How to Stay Energised without Caffeine [Guide for Busy Professionals]

​Are you the type of person who’d have had their third coffee before 10am and still would have a massive energy drop around 3 o’clock in the afternoon? We’ve all been there: working long hours, running around and stressing out, not getting enough sleep then trying to compensate those missed hours with more caffeine. 

The trouble is science still hasn’t confirmed conclusively whether we adapt too well to caffeine but there are study results suggesting it may be the case. This would mean beyond a point it won’t have any energising effect on the body and would work as a drug, so wo would consume higher and higher amounts.
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On the other hand we can enjoy many benefits of coffee and tea consumption, there was even a wide 10+ years study completed in Manhattan in 2013 that suggests consuming the caffeinated drinks have an inverse effect on mortality. Further research is needed however I wouldn’t recommend stopping drinking coffee completely, but it’s worth trying to find other ways of keeping in top of your energy levels. Here are 6 efficient ways:

1. ​Shorten workouts to 45 min and below

​Instead of spending hours in the gym every day doing the same workouts change up your exercise a little bit and look up how you can keep them shorter but more efficient and burn more calories. Supersets, circuits with free weights, HIIT on cardio machines or with bodyweight exercises to keep your workouts short but still get puffed out might just be what your body needs to stay full of energy. You can even try to work out in the morning if you haven’t tried that yet.

2. Walk

Taking a walk during the day, after lunch for example will decrease the chance of hitting low energy levels mid-afternoon. It doesn’t need to be strenuous, an easy 30 minutes around the block or in a nearby park will do, it just need to take you away from the monitor and get you some fresh air.

3. ​Keep drinks clean

Steer away from fizzy sugary drinks, even fruit juices as they contain way too high sugar levels. Regardless of their origin, consuming too much sugar with one shot of drink will cause sugar rush for an hour or two after, but then you’ll have t deal with the energy drop too. Stick to water, if that’s too boring, flavour it with berries, mint, lemon or cucumber or try herbal or green tea.

4. ​Increase fruit and veg intake

Fruits and vegetables contain plenty of vitamins and minerals your body needs to stay on top of its metabolism while leaving energy for other body functions too. If you become depleted in the essential micronutrients, your body will have less energy to get you through the day.

5. ​Make sleep a priority

I mean it. It’s way too easy to check and send that late email, sort out housework, stay out late for networking or get stuck in front of the TV, laptop or phone. Make it your mission to work out what time you need to wake up, then set yourself a time in the evening you have to be in bed by. Once that’s done, stay disciplined and don’t schedule anything, don’t open laptop in the last hour before and instead read a book before bed.

6. ​Breakfast of champions

Everybody is different in how they handle certain food at breakfast, but we do know what nutrients will power you for a short time then cause your energy levels to crash and what will fuel you throughout the morning until lunch. Eggs are called the breakfast of champions and for good reasons. If you think about it, an egg has everything inside that is enough for a chicken to fully develop before they hatch. It has plenty of protein and fat, combining that with vegetables and nuts will create a powerful morning meal to keep you full and sated for hours.

​If you feel your energy levels could be better and feels like coffee is not working anymore no matter how many cups you drink a day, it’s time to find a solution that will work on the long-term. Would you like to go into details on the above or have questions on other fitness topics? Feel free to message me.