If I were to tell you there is an energetic, vibrant and creative person inside of you and all you needed to do was eat certain foods to let that person out, would you believe me?

Each and every one of us, at our very core, is each of these three things. Vibrant, Energetic, Creative. We each have a wonderful capability to accomplish many great things and do them all with an abundance of energy. No one was short changed in terms of their ability to have a energetic soul. That's our gift.

Now, why are you so darn worn out?

We'll, you're probably eating the wrong foods.

There's a way to release that spectacular spirit and live an enriched and energized life… eating the right foods is the first place to start.

In Part 1, "Fighting Fatigue and the American Diner Diet, " of this series, I discussed listening to your body and how important it is to hear the things it tells you after you eat certain foods. In my case, I ate a fried tofu wrap and then passed out at my computer 20 minutes later. You've probably had a similar experience.

When you can recognize how your food affects you and this process becomes a habit, you will begin to identify the particular foods bring your energy levels down. Practice listening to your body for a few weeks and I guarantee that you'll have a similar list to the foods I've listed here:

- Fried Anything
- Pancakes
- Sausage, Bacon
- Large portions of meat
- Coffee (Don't be fooled, if it didn't bring you down you wouldn't need
  another cup!)
- Potato Chips, Corn Chips, Crackers, Other Snacks.
- Sweets, Candies, Pies (after the sugar high wears off)

It doesn't take much to deplete your energy. Eat a large fry from McDonalds and you'll understand what I'm telling you. The nutrient balance in your body is easy to upset. A few days of eating energy-starving foods like the ones I listed above and you're feeling pretty lame--probably propped up on the couch after work because you're whipped after only a half-day of work.

So how does this apply to the "energetic, vibrant and creative person" I was talking about?

Well, when you have some or many of these energy-starving foods in your diet, your energy levels drop significantly. Your body is not getting enough nutrients to function at an efficient level. It starts to move into crisis mode and stores energy and nutrient reserves for later so that you will be able to use them in case of an emergency.

This is pretty serious stuff on the physical level. Your body is hoarding nutrients, water, and whatever else it needs and making sure you don't use everything up all at once. So what happens to you? You fall asleep after a meal. You don't have enough energy to make it through the day. You name it… your body is doing it.

The scary thing is that once that has happened over a period of time, something psychological begins to happen.

Instead of THINKING that you have low energy, you begin to BELIEVE that you ARE a tired person, that you ARE a lazy person, that you ARE the type of person that doesn't have any energy. Getting down on yourself and believing you ARE the things that your food is causing you to be is a challenging battle to fight and is probably why many people experience failure with their diets and exercise programs. They truly believe that they are what their food is making them.

You're actually none of these things. You are a vibrant, energetic and creative being, remember? It's just the fuel that you are taking in that is making you sputter. Think about the effect sugar has on a car engine. It stops it from running.

If you're putting sugars and bad oils and other toxins into your tank, your engine is going to jump and clunk and spit--just like any old car would. If you're putting in the high-grade fuel--energy rich foods--than you are burning them efficiently and are rewarded with the by-product of boundless energy.

No more 2:00 blues. No more waking up more tired than you were when you hit the sack. No more "I'm a tired person." Your confidence grows. You feel good about yourself.