How to maintain a solid flow of positive, get-up-and-go energy every day. —————————————————————— Originally Published January 20, 2004 -- Your Wellness Guide 7 Ways To Increase Your Energy This Year —————————————————————— For most of us, maintaining a solid flow of positive and get-up-and-go energy is not only desired but also necessary in order to accomplish our responsibilities and goals.  If you don’t always feel like you have the energy needed to tackle everyday with enthusiasm and make it from sunrise to sunset with a full-of-life smile, take a look at this list of seven ways to boost your energy level -- along with several recommended resources to help you along the way. 1. Get a good night’s rest. If you are not sleeping good, then you will have a hard time waking up and staying alert during the day.  Get a full eight hours of sleep, if possible.  Unwind early in the evening and dim your lights as it gets closer to your bed time.  Go to bed earlier and wake up earlier at set times.  Also, look into new mattress technology that eliminates coil pressure points and improves spinal alignment. The new air-pocket mattresses such as the Sleep Number bed (www.selectcomfort.com) are a good choice.  A lower-cost, quality alternative is the Comfort Sleeper BodyZone Mattress (www.bzsleep.com, also available at Linens 'N Things), which uses new-technology, highly durable foam -- a European trend; it's quite comfortable and customizable. 2. Wake up to light. Our eyelids are thin for a reason: so that sun shining through our window in the morning would trigger a physical response through the eyelid and wake us up naturally and slowly.  If you are fortunate to have a schedule or bedroom window that allows a sunshine wakeup, you’ll feel better from the start of the day.  If not, you might want to check out the new sunrise simulating alarm clocks that gradually turn on a light to wake you up.  Take a look at dawn simulators from Soleil (www.sunalarm.com, which also includes a radio and a data port to connect to additional lights) and Bio-Brite (www.biobrite.com).  (This Wellness Wise Tip Sheet gives you additional details about sunrise alarm clocks.) Source: Wellington Media Waking up to a window of sunshine is ideal for starting your energy off right early in the day. 3.  Eat breakfast. This will get your metabolism and energy going early in the day.  Jyl Steinback, author of Cook Once, Eat for a Week, told me that “it takes less time to eat breakfast than to shower, shave, put on makeup, or blow dry your hair.  Studies show that eating breakfast is not only associated with improved mid-morning endurance, more positive attitudes toward work, and better thinking skills, but also it improves memory, concentration, and attention.”   An easy breakfast plan is a bowl of cold cereal, such as a raisin bran, or a quick packet of microwavable oatmeal such as Quaker Instant Oatmeal. 4.  Include healthy snacks. Turn snacking into mini, healthy meals.  Many nutritionists advocate eating five small meals a day to keep up your energy.  A home-made energy-boosting drink with a slice of cheese or a banana with tuna and crackers would be excellent, healthy in-between meals.   Drinking more water also helps.  For a healthy snack idea, combine the newest blender technology to whip up a healthy, hydrating energy drink with professional-style texture.  Oster has some quality handheld and tabletop mixers with an auto-blend smoothie button (the new In2itive line knows when a drink has mixed to the right consistency) at  www.oster.com, with easy drink recipes in Miracle Juices Energize or Miracle Juices Stress Busters (see my review on these books here). 5.  Exercise more. One of the newest trends is walking for more activity and energy.  Walking is also the number-one, most-used exercise routines for losing weight.  Take 20 minutes a day to walk in sunshine, such as during a lunch break, to boost your serotonin levels and increase your energy.  Jenny Craig’s (www.jennycraig.com) new pedometer helps you track how many steps you take and includes a handy calorie counter to track results.  Yoga is another exercise to add daily energy.  Check out the “Chi for Beginners” and “Energy Chi for Beginners” video tapes from Gaiam (www.gaiam.com) to introduce yourself to this lifelong practice (for more on how to enjoy and learn yoga, go to this column).  The LifeWise Wireless Heart Rate Monitor from RadioShack is another new gadget that can help you reach more physical benefits from your workout and set exercise goals. 7. Improve your artificial light. Because we spend so much time indoors, open up your windows to let in as much sunshine as possible for more positive energy and better health.  Change out your artificial lighting to mimic the sun’s spectrum by going with the new lighting products from the new Philips’ Natural line at Home Depot or with lighting products from Verilux (www.healthylight.com).  Your environment will look and feel better, and your spirits will improve.  (A comprehensive Wellness Wise™ Tip Sheet on how to choose a daylight-lighting bulb is found here.) Finally, find more ideas on increasing your energy by checking out the book Become An Energy Addict by Jon Gordon.  It includes a comprehensive list of simple ways you can energize your life. Terra Wellington is a national authority on creating a wellness lifestyle.  www.terrawellington.com  © Copyright Terra Wellington