Tiredness and in need of more energy. Help needed please!?

Question

I'm 18. I have enough sleep. I'm a dancer and a runner and love doing loads of sports. I eat loads of fruit and veg but wondered please what else I could eat to supply me with more energy. I feel a bit tired at the minute but do not have anemia. I know this as I've had a test done recently. I don't think there's anything wrong with me. I just am eating the wrong foods for fuel. Can anyone help me please?

Answer 1

Carbohydrates are great for fuel! You can get loads of "Carbs" from grain products.

Examples: Cereal, Toast, Pasta, Bagels, etc.

Fruits and Vegetables are great. Good for you! I too love running... Drink lots of water, as you don't want to get dehydrated!

Answer 2

eat high energy foods and try the 5 hour energy shot. it works great and doesnt make ya jittery and sick and there is no crash.

Answer 3

Eat a protein and some carbs. Carbs will give you energy in the short term and protein will help with the long term.

Answer 4

Get vitamins, change your diet.  

Answer 5

I heard pasta is good to eat before running because the energy lasts longer. Could it also be you're not eating enough?

Answer 6

Drink a lotta juice or gattorade

Or maybe ur over exerting urself.try not doing anything for a day and see how that goes

Answer 7

Ok. Here are some basics first. You already say you get enough sleep so I will skip that.

1. Get plenty of water. Proper hydration increases our energy levels and metabolism by 3%. If you feel tired drink 2 glasses of water. If you feel better in 15 minutes then you were just dehydrated. When we are dehydrated we feel tired. We need 1 ounce for every 2 pounds of body weight and 8 more for every 20 minutes of activity. With hot/dry days or climates we need even more. We can get some water from food and other drinks. However, caffeine and alcohol dehydrate us so they don't count towards water intake. In fact more water has to be consumed to offset the caffeine or alcohol.

2. Take a good quality multi vitamin/mineral supplement. Good supplements increase our energy too. The RDA/RDI was established as the bare minimum amounts needed to prevent nutritional deficiency diseases. For optimal health and energy we simply need more. With supplements you get what you pay for. Most store bought varieties are not worth the money.

3. For active people adding a good quality multi B complex supplement to your vitamin helps too. Don't take a supplement with only one B vitamin like with B12. The B vitamins work together and therefore are much more effective together. Also adding Ginseng with Ginko Biloba helps with energy too.

4. Drink a couple cups of green tea a day. It is full of antioxidents and increases energy and metabolism. It has only 30mg of caffeine per serving which is less than any other caffeine drink.

Now also since you are vey active as a dancer and a runner you need more carbs than most people do. Increase your rice, pasta, and breads you eat.

Before a work out I drink 2 glasses of water and a healthy energy drink. The water both hydrates me and offsets the dehydrating effect of the caffeine in the energy drink. I drink only healthy ones that have a ton of B vitamins in them. As I said they are good for energy. Most regular energy drinks put in just enough B vitamins to offset what caffeine depletess our bodies of or only a tiny bit more. The healthy ones have much more.

As far as the health energy drinks go though I only recommend XS Energy. They tastes much better than the others. Plus with the shots like 5 Hour Energy or Stacker's 6 Hour Power there is very little water in them. It is bad enough that the caffeine dehydrates us but these shots are much worse as there is hardly any water in them. It does not matter that they took after XS Energy drink and put in a ton of B vitamins as the dehydration will do you in.