Are You Too Tired to Exercise?

If you are tired all the time (and you have no medical reason for it) then it might be time to look at the food you eat.

If most of what you eat is cooked, or highly processed, then your body is using a lot of energy just dealing with that density.

If you eat a lot as well, then your tiredness could simply be the result of all your spare energy going into handling the food.

You don't have to rush off and switch to an all raw diet if you don't feel like it, but here are some things you can do to take the load off your body:

• Eat an extra piece of raw fruit every day, and make sure you do it every day.  Find something you like which is easy to eat.  Eating an apple while driving is good, it's not messy, and gives you something to do.  If  you don't like fruit, then eat a carrot or a stick of celery.  Notice the juice and the crunch and the smell, all these things make fruit worth eating if you pay attention.
• Try to eat foods with a higher moisture content.  For example, spaghetti or lasagna is very heavy, but if you eat some salad with it, you are giving your body something easy to process (and getting some extra nutrients in as well).
• Replace highly processed foods with less-processed alternatives - fresh juice instead of concentrate, "real" cheese instead of Kraft cheese, freshly-cooked or frozen food instead of canned food, fresh milk instead of condensed or UHT.
• Make every second drink a glass of water, instead of coffee, tea, juices or soft drinks.

You will find that after a while, your mouth tastes better in the morning, your breath is fresher, and going to the toilet is easier.  You will feel better, and have more energy.  And that will make it easier to exercise.

If you want to learn more about the benefits of raw food, take some tips from Yuri Elkaim and his new book, Eating For Energy.