I work out in the mornings and it starts my day off right.  It gives me quite an energy boost and then it's out of the way.  Plus you only have to shower once a day.  :-)  As for caffeine, I'm with Marc on this one.  A headache or even a migraine is alleviated when I have caffeine.  Excedrin and Anacin both contain caffeine.

Hi Marc - I've been told the exact opposite. If you get migraines, cut the caffeine. Caffeine makes my migraines worse and makes me dehydrated which prolongs my migraines.

Any kind of activity, such as workout gives energy.. but,I also suffer from migraines and my doctor told me to assume all the coffee that I can.. for caffiene would help with migraines.. I  have always drunk large amounts of coffee throughout my life and when I feel a migraine coming on, I will drink coffee and it does releive it..Am i right in doing so?

Do you take vitamin supplements? What is your protein intake?  Many people do better on a higher protein diet as opposed to carbs.  I recently switched my vitamins to a differnt brand and I find I have a lot more energy.

I am having the same problem, and I actually just posted a similar question about whether or not it's normal to feel fatigue after working out - I only just started working out hard core and I'm a little surprised by how tired I get. I love coffee and I hate it - it messes with my sleep patterns and my stomach, but it's comforting and gives such a nice boost it's hard to give it up. I'm trying green tea but it's hard to switch. In terms of naps, I've read that they are OK but only as long as you don't sleep longer than 20 minutes since that will mess with your ability to get a good night's rest later on.

I've always been told by my physical trainer that a lot of maintaining energy is managing your caloric burn rate. Which means figuring out how much you burn throughout the day and adjusting how much and how often/how much you eat to make up for it. Coffee is often detrimental to that process, by just postponing the immediate need for calories. It sounds like you might start with getting enough protein in the morning to sustain you through lunch, with intermittent carb intake to keep the energy up?

Choosing the best time to exercise is very individual. There are differing opinions on whether morning, afternoon or evening is the most effective at increasing energy. As well, there are many factors that contribute to energy level. When it comes to exercise, and picking a time to get it in, my recommendation is choose the time of day that make sense for you. As KarmaNeutral said, if you're not a morning person you'll be less motivated to actually give yourself a good workout. Similarly, some people feel that an evening workout gives them too much energy to get a good night's sleep. Try out some different schedules and see which fits best with you. It might help to note that I recently read our bodies were designed for an afternoon siesta - I'm not complaining about that ;) http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/4105

I too struggle with keeping my energy up throughout the day. I've tried for years to force myself to do my workouts in the morning but, after comparing the results of morning vs. evening workouts and realizing that I just perform better and feel better exercising in the evening, I've finally owned up to the fact that I am simply NOT a morning person.Perhaps you could experiment a little and record the results. One tool that I've found useful (and fun) for tracking cause and effect for my energy is morale-o-meter (http://morale.erikbenson.com)My naturopath has encouraged me to replace my beloved double americanos (2/day) with yerba mate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mate) to help keep me rolling during the post-lunch sleepies. I tried it for a while and even bought the cute little gourd and straw but the bean proved too seductive so I'm back on the coffee.A friend makes tea from candied ginger and swears it helps her sustain her energy throughout the day. I tried it and it's delicious but I didn't notice any uptick in energy.