Energy

I find my most productive hours of my day are in the early morning hours.  As the day goes on, my energy starts to fade and wane.  With a sedentary job, I find it a challenge at times to maintain the energy I need to stay awake and alert.  When my eyes are getting too heavy, I log out for 20 minutes and take a short nap at the computer if I need to and then I am ready to go again.  

I would occasionally drink pop for the caffeine and then switched to diet to still have the caffeine content without the calories.  I recently found another alternative to pop with a high caffeine content - flavored water.  This "Great Value" brand from Walmart contains packets that come in an assortment of various fruity flavors.  One packet gets added to 16 ounces of water and I much prefer the taste of this to pop.  Each 16 oz water/1 packet is equivalent to the caffeine content in about 2 cans of pop.  

Quite a while ago my mom introduced me to no bake energy bites, a healthy snack that I have found really can fill you up for a while and appeals to cravings for both something sweet and savory along with adding in a variety of textures using simple ingredients. 

Here's the recipe:
1 cup oatmeal
2/3 cup coconut
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup flax seeds
1/3 cup honey 
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir all ingredients together.  Chill for 1/2 hour in the refrigerator.  Roll into balls.  Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.  Lasts up to 1 week.