“When the clocks change and the daylight starts to reduce, we do tend to feel more tired,” says Kerry. “In the summer, we’re much more active where the daylight is longer and naturally we’re likely to be out more, doing things. But as daylight gets shorter, many of us feel more tired and turn inwards.”
Along with exercise and plenty of exposure to daylight, diet can play a role in reducing tiredness during the autumn, according to Kerry. “We’re finding out more and more that diet and its effects are very personal, but there are general concepts that we can all adopt that can help with our energy,” she says.
What does a nutritionist advise for beating tiredness?
Kerry recommends a number of dietary measures I can use to beat my autumn energy slump, including:
- Increase my daily intake of fruit and veg to seven portions
- Eat more complex carbohydrates
- Restrict eating to a ten hour period during each day (for me, that’ll be 10am to 8pm)
- Cutting out caffeine after about 3pm
These aren’t the only available options to boost energy or decrease tiredness, but this set of measures felt like the most workable plan for me personally. I’ll aim to eat hearty breakfasts, generous lunches and relatively modest dinners – plus some healthy snacks along the way. Read on for some of my favourite energy-boosting meals, and to find out what I discovered about beating the autumn slump.
What really worked for improving my energy levels
To track my energy levels, I scored my tiredness each morning, afternoon and evening out of a total score of 15.
Judging by the results across the 10-day period, the diet seems to have been a success. While my levels of fatigue jumped around a little from day to day, there was a clear trend away from feeling tired and towards feeling energetic.
Good nutrition is personal. I learned from talking to Kerry and my own experiment that we all need a different combination of nutrients, consumed in a way that suits us, in order to feel our best. Although cutting out certain ingredients will be harder for some than others – I wasn’t able to entirely cut out some of my most nutritionally suspect treats during this experiment. Here’s what worked for me:
- Consuming seven or more portions of fruit and veg per day. This is one of the recommendations I stuck to the most diligently during this experiment. I found it easy to up my intake by adding one or two extra vegetables to recipes, or simply by snacking on fruit and raw veg throughout the day.
- Making healthier carb choices (some of the time). Upping my intake of healthy carbs was made much easier by choosing some options that I genuinely enjoy – especially soba noodles and freekeh. I’ll keep exploring wholegrains and complex carbs to find more nourishing options to add to my diet.
- Fasting between 8pm and 10am. I won’t always be able to keep up this habit on busy days – but in general, I’ll try to ensure I finish eating large meals before 8pm. Previously, I’ve experienced difficulty sleeping after eating substantial dinners close to bedtime. This didn’t happen once during my dietary experiment.
My 10-day meal plan and ‘tiredness tally’
To measure my tiredness each day, I used a qualitative scale from 0-5:
0: Full of energy.
1: Not noticeably tired. Plenty of energy.
2: A little tired, but without much negative effect.
3: Pretty tired, with less energy than I’d like for work/daily life.
4: Very tired, with adverse effects on work/daily life.
5: Struggling to stay awake.
Totting up the ‘tiredness tally’ in the morning, afternoon and evening, making a total score of 15 each day, this demonstrated how effective the diet was in beating my autumn slump.
Day 1
I begin my experiment feeling pretty tired, after a busy day and a not-so-good night’s sleep (six hours). My pretty standard day involved laptop work, a short walk, and a songwriting session with a friend.
One of my instructions from Kerry was to eat hearty breakfasts, so I start the day with a big, balanced meal. I follow up with a healthy, low-effort lunch, before cooking a dinner rich in complex carbs and green veg.
On my way home that night I pass several tempting takeaways, but I do not yield. My ten-hour window for eating has passed for the day.
Breakfast: bacon, cherry tomatoes, scrambled eggs and a potato waffle.
Lunch: shop-bought pumpkin soup.
Dinner: wholewheat pasta with broccoli & almonds with lemon-marinated courgette.
Snacks: apple, pistachios, a scotch egg.
Drinks: two black coffees, Earl Grey tea, orange juice, one pint of pale ale.
Tiredness tally: 6/15
(morning 3; afternoon 2; evening 1)
Hours slept: 6
Day 2
I feel whacked this morning after a night of poor sleep – which had more to do with the anniversary of losing a loved one than it had to do with diet, if I’m honest. Few of us mention, but many know, that grief often leads to tiredness.
Still, I set out on a day of pleasant activities and healthy eating. I go to my local market – Kirkgate Market in Leeds – to buy ingredients for upcoming meals. These included sourdough bread, freekeh (green durum wheat grains), and samphire. While I’m there, I get a delicious mackerel sandwich for breakfast.
