Burnt out? These 3 ideas will get you going again.

Struggling To Find A Pep In Your Step? Feel Like You Are Dragging? These Three Ideas Will Get You Back On Track To Feeling AMAZING. I just spent the majority of my waking hours for the last 6 days in a dark and chilly conference room. I'm exhausted. Completely pooped. But I am equally exhilarated. I attended this event because I wanted to, not because I had to. Have you heard of The Institute for Functional Medicine? It is the medicine that is transforming healthcare. Instead of a pill for every ill and calling things good, Functional Medicine practitioners are focused on getting to the root of the issue. And once they figure out the cause they create a protocol so that the person can heal and no longer need all their pills. This is my FAVORITE topic. So my brain is full, and my heart is happy. However I am DRAGGING.

So how am I going to get back to my former energetic self in no time at all?

HERE IS MY PLAN:

1. Get more sleep

How much sleep did you get last night? Maybe 6 or 7 hours? Even less? You are not alone. Almost everyone is at least an hour or two sleep deprived. We should be getting anywhere between 7 and 9 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. Struggling with chronic health issues? You need even more. When the body is sleeping it is in an active state of repair. So listen to what you body is saying. Are you yawning? Having trouble thinking? Dosing off? Don't wait for a second wind, instead give yourself the ultimate gift and get your body into bed. You won't regret it. Tonight I will be hitting the sack at 8:30PM. My alarm is set for 6:30AM. For those of you who don't like math, that's a whole TEN hours I am giving to myself. YES!

2. Eat more colorful vegetables

And not because they are good for you, but BECAUSE THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL! Do you kind of do an inward grown when you think about your vegetable consumption? What role do vegetables play in your life? Are they front and center or kind of discarded and off to the side? Think about what you ate last night for dinner. Was it worthy of a picture? Was it delightful to the eye? Was your plate alive with color and energy? Last night I got home at 10PM and gobbled down some salty plantain chips and topped them off with a banana. I consumed only one color, a creamy yellow. Super delicious but so not ideal. Where were my greens, reds, blues, purples? My goal is to consume at least one beautiful rainbow a day. Why? Because there are unique powerful phytonutrients in each color. And when you mix colors there is an amazing synergy that occurs. Do you know what benefits from this synergy? Our immune systems! In other words, YOU. So tomorrow morning I am going to consume an incredibly delicious smoothie made with a variety of COLOR. Yes—it will be good for me, but that's not the selling point. It's the beauty in the color that will flood my body with GOOD.

3. Do something I love

What gives your life meaning and purpose? For me it is thinking about how I can help others get on a healthier track. A large majority of our symptoms will GO AWAY with simple diet and lifestyle changes. But change is scary. And most of us are afraid we will have to give up all the things we love—and feel horribly deprived as we start to move in a healthier direction. The biggest aha my clients have? They are shocked at how amazing they feel once they start being intentional about their health. And that their previous behavior was depriving them of so much GOOD. So I love figuring out ways to get more folks inspired to do the same. And my best ideas come to me when I am do things that give me energy. Like walking my dog Lulu and appreciating the beautiful fall colors. Getting out of my head and being present in nature. Moving my body. Smiling. Breathing deeply. Power posing. These are the basics and they can be amazing if we choose for them to be. So tomorrow morning I plan on moving my body, breathing deeply and smiling often, reminding myself that I am so fortunate to have the freedom to do what I love.

At my conference one of the presenters mentioned that thoughts drive action, action drives behavior and behavior drives character. When you are burnt out, you are not at your best in any of those realms—thoughts, action, behavior or character.