I need energy

[trenton]

I want to start off by saying that I work at a grocery and I have a hobby as a chess player. I have recently made gains in my rating of over 150 points in tournaments. I know I can go far, but I need to find a way to have the energy to work 8 hours a day and still be productive in studying.

Firstly, when people recommend working out, I think there is an assumption that I don't match. Do people with very active jobs need to work out? I am more active than most employees even in this fast paced environment because I spend at least 3 hours pushing carts in and I am more efficient than the rest of the employees at this. Now that I think of it, I should be worth more and paid more than the employees who slack off at work. I get a lot of sun in the process and thirst becomes an issue. The cooler has water that tastes disgusting so I try to take extra filtered water to work, but it still isn't enough. It is close to enough and would be enough if I had bigger bottles. Anyway, does a person like me need to work out? I get a lot of exercise as is and I lack physical energy at the end of the day.

Secondly, I could look to my diet. One of the reasons I don't eat a lot of vegetables is because they don't sustain me and I get hungry fast. I did snack on some vegetables while watching some videos after work, but it isn't a lot. It looks like tuna and eggs seem to be better at giving sustained energy. I am also prone to sugar cravings after work. Maybe the fact that I am constantly moving is linked to these cravings for immediate energy. I notice that bread and bagels last a bit longer than cereal and oatmeal. I could have a bowl of each and be a little hungry. I also get very annoyed when my family talks about how I eat too much. I can try fruit smoothies which give me the energy I need because of the nutrients in them. I still feel hungry despite having a full stomach though. It is a weird experience. Maybe after a couple of hours when my stomach is empty of smoothies, I could then go for the eggs and tuna to stop the hunger and have the energy I need.

I believe diet is the main root of my energy problems. If I want to somehow become a chess master and work at an exhausting job, then I need to budget 8 hours for sleep, 8 hours for work, and I need to figure out how to spend the remaining 8 hours on these days. I am missing out on so much productivity in my life from this situation.

I think the fact that I am noticing the effects of food on my body and energy is good start. I can thank consciousness work for that.

[BipolarGrowth]

Working out and fixing my diet has substantially increased my energy levels over the past few months since I started. 6 months ago or so I said to a friend that I probably spent 80% of my life horizontal. Now I work 11-12 hour days, go to the gym for 1.5-2 hours after work, and I generally have energy to be up for a few hours after the gym. Energy is in abundance for the most part. It’s a night and day difference for me. I also was lazy and unmotivated when it came to materialistic/traditional life goals. That has also changed entirely for me. 
 

You can get the energy benefits of working out by doing 3 solid sessions per week for an hour each. That’s what I did for the first 2-3 months. I have a bit more energy now working out 5 days per week, but 80-90% of the energy can be gained doing just 3 days per week. This process has also greatly helped my circadian rhythm as well. I wake up in the mornings far, far easier than before. 
 

I think that having your macronutrients and micronutrients in a good place is far more important than thinking about individual foods. Having a balanced diet with about 40% of calories from carbs, about 25-40% from protein, and the remainder from fat has made me feel quite amazing compared to before. For micronutrients, taking a decent multivitamin isn’t a bad idea, but I think focusing on nutrient dense whole foods is probably more important. A few servings of fruits, a few servings of vegetables, and lean meat should help you do quite well overall. You can fit tasty snacks in moderation every day if you want. I, as well as many others who maintain 10% or less body fat levels, recommend this snacking approach as it makes sticking to a “diet” far easier. 
 

Another thing to consider is that having excess body fat may be reducing your energy levels. Most people find more energy around 15% body fat (for men) or sometimes even less. 15% body fat would be around the point the outline of a six pack appears. I have my highest energy levels being leaner than that, but some people say it’s hard to sleep and that they have too many food cravings around 10% BF. It depends on your individual circumstance though. 

[trenton]

@BipolarGrowth I didn't clarify my body type. I am actually thin compared to others in my family. In fact my sister body shames me for being thin. If I flex you can feel my six pack. This has always been my body type for as long as I can remember and I'm 23 now. My legs are buff and my arms are thin.

Thank you for highlighting the concrete benefits of taking health seriously. I can't become a chess master like this. In fact the world champion is a vegetarian.

[BipolarGrowth]

@trenton well if your body fat is in that range, it’s probably not the issue. I just added that 
in on the off chance that you were overweight. 
 

I forgot to mention that I was getting about 90,000-100,000+ steps per week (according to Fitbit tracking) before I started working out. My job is on my feet 100% of the time except for my one hour lunch break. I was very tired and worn out doing this before I started working out and also experiencing some pain in my feet and behind my knees which has mostly gone away after lifting for a while. If I were you, I would focus on strength/hypertrophy training in an adequately equipped gym. I have spent years as an athlete in cardio-focused sports like cross country, track, and cycling. None of those helped with my energy levels or motivation much. If anything, it diminished energy and motivation. Calisthenics is okay probably but will likely give less results than weightlifting due to there being more difficulty in creating a sustainable progressive overload approach.  

[Michael569]

Seems like you know exactly what the issue is. It is the diet composition. You would benefit from a proper meal prep. The types of foods you can load into a glass bowl like curries, stews, lentil dahl dishes etc. Vegetables while not being high on calories help slow down the absorbtion rate of the carbohydrate component of the food. You could also add some snack box made of dried fruit and nuts. But in general from what you say you probably need to eat twice as much as you do. If you move for 9 hours at work you are easily burning 1000 extra calories compared to a sedentary guy 

Tuna while being good source of protein is a poor soury of useful energy. You need to add more complex carbohydrates in the mix to give you the juice.

For the hydration, just get 2 * 1 litre stainless steel bottles and carry them with you. That's an easy fix. I agree don't touch the cooler bottle, it's gross and loaded with crap and microplastics

Exercise wise it seems like you don't need to go to the gym and get plenty of exercise, that being said it the work is monotonous and you do repetitive type of movement, ot helps to also use other muscles around the body and occasional gym session could help with that on weekends maybe.

You haven't mentioned sleep but i assume thatsy probably ok but if not that needs to be fixed too.

Good luck! 

 

[trenton]

@Michael569 I wanted to thank you for this solid advice. I didn't know vegetables behaved in that way. I like adding a mix of vegetables to a lot of different meals so that should be fine. One problem is that I usually go for whatever is convenient and quick to prepare. This is how I end up eating a lot of junk. If I find healthy meals that are quick and convenient, then that would be great so I should look out for that.

[Michael569]

@trenton get yourself a good cooking book and outsource the need to create your own recipes. All you need are 5-6 recipes you can rotate over and over