CPA energy boost: new year's lifestyle choices to help make your day more productive.

• Position: Personalhealth

the typical workday stretches from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for many. The misconception, however, is that you are productive from the moment you step foot in the office until you leave, with an hour for lunch. But, you arrive at work, often without having eaten breakfast, and you look more like a zombie than a human.

You think a cup of coffee will create some kind of productive state at around 9:30 a.m.--but you'll only hit the wall again at 11 a.m. After a less-than-nutritional lunch and another cup of coffee, you remain productive from 1:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m., when you hit. another down cycle on the energy roller coaster.

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Couple this with the long hours you put in to finish projects or during tax season, and it's no wonder there's a constant battle to maintain consistent energy levels. The good news is that you can incorporate a few changes to your lifestyle and nutritional choices, as part of your new year's resolutions, which can make a big difference in your health, energy and productivity.

Part of Your Unbalanced Breakfast

The only thing worse than skipping breakfast is consuming what's popularly described as a "balanced breakfast." The human body considers bowls of cereal, glasses of orange juice and pieces of toast to be surprisingly similar. Quite simply, it's all just sugar. After eating large amounts of carbohydrates--most lacking any other nutritional component lethargy and fatigue soon follow. This is a simple matter of human biology. When blood sugar rises sharply from the consumption of sugary foods and drinks, so does the hormone insulin. But that jolt of energy quickly subsides.

Symptoms to Something More Serious

CPAs have a reputation for overworking in a valiant effort to progress their careers. To get them through the hours, many reach for cups of coffee and junk food and spend little time recovering from overwhelming workdays. Unfortunately no one is invincible and this lifestyle cascades cumulatively into a more serious issue known as "adrenal fatigue."

When the sole source for energy and productivity rests on the shoulders of external stimulants and poor nutrition, the human body must overwork its own adrenal system to keep you going. Eventually, this diminishes the body's ability to respond to stress, leading to a plethora of ailments that ensure productivity losses. Once adrenal fatigue sets in, even a minor respiratory infection can...