Are you fully charged for fitness?

A lot in life is thrown at you. You face your job. You want to find a partner or stay together with your current one. You maintain relationships with your friends. How can you have the energy to also take care of your fitness? This article will explain why you should care and how you do it.

Are you out of energy?

How high have your energy levels been lately? Chances are high not very high. How do you feel when you get up in the mornings? Miserable? Depressed? Lonely? Depression and anxiety are on the rise in the western world. If you want to reverse this trend you have to focus on the right things.

US surveys showed that even a sudden doubling of income produced only a nine percent increase in life satisfaction. When you are not sleeping you are most likely chasing money. Funny that money does not seem to make people that much happier.

While we chase the cash we sleep less. That does not help for feeling balanced and productive. The Harvard medical school even found that sleep insuffciences cost the American economy 63 billion a year due to lost productivity.

While we chase the world we even forget about the ones who are closest to us. A study from 2014 confirmed that the mere presence of a mobile device made conversations less fulfilling. This is also called the iPhone effect.

So if all the things we do constantly do not improve our well being what does?

Where to start to recharge?

The urge is high to completely rethink our lives. The problem is that this seldom works. Doing everything different puts you under a lot of stress. When you put in place the change and it does not please you things get even worse.

This happened to me and my wife when we moved from Ireland to Germany. My wife was adamant that she had to get out of Ireland to be happy. Turned out once she was in Germany that she felt more miserable than ever before. This lead to a crisis between us which only worsened the situation. In the end, we decided that not your surroundings but how you interact with them determine your energy levels.

Instead of thinking about how our lives can be happier we switched to thinking about how our lives can be more meaningful. You can try it too, it works.

We had a hard look at our days and reshuffled them to be more meaningful to us. A big part of this was to pay more attention to our well being.

Where you lose your energy

Diet is a big field to renew yourself. Fast food saves time. It is usually fried and full of processed sugar and carbohydrates. Reducing the intake will help you feel less drained. Swap your chocolate bar for an apple. Eat a salad instead of fries to your steak.

A good ratio is less than 5 parts of carbs for every part of proteins. In our haste to chase the dreams of others, we also miss out on sleep. One less hour of sleep does not equal one extra hour of achievement or meaning. Tipps to get more energized going through your day

Meaning does not happen to you, you create it. The exchanges with the people around you can give you a positive or negative charge. The same goes for self-discipline. Here are some tips to make it easy on yourself.

You can not control people but you can control how you react to them. Assume that people only mean the best. This will ensure that you also do the best for your well being.

Keep 80 percent of your conversations positive. The more positive vibes you send out the better. To achieve this be specific. Say exactly what you liked about the other person. Give clear examples where they behaved in a beneficial way.

Another way of being happier is to have experienced. Rather than buying products do something that you can enjoy together with others. Go to a concert. Cook something together. One study showed that participants for 106 percent happier than they had expected two weeks after the purchase.

Your plans do not have to be a secret. The anticipation of the event significantly increased the excitement and enhances the experience. It also prevents any disappointment because someone can not make it due to finances or schedule clashes.

Reorganising your kitchen will protect you from yourself. Kepp the healthy food visible and easily accessible. Place the unhealthy food out of range and where you do not see it. If you are interested in more detail on how this works read the book Nudge.

Same goes for the workplace. Pack some healthy lunches, fruits, and vegetables for snacks. This will help you to get through the day in a positive way.

What goes for your diet also hold true for exercising. A surprising study showed that just a 20 minute, moderate intensity workout can improve your mood for up to 12 hours after the exercise. If you track your activities, there are studies to support that you will move 27 percent more just due to the fact that you are tracking your movements.

Last but not least is sleep. Research showed that elite professionals sleep an average eight hours and 356 minutes per night. If you fight for your sleep, you also have to be more productive during the day to earn it.

Conclusion

To be fully charged for fitness you have two options. The first is to surround yourself with positivity. Smile and keep your conversations positive. Be nice to others. The other way is to minimize exposure to any negative influences. Stop indulging in negative behavior which does not bring you any further. Focus on your dreams and chase them. They might come true if you do.