This is day 3 of my 6 day energy challenge. Click to start from scratch. here.
The first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning is always what I want to eat. As soon as I finish my meal, I'm already planning my next meal.
Dr. Nate Wood, a culinary medicine researcher and trained chef at Yale University School of Medicine, said this tendency to look ahead is fairly common. But, he added, “unless we have an upset stomach, we rarely look back and think about how the food we eat makes us feel.”
He said observing how food affects us can help us understand which foods give us energy and which ones make us sluggish. It also helps you eat to get better energy in the future. That is the focus of today's challenge.
Track your energy after meals.
The task is simple. Notice how the food you eat makes you feel. An hour and a half to two hours after you eat a meal or snack, write down how you feel. Are you satisfied, tired, or hungry? Next, rate your energy level on a scale of 1 to 5.
Why do I have to wait an hour or two after eating? According to Dr. Wood, digestion is progressing normally at that time. When a meal is broken down, glucose enters the bloodstream and the pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin is used by cells to absorb glucose for energy. Your brain and gut send signals to each other about how food is being processed, so you can have some sense of whether that food is giving you energy or making you feel drained. You will be able to do it.
Don't think of every meal as just fuel. Of course, food should be enjoyable. But being careful about what you eat can help you feel better in the long run. Some questions to ask yourself: Was this meal mostly carbohydrates? Was it high in sugar? Did you eat protein?
Tracking it throughout the day should give you some insight into how different foods affect your energy. To get a more accurate reading, Dr. Wood suggested trying this exercise over the next three days. You can then use those cues to focus on energizing foods (and food combinations) if you wish.
Feeling inspired to make some changes? Here are some ideas.
If you want to get more energy from your diet, you can make small adjustments.
put a lot of food on a plate fiber, complex carbohydrates, protein It can slow the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream and prevent fatigue, Dr. Wood said. If you can incorporate these triple beats into your meals and snacks as much as possible, you may feel more energetic.
I told Dr. Wood that I usually have a low-protein breakfast, such as a fruit smoothie or a slice of whole-grain toast. It usually starts to sag after 2 hours.
He suggested that adding avocado to my toast with shredded chicken and sriracha, or protein powder or a spoonful of nut butter to my smoothie would help my energy last longer. .
Dr. Wood also said that “lunch and dinner foods are often healthier than breakfast foods, and it can be easier to incorporate vegetables.” Recently, one of his co-workers encouraged me to eat leftovers for breakfast, which makes me very happy. She plans to eat something like quinoa with chickpeas and tomato stew. My goal now is to increase the frequency of replacing dinner with breakfast.
For midday snacks, Wood says it's a good idea to have lean protein sources that are convenient to pair with complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain crackers with hummus or cottage cheese.
Lunch and dinner should follow the same formula, Dr. Wood says. For lunch, he suggested maybe a curried tuna salad sandwich with arugula on whole-wheat bread and some berries. Dinner might be three-bean chili with Greek yogurt and green onions, served with baked sweet potatoes sprinkled with cinnamon.
Dr Wood said the exercise was not about deprivation, but about finding ways to have a more stable energy supply. And for most people, making small changes “will lead to more sustainable change,” he added.
Looking for a delicious, long-lasting snack? Try New York Times Cooking's energy bar recipe.
This easy and customizable energy bar recipe was created by New York Times Cooking Editor Genevieve Ko. It's high in fiber thanks to the whole wheat flour and tangy dried fruit, and the nuts add protein and crunch.
Save the recipe. energy bar
