"What is it now"? She wondered. It was that charming boutique her friends had marched her to last month. Oh, she remembered that day. It had been torture. Her feet felt like they were being smashed with a steam roller at every step. She was too tired to really focus on the clothes. Everything was a blur, and all she really wanted was to collapse in a coffee shop and sink her teeth into a big Danish, but her friends just kept chatting merrily, and marching on and on from one store to the next, hour after interminable hour. Didn't they ever get tired or hungry? I mean, that day had added new meaning to 'shop 'till you drop'.

Now the boutique owner wanted her to come down and pick up the sweater she'd ordered. It was the third time she'd called and she was getting a bit irate. Michelle told her she'd be in after lunch, then hung up and waded back through the clothes to fall back onto the couch. Why did gravity seem so much stronger for her? How did other people stay upright for so long at a time?

Any way, she had to go pick up that sweater. The boutique belonged to her friend's sister, and she didn't want her to start complaining about her. Let's see, she needed to wash her hair before she left. She remembered that she'd been out of shampoo since the weekend. How was she supposed to go out and buy shampoo without washing her hair? And where was that green skirt? Oh, right, it had a tomato stain and was in a pile under the bed. Where to start? She reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.

Sound familiar? Michelle is a victim of chronic fatigue, and it's rapidly leading to a bad case of depression. It wouldn't have to be this way. There's really nothing wrong with her. It's just that there are a few tricks to increasing energy that she hasn't discovered. One or two of them may not help her very much, but if she tries several at once, they will have a synergistic effect that could just change her life, and next time she goes out with her friends, she'll be the one talking them into going to just one more shop to find that perfect pair of shoes.

Here's a few of the things Michelle could try in order to infuse her days with energy and bounce.

EXERCISE

Michelle's metabolism is low. She needs to get her body woken up as quickly as possible in the morning. A short session of brisk aerobic exercise within 30 minutes of getting up would start things working faster and more efficiently. She could go for a walk or jog. That would be wonderful, but if it's too much trouble for her to find those running pants and get looking good enough to go out the front door, she could get a good workout DVD. I tried a yoga workout a few weeks ago that had morning and evening sessions. The morning workout was designed to raise the metabolism, and came in a 5 minute, 15 minute and 40 minute version to fit any schedule. It was great.

SLEEP

Did you know that sleep does more than twice as much good before midnight than after? If Michelle is going to bed after midnight, she may be getting enough hours, but she is still robbing herself of the energy she might have had if she turned off the light at, say 11:00.

Also, she might have sleep apnea. If she does, she isn't breathing deeply enough while she sleeps, or she may even stop breathing altogether several times during the night. If she wakes up coughing and choking, or gasping for air, she really needs to see a doctor. If it's a light case, a higher pillow, or sleeping in a reclining position may help.

FOOD

Too much sugar, empty starch, or dairy products could be putting a drag on Michelle's system. Or she might simply be eating too much. An increase in good old fruits and vegetables could do her a world of good.

There's also good chance her blood sugar is low most of the time. Did you know that when you eat is just as important as what and how much you eat? She might be a new person if she makes sure to get a good breakfast early in the day, and eats 5 or 6 small meals instead of 2 or 3 large ones.

Michelle would definitely benefit from keeping track of what she eats for a couple of days, and researching what she could do to improve her nutrition.

SUPPLEMENTS

There are a zillion products out there that are supposed to help with energy levels, and I've tried a great many of them. I've settled on two products that I can't live without, and I'm confident they would help Michelle as well.

The first is a simple, honest vitamin and mineral supplement. It's important that this be balanced. Some of the less expensive drug store varieties are so imbalanced, and in such low quantities, they might as well be a placebo.

Studies have shown that about 80% of what we take in pill or capsule form actually just goes out the other end. More and more companies have started marketing a liquid vitamin and mineral supplement that is almost 100% absorbable. I would recommend a liquid preparation with a good balance of nutrients, including the trace minerals.

Another product Michelle needs is a real miracle of science. Did you know that protein is only allowed through cell walls in chains of 2 or 3 amino acids? If you eat a steak, the protein is in long chains of 20 or 30 amino acids, and is completely unusable. Your body has to break them down, and then put them together again, and most of the good ends up in your stool before it has a chance to be assimilated. It takes hours to go through that process and start to benefit from the protein in the steak.

Now you can go to any drug store or health food store, and get a white, tasteless powder that has the proteins broken down into the proper combination for your individual cells. It takes about 10 minutes to begin to feel energized and alert as every cell in your body gets a infusion of the building blocks it needs to repair itself and continue to function. Just go to a drugstore and ask for 'glutathione'.

COFFEE

I bet Michelle drinks a lot of coffee, or other caffeine filled drink. Her body is desperate for energy, and she feels a short boost of it with the caffeine. Trouble is, caffeine is an addictive drug, and she will feel even more fatigued every time it wears off. Now that she is addicted, she'll have horrible headaches if she quits. What's more, she associates the taste of coffee with that false energy boost, and would miss it horribly.

Then there's the little issue of the acid in the coffee. It has the pH balance in her body all off kilter, and makes her feel horrible all around. She would have to drink a whopping 17 glasses of water for each cup of coffee to neutralize the acid and relieve the dehydrating effects!

I've found one brand of coffee that solves these problems. It contains a Chinese mushroom called 'reishi' that absorbs the caffeine, neutralizes the acid, and provides over 200 nutrients including 150 antioxidants. It gives such a terrific boost of natural wholesome energy that the usual caffeine withdrawal headaches never occur.

Exercise; sleep; food; supplements; coffee; It's a lot to think about, but I can just imagine seeing Michelle one morning with a clean house, organized and already dressed for the day. She has a light in her eye and a spring in her step that says "Watch out, world, here I come!" I think the extra effort will have been worth it for her.

What would it be worth for you to be able to look back and remember, "Yeah, I used to be tired a lot"? You are the only person in the world that has the power to change how you feel. Don't let another day go by without taking some action.