Read This: Energy Now! by Michelle Cederberg

Regular readers of Listen to Lena will be surprised to see that I’m reviewing – gasp – a book.

Not that I’m not a big reader; on the contrary, whenever I’ve got a few moments to myself (on average, about 23 minutes per day) chances are you’ll find my nose buried in a book. But since I look to books for self-improvement and entertainment, I normally shrug off requests to review material – I like to call it “using my spare time wisely”. However, when I was introduced to Energy Now! by Michelle Cederberg, I made the decision to accept the review – mainly because since I started on a path to healthier living, I was vitally interested in what she had to say.

About Michelle Cederberg:

Michelle Cederberg has worked in the trenches of the health and fitness industry for more than 20 years as an educator, personal trainer, life coach and speaker. She has a Masters in Kinesiology with a specialization in Exercise and Health Psychology, plus a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Cederberg brings hands-on, applied knowledge of energy and health to the challenges facing her readers. (She also happens to be Canadian!)

About Energy Now!:

For a lot of people, a lack of energy is a big problem in day to day life. Michelle Cederberg shares tips for re-fuelling naturally in her new book “Energy Now! Small Steps to an Energetic Life”. Energy Now! explores how mind, body and spirit each play a part in determining one’s liveliness. Digestible small-steps advice is achievable no matter how busy the schedule or demanding the career. Cederberg’s realistic, energy-generating tips include:

• Dehydration is the biggest source of daytime fatigue. Replace one drink (soda, coffee, juice, etc.) with one big glass of water at least three times daily. Don’t enjoy water? Dilute your juice if you have to. Just drink more water.

• A good sleep keeps energy levels high. Spend 30 minutes before bed away from all screens. Allow your mind and body to unwind completely for a sounder rest.

• Exercise is key. Even in small amounts. Skip the coffee run and go for a quick 10-minute walk instead; daily exercise doesn’t have to be a huge time commitment. Ten minutes a day is all it takes starting out.

• Coffee isn’t the answer. Can’t go without a caffeine fix? Make sure you drink it up by 1 p.m.; any consumption later than that will negatively impact the quality of your sleep.

• Create your own energy. Do something positive with your day. Help someone, reach out to a loved one with kind words, or spend time with someone you admire. Positive energy is contagious.

While  I haven’t read the entire book from start to finish, I did have a chance to really absorb the sections which interested me most:

Fitness: Exercise Less for Success (music to my ears)
Nutrition: Fueling a New You One Bite at a Time
Hydration: WaterYou Drinking? (apparently not enough water)
The Happiness Factor

And here’s why I love the book. Michelle breaks down each section into small steps – ones you can actually take without feeling like you’re dramatically changing your life. You know how a lot of self-help, fitness or diet books ask you to make drastic changes with radical results? Sure, if you’ve got the willpower of Ghandi. But for most of us, the effects are short-lived – until we crash and burn, or fall off the wagon, so to speak.

Not so with Energy Now!. Michelle proposes step-by-step, doable instructions that everyone can incorporate, all centered around increasing your health, well being, stamina, happiness, and of course, energy.

Here’s an excerpt from her book:

“Let’s say you decide to cut out just one sugary beverage per day. At 150 calories a pop, in seven days you will have saved 1050 calories. With that one little change you’ll eliminate about 50 teaspoons (about 1 cup) of energy-sapping sugar and lose one pound in about 3 weeks.

Imagine you were to replace all of your sugary beverages with water? Even three sugary drinks per day at 150 calories each total 450 calories. With those savings you’ll be down a pound in seven days.”

In other words, you don’t have to change your routine. Not even your diet. But making that one small substitute will have you feeling more energetic and losing weight. And when something is laid out as simply as that, it suddenly doens’t seem so daunting to make a positive, healthy change, does it?

And that’s the tone of the entire book: little things that you CAN do to improve your energy, one step at a time. Last week I began walking just 10 minutes every day, a habit I’ve carried over – upping the activity to 15 minutes. This week, I’ll swap whole eggs for egg whites. And next week I plan to turn off the computer at least 20 minutes before I go to bed, allowing myself some time to unwind before I drift off to sleep. The point is – small, easy steps that have giant, lasting effects.

I encourage all of my readers to pick up a copy of Energy Now!. After just one month, I can honestly say that I’ve experienced a perceptible increase in energy, happiness and overall well-being. The book can be purchased from your favourite retailer or from www.michellecederberg.com.