
Ask HN: How to keep energy levels consistent every day? - ge96
I wish I could like get a &quot;read out of my vitals&quot; it&#x27;s probably a dehydration&#x2F;blood sugar problem.<p>I find that after drinking coffee&#x2F;eating food I want to pass out. Also when binging on junk food (I don&#x27;t do this everyday) same thing happens. I mostly eat a diet of lentil beans, onions, ground turkey and snack on some carrots. In the morning if I get good sleep, I feel good, clear mind, I can code&#x2F;think and solve hard problems. But after eating&#x2F;drinking coffee there is always that risk of a momentary shutdown for at least half an hour to two hours where I want to do nothing. Sometimes I don&#x27;t eat and just drink water as I&#x27;m able to keep that good energy when you first wake up. But I also have this &quot;feeling of need&quot; that I need to drink coffee to get in motion.<p>What can I do? I&#x27;m not obese or anything but I&#x27;m also not running every day&#x2F;exercising. Also my family has high-blood pressure problems at least on the father&#x2F;male side. (I&#x27;m next in line for the grave)
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Broken_Hippo
First things first, I fully suggest heading to the doctor. Feeling faint after
eating/drinking coffee can be your blood sugar or your blood pressure
bottoming out. It can be a myriad of other things too [1], some quite serious.
I'd mention your low energy levels to the doctor as well, as it sounds like it
is worse than normal. I think taking care of this will make a big difference
in your energy levels.

As far as other things you can do, it is really all diet, exercise, and
consistently getting good sleep. I eat most of my food in the evening because
I'm not hungry in the morning. I drink a cup of coffee sporadically through
the day (rarely do I have two cups in a row). I walk as my main form of
transportation. This stuff is more likely to give you consistent energy levels
from day to day, but it won't even out some of the ups and downs throughout
the day.

You mentioned dehydration: I had a spell where I was getting a bit queasy and
dizzy through the day. I called the doctor, and the nurse held off on making
an appointment because it sounded like dehydration. It is something you can
get over fairly easily. Her instructions? Take it easy for a day. Eat healthy
foods. A banana is especially helpful (potassium). Drink lots of fluid. It
should get much better that same day - and it did. Otherwise, off to the
doctor with me, but luckily that didn't happen.

Good luck, and I hope you get feeling better.

[1] [http://www.md-health.com/Dizziness-After-Eating.html](http://www.md-
health.com/Dizziness-After-Eating.html)

~~~
ge96
Hehe, unfortunately I will be taking some of that ~$700.00 tax refund loss due
to not having health insurance. yeah, bananas okay, can't help myself from
eating them all at once.

Thanks for the insight.

------
bobzibub
Armchair medical advice here:

1) see a doc. While there, along with other checks, check for diabeties and
insulin resistance. The tests that don't require testing glucose levels after
drinking a lot of sugar aren't as effective. 2) Assuming insulin related
issues, check out the keto diet or something siimilar. One can become a fat
burner instead of a sugar/carb burner. Thin people who are also fat burners
have a month's worth of energy even without eating. Not a couple hours of
fluctuating glucose levels like many. It has worked for me. I couldn't keep my
eyes open in the afternoon, would frequently feel awful especially after
eating high sugar things like a milkshake, and I did OK at the doctor's tests
for diabetics which runs in the family. After a number of months I am no
longer overweight. (Note that the FDA recommends we eat what the Agricultural
industry happens to sell most of--mostly grains.) None of this may be
applicable to you. But for me it was quite a puzzle after seeing a doctor and
getting nowhere so consider it a possibility if you get no working answers
from your doctor.

~~~
ge96
This is me being dumb, I find it hard to believe that I would have diabetes
(not saying that's what you said). I also realize (I think as you mentioned)
that skinny people can be diabetic. Seems bad like how did I get this? Eating
too much sugary foods over time? I've come across the ketogenic diet. I'll
check it out/try things, doctor is not an option at this time. I will also try
to not eat salt anymore. It's tough life changes. Thanks.

------
roystonvassey
Sample size of one caveat

Firstly, I think it is impractical to have consistent energy levels every day.
IMO and experience, human beings operate in phases. There are days where I am
ultra-productive, not even distracted by mails or messages and there are other
days when I keep checking WhatsApp every minute. There are also days where I
am not producing much but I am excited about something new in my field and on
which I am reading. And so on - you get the drift.

