Activate your day
Even though you may feel pooped after your workout, moderate exercise can actually give you energy. "As you exercise, you use blood glucose," Cochran explains. Your body then pulls glycogen (the stored form of carbohydrate in the liver and muscles) into your bloodstream, which can ultimately make you feelmore energized as your blood glucose level rises. To rev up your daily routine, Cochran recommends revving pacing when you're talking on the phone and taking the stairs at every opportunity.
Get an hour's more sleep
To function at your best, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends at least eight hours of sleep a night for adults. But according to a recent NSF poll, on average, adults sleep just under seven hours nightly during the work week.
With a chronic sleep deficit, it may take you long to execute low-level mental chores such as figuring the tip on your lunch check. And say goodnight to multitasking and making sound judgment calls — especially in crisis situations. All told, "anything that's not routine is difficult to do if you're tired," says Andrew A. Monjan, PhD, MPH, chief of the neurobiology of aging branch of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD.
Nix caffeine
Granted, caffeine can be a quick picker-upper, because it stimulates brain cells. But if you have trouble getting to sleep at night, "avoid caffeine after lunch," advises Sonia Ancoli-Israel, PhD, director of the sleep disorders clinic at the Veterans Affairs-San Diego Health Care System. Besides obvious sources of caffeine — coffee (103 mg caffeine/6 oz cup), tea (36 mg/6 oz cup) and cola beverages such as Diet Coke (46.5 mg/12 oz) — take stock of your diet's hidden caffeine sources, such as chocolate or coffee-flavored foods. Even some decaffeinate coffee has been found to contain small amounts of caffeine.
Concluded
Article By: Sandra Agababian
