, it keeps me up. These are great tips!
Wouldn’t it be nice to drink coffee all day? Good for you to keep moving! That helps so much!
Great tips all around! I drink water almost exclusively, but I know I need to be drinking even more of it. And maintaining a consistent exercise routine is an ongoing struggle. I really admire people who can stick to a fitness regiment.
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Water is such a hard one! I have good days and bad days but I can definitely feel it on the bad days!
Taking a walk or going outside are key for me. I don’t do well without natural light. But also, a 20 minute nap is pretty much mandatory for me. Little guy doesn’t sleep through the night and I’m up early to work so that short nap resets me each afternoon.
I understand the sleeping through the night! That is awesome that you get a chance to take a quick nap some days though! Getting outside can be such a big boost of energy with just a little bit of fresh air, that’s an awesome idea.
Like so many things it is sticking with the basics – movement and water- make a huge difference. I also find making small mindful choices makes a big impact, pack healthy snacks, park far away, and schedule in time to exercise.
That is so true! I love having snacks ready to eat!
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I’m trying so hard to cut back on coffee. Neither my husband or I realized what an issue it was until we noticed that we drank an entire box of Keurig pods (18 pods!) in two days. Just…NO. Now we have set a rule that we have to drink 2 glasses of water for every 1 cup of coffee. We started that about 2 weeks ago and we’ve noticed a tremendous difference in our energy level (in a good way) from the increase in water.
Oh my gosh that’s a lot of coffee! I don’t blame you, it tastes so good! That’s an awesome rule and so awesome that it’s helping!
Yes! Exercise always helps! I’m glad you mentioned eating well too. Some foods make me so lethargic!
Yes, food has such a huge effect on how I feel throughout the day! Eating right is so important to maintaing energy!
If I sit down in the late afternoon/early evening, I’m done! No matter what still has to be taken care of! But if I keep moving I don’t realize how tired I am and it all gets done …. drinking lots of water is so good for us! I love a glass of ice cold water! Thank you for the reminders and tips … I can ALWAYS use more energy! Visiting you today from Blogging with Heart
That’s a good idea, to keep moving! I understand sometimes it is hard to get motivated again though.
Drinking enough water is so hard! I realize some days I’ve literally only drank coffee and I feel so yucky for days after. It’s just not something I think about.
That is so true! I started having to track my water each day in order to get enough in. Without it I definitely do not come close!
Such great tips. I’m all about coffee but I try to drink lots of water, too. I have several cute water bottles that I like to keep with me all the time. It really does make drinking water so much easier. I’ve also recently cut sugar out of my diet.
Cute water bottles make all of the difference! I have way too many and am often made fun of for my collection! haha!
This is so great! I definitely lose energy but these tips should help.
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They’re always great even on a day when you’re tired!
Yes!! These are great ideas – I say as I just finish my coffee hehe!
I worked 12 hour days over summer and drank so much water, I truely believe it was the only thing that kept me going, and boy I felt better for it. Now it isn’t so important for my to do so, I’ve worked 4 hours and want to go back to bed! I must start again!
Thanks for sharing!
There is nothing wrong with a cup of coffee!! Haha. Yes water makes such a difference!
Pinning. Gosh I do all of these and I’m still tired! Maybe it’s my toddler. 😉
I think any mom with a toddler is just guaranteed to be tired 😉
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These are great tips!! I still love my coffee, but I still need to do these other things to keep up my energy as well. Some days I do really well on water intake and energy levels, and others it is pretty sad and I definitely drag those days.
It’s funny how big of a difference water can make. I can really feel it on days I’m behind!
All of us can use an energy boost from time to time to help us get through the day, especially at work. A simple fact that few of us consider is that our body creates energy from nutrients, oxygen, and even positive emotions. If you know how to supply these on demand, you can always have access to that much needed energy boost whenever it is required. As a result of a friend’s advice I began getting up earlier in the morning and taking a 30 to 45 minute walk or bike ride before work. It was not easy in the beginning but within a week to 10 days a change occurred. My energy level increased as well as my work production. But I know that many of you are not willing to give up your precious sleep time.
Cheers then.
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I’ve heard matcha tea or green tea is a good alternative drink to coffee. I’ve made matcha lattes at home before, and it does help, but the jolt isn’t quite like that java! I am still trying to stop drinking coffee…lol..I know I need to do better.
I have heard wonderful things about Matcha tea! I’ve been afraid because of the caffeine but I’ve heard it’s wonderful! There’s no such thing as needing to stop drinking coffee 😉
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