Just like me I am sure you have noticed that a lot of workplaces and homes are hubs of daily living activity but few have a time each day in which silence is encouraged. The brain needs silence to integrate what has been learned, to search out new ideas and simply to rest and regenerate its ability. Without silence, like space between notes in music, everything rolls together and in time leads to frustration or confusion and other forms of unwanted stress.

You can nourish yourself and other people’s ability to deal with stressful situations by encouraging the allotment of time in the work or home for times of silence mixed with times of stillness.

This does not have to be for a very long period of time perhaps just five to ten minutes a day of no talking, no TV, no radio, no mp3, no iPod….. Indeed, this is only a short period of time but for many people this short period of time of silence may not even occur once a day.

A great way to achieve this goal is to go for a regular early morning walk in nature or at lunch time. Choose a park abundant with trees and bushes so you can experience freshly made oxygen and be buffered from the sounds of commercial activity, moving vehicles and talking people. If you are with someone else let them know you wish to be silent for the next ten minutes. Perhaps they will do the same as you or wait to meet up with you soon once you have experienced your moment of silence.

In closing, I must mention you can find an immense amount of ideas in one book called Peace Is Every Step. It is not a new book so it is not expensive and it is an excellent resource I have referred to many times to help keep my life in balance as I work to be the best I can as an educator, parent, entrepreneur, husband and student.

Enjoy a wonderful day,

Your friend on the journey,

David

P.S. If you enjoy what I have to share you will enjoy my FREE e Workbook you receive when you become a member of The W.O.N.D.E.R. Technique community of readers. Simply subscribe via the form on the top right of this page.

Shopping for High Energy Food - photo by D. Hennessey

It is only during the last 13 years that I have really began to understand how my body works. I have learned that my body like yours is a complex system designed to process food into it useful components as rapidly as possible so we can move and think effectively. I have learned items we consume that have little or no benefit in terms of nutrition waste the body’s digestive system and simply put an unnecessary strain or stress on the system. In fact, I have read that the digestive process when it is overused helps us all age quicker! So we all (me included) need to be smart about how we eat when we want to eat for high energy.

Over the years I have collected and adopted ideas that I have found in many books on healthy eating habits. Some of these books I noted in my article Two P’s for Healthy Eating. I have summarized some of the best tips below. When you have time read them over. You may find eating for energy can be broken down to some core guidelines:

Number One
Eat High Quality Foods in Balanced amounts

Make sure you eat the highest quality foods you can and learn to make the habit to push away from the table before you over eat. Two great ways to be conscious of how much you eat is to chew longer and eat in silence when possible.  You may find when you eat high quality foods in balanced proportions your body can work at its peak to create high energy.

Number Two
Choose the Freshest Foods you can

Fresh food is what our body wants naturally to produce energy. When it is possible go to the market and buy fresh fruits and vegetables. If you eat any kind of meats choose to go to a butcher or fish shop so you can find the freshest food possible. A good choice is to eat locally grown food whenever possible. If you have no time to go to the market check out home delivery companies that can bring fresh foods to your doorstep. Remember in the off season flash frozen fruits and vegetables are a better choice than canned due to the typical addition of salt in the canning process.

Number Three
Choose Organic when possible

To get food that is as free as possible of unneeded chemicals and additives that can affect your body negatively choose to buy organic food. If you wonder how valid the organic label is it is important to note that many countries now have national standards to decide if a food can be labeled certified organic or not. Take the time to learn the certification symbols that show a product has been third party certified as organic. If you want to learn more about what makes a product organic, the different organic labels and how to buy organic food inexpensively these ideas and more you can find out about in the e-book how to buy organic food inexpensively.

Number Four
Protein at Every Meal

High levels of mental and physical fitness benefit from stable blood sugar. If you check the recommendations of most public health organizations you will see they recommend you eat a small portion of slow burning protein at every meal. Why? because due to the complex chemical make up of proteins they are digested slowly and enter your blood stream slowly helping keep your blood sugar level stable. This is in contrast to the quick spike in blood sugar levels that occurs when you digest simple carbohydrates since they are digested rapidly.

Number Five
Eat a Variety of Foods

It is a simple truth that all the nutrients you need cannot come from all the same foods. I mention this since I have read many adults buy the same foods again and again when they go shopping. To get all the cancer and illness fighting substances we need to buy and eat a variety of all the types of foods. To help you create a real variety you can use a technique I developed back in 1999 and is still successful today. It is called “follow the colors of the rainbow” to choose your foods when you shop. If you would like a copy of the article where I explain how this rainbow technique works and the science behind it you can get a copy when you subscribe to my posting updates (the form is on the top right of this page). The article is one of the bonuses I offer new subscribers.

Number Six
Foods to Reduce or Simply Avoid

Highly processed foods like white wheat flour and white sugar offer very little nutritional value to your body. They essential become stomach filler and often fat when too much of them are consumed. Excess white salt as you most likely already know is also a substance you can reduce in your diet. Add to your avoid list man made fats like transfats from hydrogenated oils and you are well on your way to eating for increased energy.

Number Seven
A Powerful Exercise

Grab a note pad and pen and write down for each of the next seven days the quantity of all you eat and exactly what it is. This exercise is one of the most powerful ways to find out if the quality and quantity of food you are eating is helping you Eat for Energy or not.

Bonus:

For extra help I have developed one learning tool that can help you recognize you are eating a balanced meal in five seconds or less. It is included in a electronic work book I wrote inexpensively priced and titled Simplify Healthy Eating Habits. Read more about How to Simplify Healthy Eating Habits the book here. The tips and action steps in this book are useful whether you live alone or have a family. They also help you adopt into your life more easily dieting plans you are using.

Your friend on the journey,

David

Before and During the Flight

I am not a doctor so you can check this out for yourself but I have read that during a flight due to the air conditioning adults can lose up to 24 oz or 2/3 of a liter of precious body water content. This dehydration can mess up my thinking and perhaps, yours too. So it makes sense that before you (and I) fly to make sure we are well hydrated by sipping water on the day of departure.

Also, it is recommended that during the flight make sure to drink water and be aware that if you drink diuretics like pop, coffee and alcohol during the flight you will need to drink more water to compensate for the dehydration this type of drinks causes. A good rule of thumb I heard is for every cup of a diuretic you drink, drink a cup of water.

Also, if you eat water laden vegetables and fruits during the flight this will also help counter dehydration. It is best in my experience to avoid eating nuts and other dry foods that require your body to take in more water to digest them. So no more in flight mini pretzels! Perhaps, the ‘post flight fatigued feeling’ that you have had in the past was only caused by dehydration. Check it out and see what happens for you.

On Arrival

Are you going to somewhere cold? You may be surprised that you need to drink more water in cold as well as in hot climates. If you are in a cold climate I have read your lungs will work harder to get inside you the precious oxygen you need to survive. This extra work draws the moisture out of your lungs quicker and your lungs must stay moist to function properly. In a hot climate, as you most likely know, you need to drink more water as the heat draws water from your body.

On arrival you need to continue sipping water throughout the day so you will need to get to you baggage as soon as you can and find and fill up your water bottle so you have water availalble to drink. If you don’t have a water bottle to carry with you when you are traveling you will want to check out the Stainless Steel Water Bottle review I posted here. Some bottles are insulated so they stay cool longer. Check out the details.

If you are looking for more information on the importance of water in your body or you are looking for this information to share with a friend. You can read this other posting Ten reasons why water is important for your Success and Wellness.

The best of everything to you always,

David