Endurance

As I mentioned in my first post, I'm a pretty busy lady.

Between a full time job, a supplemental second job, and running two blogs, there often seems to be little time for eating and sleeping, let alone exercise.

I'm proud of the fact that I've been pretty consistent with the exercise (generally going at least five days a week, sometimes with more than one class a day), but I have to admit: I'm feeling a little run down.

I'm sure there are many factors involved in this: the darkening of the days as winter whirls in, not going to bed quiiiiite as early as I know I should, and likely not enough of the right foods.

I have a tendency to overshop at the grocery store as odd groceries and unfamiliar foods are one of life's greatest pleasures for me. Also, since I'm cash-strapped, it seems more fair to allow myself a splurgy food treat here and there to experiment with multiple times in a kitchen rather than going out and blowing a bunch of cash on one night. So, I love cooking and I mess around with a lot of awesome healthy and unconventional ingredients.

That being said, I'm having a hard time knowing what is the right amount and kind of food. I eat mostly cooked whole foods, especially in soups, and I feel really full when I eat - but I seem to have a crash after a couple of hours, particularly in the afternoon. 3 p.m. rolls around and I'm ready for a mad nap at my desk.

So, there must be some way (other than exploding from copious amounts of coffee) to try to keep my energy levels up all day. Do you have any suggestions?  How do you keep yourself going in between early mornings, late nights, and general busy-ness?