I spend the afternoon working from home, cook a salmon and soba noodle recipe for dinner, and then go out to see my city’s festival of lights. My energy levels seem to improve through the day.
Breakfast: Turkish mackerel sandwich with two fish fillets, cucumber, tomato and red cabbage.
Lunch: three bean chilli soup with buttered sourdough (and a little leftover broccoli pasta from the previous day).
Dinner: salmon with ginger and lime, served with soba noodles.
Snacks: banana, grapes, orange, pistachios, carrot, cheese and crackers.
Drinks: two cups of Earl Grey tea, black coffee, hot chocolate.
Tiredness tally: 9/15
(morning 4; afternoon 3; evening 2)
Hours slept: 7
Day 3
A better morning! I wake up feeling well-rested and fairly energetic. For breakfast, I enjoy some smoked anchovies on toast with finely chopped tomatoes and garlic, then set out on a productive day of writing.
In the afternoon, I head into town to work from a library, before seeing a gig in the evening. Eating plenty of fruit, veg and complex carbs seems to be providing a steady supply of energy through the day. I only wonder: will I regret drinking three pints at the gig when morning comes around?
Breakfast: smoked anchovies with finely chopped tomato and garlic on sourdough toast.
Lunch: leftover soba noodles and green veg from the previous day.
Dinner: kari nyonya (Malaysian curry) with chicken and coconut rice and elotes (Mexican chargrilled sweetcorn).
Snacks: grapes, apple, jerk chicken patty.
Drinks: Earl Grey tea, two black coffees, decaf tea, coconut water, beer.
Tiredness tally: 6/15
(morning 2; afternoon 2; evening 2)
Hours slept: 8
Day 4
It’s Saturday, and for me, that means it’s a Parkrun day. Buoyed by plenty of energy-boosting foods, I run a course PB on a hilly 5km route. It’s important to take on plenty of carbs and protein after a hard run. That’s what I tell myself, as I scoff an indulgent breakfast brioche and a selection of pastries by noon.
I up the day’s vegetable count by cooking a healthy dinner: a beautiful aloo gobi recipe, which features plenty of cauliflower, tomatoes, herbs and spices – including an ingredient that’s new to me: amchoor, which is a delicious dried mango powder.
Breakfast: brioche with egg, bacon, sausage and caramelised onions.
Lunch: selection of pastries.
Dinner: aloo gobi (from Tarkari by Rohit Ghai) with coriander naan (ordered in).
Snacks: grapes, dried apricots, cantaloupe melon, chicken bites.
Drinks: two black coffees, rooibos tea, decaf tea, nettle tea
Tiredness tally: 5/15
(morning 2; afternoon 1; evening 2)
Hours slept: 6
Day 5
Our niece is visiting today, so we’re aiming to make a picnic-style lunch that combines good nutrition with fun, bright flavours. My wife bakes some tomato and ricotta muffins, while I prepare a homemade coleslaw, going easy on the mayonnaise and heavy on Dijon mustard, Greek yogurt and white wine vinegar.
In the evening, I use up a plethora of slightly sad-looking vegetables in a super-nutritious miso soup. If my sums are right, I’ve eaten at least ten different types of fruit and veg today.
Breakfast: porridge with dried fruits.
Lunch: tomato and ricotta muffins, homemade coleslaw, beetroot, ham.
Dinner: miso soup with rice noodles, kale, mangetout, spring onion, carrot, courgette, radish, chilli, garlic and a boiled egg; cookie dough for dessert.
Snacks: orange, crisps
Drinks: Earl Grey tea, tropical juice, rhubarb presse, hot chocolate, rooibos tea.
Tiredness tally: 4/15
(morning 2; afternoon 1; evening 1)
Hours slept: 8
Day 6
This is the first day of my experiment during which I feel truly energetic – which is remarkable given that I also seem to have developed a bit of a cold.
I’m visiting family today, so there’s not much time to cook or find healthy food choices. Nevertheless, I manage to keep my meals within a 10-hour window, and I take on seven portions of fruit and veg. Tomorrow, I’ll aim to make healthier choices and eat some complex carbs.
Breakfast: sourdough toast with scrambled eggs and smoked anchovies.
Lunch: mackerel with grilled tomatoes and leftover coleslaw.
Dinner: Hawaiian pizza.
Snacks: caramel shortbread (oops!), dried apricots.