Second, from an energy-diet linkage perspective, I've found that I am sharpest
on days when I skip breakfast and snacks until late into the day (2-ish). I
fathom this to be related to the absence of insulin spikes and the subsequent
carb-induced inertia. This is a variant of intermittent fasting and it has
clearly had an impact on my work productivity.

Curious to read others' experiences on this.

~~~
ge96
Thanks for your input. I understand the "productivity phases" just sucks when
you don't have the luxury to say "Well I guess I'll take today off" though I
guess really you can do that. But have things to do, yeah that's something I
read about regarding the insulin spike.

------
ramtatatam
I'm continuously occupied with thoughts on this subject. You will need to
study your body, I was experimenting a few years and from that I know what
makes me sharp and what doesn't. In my case - refined sugar in any shape or
form is affecting me a lot in negative way and I can see results straight
away. This also holds for food rich in carbs as well as anything that contains
processed grains. And my problem is I found myself to be addicted to sweets
and bread (cravings when I'm trying to cut these off). I'm not sporty type of
person (and there are periods of time when I'm extremely loaded and working
long hours).

But I'm also lucky that my wife is very much into the subject of healthy
living and food/dietary requirements. And for about 6 years she is attending
seminars about different types of food and what effect they have on our
bodies. Through those seminars she found a few easy tips that worked for me
(though I am aware they are only shortcuts that let me survive until I can do
things properly, i.e. treat sport seriously in my life). I'll share them with
you so maybe they will be a good start on your journey:

One of those tips was bulletproof coffee (original recipe by Dave Asprey
though in principle it's mycotoxins-free coffee with raw butter and coconut
oil - healthy type of fat). In essence your brain can burn either carbs or
fat. Carbs are preference though after immediate energy spike body gets crash.
If you avoid carbs for long enough (more than 12 hours, different depending on
person) your body may go to ketosis - state where your brain can switch to
burn fat - and that's where bulletproof coffee comes to the game - since most
of it is fat.

Another tip was avocado - it keeps me filled (much less cravings) and in the
same type it's healthy fat too!

Another one was to keep a bottle of water (high PH) with me all the time. I
started doing this when I realised there could be whole day past by and the
only liquids I would drink was coffee! I aim to drink 1.5 litre a day, this
bottle stands on my desk so I reach and have a gulp every now and then. Our
body is mostly build from water so it's helping to keep water level within
levels allowing normal functioning (you will need to find how much is `normal`
in your case).

I started testing above three on myself 3 years ago and get consistent result.
Less crash from coffee, need much less coffee (essentially one in the morning
and that's it), longer high-focus sessions without shaky hands syndrome (since
I drink much less coffee). And local coffee shop started making bulletproof
coffee about 2 years ago too which helped :-)

Another `discovery` of my own is I am really not benefiting late nights
sessions (wow! though not so obvious when you are coding). If I stay late at
night the very next day I'm less focused and generally less happy of the
outcome when day ends. So I tend to shift from late night to early morning,
which also made my family to benefit too.

Regarding "feeling of need" \- I had this too, it goes away when you go into
routine and find your own rituals that you celebrate each day. Morning
bulletproof is one of my rituals :-) and it helps since my brain is focused on
following my way - even if I smell coffee later during the day I'm not
intimidated.

Good luck!

~~~
ge96
Thank you very much for writing this well thought out response. I don't know
if it's mood swing as well. Today I brewed light coffee eg. 1 table spoon per
2 cups, 3->6, and made the usual onions,lentils,ground-pork soup and put a
little bit of salt (couldn't eat it plain). Oil too. I was pretty productive
throughout the day, but this was later after the shut down from sugars/energy
drinks. I know contradicting.

That bulletproof coffee is interesting. I also wonder if that 12 hour period
thing... I've done this a couple times to reset sleep patter eg. not eat for
16 hours, man it sucks.

Lots of things to fix in life... sucks when sometimes you want to just say F'
it and take it. Whether prison, death, whatever seems weak though I realize.
we are responsible for our position in life I guess, unless you don't have
control (many scenarios I can think of) but I mostly do have control.

~~~
ramtatatam
I have good and bad days. Sometimes I just can't resist and have bigmac - and
when I'm having it I know what effect will it have on me. Still - I tend to
simply accept it and enjoy bigmac with big smile on my face - endorfines are
better than worrying :-) Same with good/bad days in terms of performance :-)