Drinks: two cups of Earl Grey tea, two black coffees, tropical juice, Korean ginseng tea, homemade health shot with garlic and honey.
Tiredness tally: 3/15
(morning 2; afternoon 0; evening 1)
Hours slept: 8
Day 7
Every now and then, I wake up much earlier than normal, feeling wide awake. Today is one of those days, so I get up unusually early. I don’t feel tired.
I’m working from a library in the city centre today, so I grab lunch out. It’s quite difficult to find a quick, on-the-go meal with healthy grains, but I eventually track one down at Pret: a mezze salad with quinoa and brown rice.
It’s five-a-side Tuesday, so I drink a few coffees during the afternoon to give myself a caffeine boost. After the game, I fill up on a chicken shawarma wrap.
Breakfast: baked beans and cheese on seeded wholemeal sourdough toast.
Lunch: mezze salad with hummus, falafel, brown rice, quinoa and veg.
Dinner: chicken shawarma and red cabbage wrap with thick-cut chips.
Snacks: tomato and ricotta muffin, banana.
Drinks: three black coffees, Earl Grey tea, health shot, tropical juice, Coke Zero, ginger shot.
Tiredness tally: 3/15
(morning 1; afternoon 1; evening 1)
Hours slept: 5
Day 8
This will be a quiet day, spent working from home. There’s plenty of time for cooking: a Mexican-style bean and chicken soup for lunch, and a lovely recipe featuring freekeh – my new favourite wholegrain – for dinner.
The big news of the day is that I’ve got a new Lavazza coffee machine, one of the brands you’ll spot in our roundup of the best pod coffee machines.
As you might’ve noticed, I consume several caffeinated drinks per day. Caffeine suppresses the action of a sleep-inducing hormone called adenosine, so it can make us feel less tired and more energetic, if we’re mindful of how we consume it. I try to be careful about when I drink my coffees and soft drinks, as the caffeine can stay in our systems for several hours. My cutoff time for drinking large doses of caffeine is 3pm, although I sometimes can’t resist an evening cup of Earl Grey.
Breakfast: crunchy peanut butter and banana on seeded sourdough toast.
Lunch: Mexican-style bean soup with shredded chicken & lime.
Dinner: herbed freekeh with pomegranate seeds, peas, pistachios and feta.
Snacks: carrots, dark chocolate, orange, dried apricots.
Drinks: Earl Grey tea, black coffee, espresso, health shot , vanilla rooibos tea, rooibos tea.
Tiredness tally: 5/15
(morning 1; afternoon 1; evening 2)
Hours slept: 8
Day 9
My cold has got worse, so my diet now needs to help me get better, as well as more energetic. Above all, that means I keep my focus on eating plenty of fruit and veg – and I remember to take a zinc supplement to support my immune system.
Thankfully, I still have plenty of energy for the day, which mostly consists of laptop work at home. In the evening, I treat myself to a takeaway from my favourite Chinese restaurant.
Breakfast: porridge with dried fruits.
Lunch: shop-bought creamy tomato soup with buttered sourdough, some leftover herbed freekeh.
Dinner: Szechuan chicken with fried rice.
Snacks: carrots, beetroot.
Drinks: two cups of Earl Grey tea, espresso, health shot.
Tiredness tally: 4/15
(morning 2; afternoon 0; evening 2)
Hours slept: 7
Day 10
My 10-day period of energy-focused eating is coming to an end, and I start this momentous day feeling suitably lively. I’m out and about for a meeting and research at the library, so once again, eating healthily is going to be challenging at times.
During this experiment, I’ve learned that while I can’t always choose a perfectly healthy meal, I can usually find an option that ups my intake of fruit and veg. With this in mind, I pick a spinach empanada for lunch, rather than one filled with meat paste. If there’s one thing this dietary experiment has taught me, it’s that small changes can add up to make a tangible difference to how I feel.
The day concludes in tasty fashion, with a miso brown rice, broccoli and edamame bean bowl that brings together the most important principles behind my energy-boosting diet plan: lots of veg, complex carbs, and appropriate meal timing.
Breakfast: bacon bap, pastel de nata.
Lunch: spinach and mozzarella empanada.
Dinner: miso brown rice & broccoli salad with fiery prawns.
Snacks: orange, spare ribs.
Drinks: two black coffees; breakfast tea; honey and passionfruit Hong Kong-style iced tea; rosehip, elderberry and hibiscus tea.
Tiredness tally: 2/15
(morning 1; afternoon 1; evening 0)
Hours slept: 8
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