Issue Date: September 28, 2003

Also this week: Mitochondria: Our body's energy engine Regaining energy lost to illness Health Briefs: Surgery and depression, ADHD, more ... Also see: America's Happiest Man from the archive America's Most Attractive Woman from the archive

ENERGY

Meet America's Most Energetic Couple

And learn the 15 proven tips our experts prescribe to pack more oomph into every day. You can rev up, too!

By Dennis McCafferty

How we found them: In the tradition of two previous special health reports, USA WEEKEND Magazine set off on a quest: to find America's Most Energetic Couple and explore natural ways that even they -- and you, too -- can cultivate more energy in life. First, we needed to ID America's most energetic city. The leading expert on these things, Bert Sperling of Sperling's BestPlaces (www.bestplaces.net), crunched data and pinpointed Charlottesville, Va. Its residents are much more active and healthy and much less apt to smoke, drink and eat fast food than average Americans. Then we scoured Charlottesville fitness centers and civic groups for the city's most well-rounded, energetic couples. The top candidates took the scientific Jackson Personality Inventory-Energy Level Scale test from Sigma Assessment Systems, a psychological-assessment consulting company. Finally, we found them. America, meet your Most Energetic Couple, Tim and Susie Burgess. Check out America's Happiest Man and America's Most Attractive Woman -- and learn to be your best in those arenas, too.

Frankly, we got tired just listening to everything this Virginia duo crams into their busy lives. Tim Burgess, 40, is chef and owner of three restaurants. Susie, 42, gets up at 4:30 a.m. to train for triathlons. You'll see the couple walking their five kids -- ages 6 to 12 -- to school while Tim chucks a football with them the whole way. Tim is on his mountain and road bikes all year, and he runs several times a week. He also volunteers as a coach in a city basketball league. All of this while balancing a work schedule that demands more than 50 hours a week.

In addition to taking care of their five kids, Susie volunteers at school, where she launched a fourth-grade running club to build self-esteem in children while addressing the youth obesity issue. She also reads to children at school. At home, she's passing along her love of good, healthful food to her children by cooking for the entire crew.

Could they be more energetic?

Yes! We proved it by getting Tim and Susie to spend two weeks this summer building 15 "secrets of energy" principles into their lives.

In this USA WEEKEND special issue on health, you'll read Tim and Susie's results, plus feedback from three of the nation's top energy experts on how the same steps can make all of us feel more energized. The experts are Robert Thayer, Ph.D., a psychologist at California State University in Long Beach and author of "Calm Energy: How People Regulate Their Mood With Food and Exercise"; Alan Hirsch, M.D., neurological director of the Chicago-based Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation and author of "Life's a Smelling Success"; and Ben Leichtling, Ph.D., a biochemistry/psychotherapy expert in Denver who consults with executives on their energy. Let's roll out the tips:

Susie: When it comes to sleeping, this is what we try to do every day anyway. But it always helps to better focus on this as a way to energize yourself. If I get a consistent routine when it comes to sleep, it helps me focus on what I need to do that day. I did take my every-15-minute breaks as well and found it very helpful. I focused on relaxing the muscles and getting rid of the tension there. I might have been standing at the kitchen sink for too long. I tend to just keep going and going and going, like the law of perpetual motion. So this helps. It's something I really need to keep doing.

Tim: And as far as removing work-related items from the bedroom goes, we're both very good at that. As crazy as the restaurant business is, I leave the business there once I'm done for the day.

Thayer: This is good, and it all speaks to principles that relate to sleep and relaxation techniques. I'm impressed that the two of you already know about the value of going to bed and waking up at regular times. The body likes regularity; it helps us sleep better. Obviously, when we sleep better, we have more energy.

As for removing those work items, this is important because, when people have work-related items in the bedroom, they focus on outside distractions that don't involve sleeping. Removing those items conditions them to recognize the bedroom as a place for sleep.

I also tell people to consider getting rid of the TV in the bedroom. The danger there is that people will get caught up in watching something and want to keep it going after the regular bedtime. Even if you try to sleep while your partner watches television, the light variations on the screen as the scenes change will work your retina like a light switch. It can cause problems.

With respect to taking breaks during the day, I'm glad that this worked out. But for those who feel that taking this kind of break every 15 minutes is too much, I tell them they can just do it occasionally throughout the day. People become more vulnerable to stress as energy declines, and that stress is a cause of tension. Stretching is important to relieve that tension, to avoid becoming one of those many people who have sore necks and backs and even jaws from grinding their teeth at night. All of this is related to tension, and stretching is a tension eliminator.

Tim: Now, neither of us really got much out of wearing red. After all, when you're wearing it, you can't see it. But we definitely have surrounded ourselves with the color. In my new restaurant, Bang, I intentionally made blood red the dominant color for the decor. The color is pure energy, and we wanted a high-energy place. To us, it's not what you wear, but what you surround yourself with.

Susie: We had a great time with the singing. I bought some Pink and played that. It's invigorating to sing. It makes you want to move.

Tim: It's a great liberator, too. I popped in something from the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It takes guts to sing in a car, because you're thinking someone is looking at you. But that goes away after a while.

Leichtling: That's wonderful. This is all about using sound and sight stimulus to increase your response system. You see strong colors, and you respond to them. In the case of red, we perceive it as a high-energy color. Other primary colors, like yellow, do this for us as well. And we're also very sensitive when it comes to auditory functions. What we hear sets our mood. Anyone who's watched a movie can see that. Try watching a film with the soundtrack removed and see how differently you perceive it.

In the car, music is especially effective because you're not paying attention to much of anything else. So the music -- especially when taking part with it by singing -- can lift your spirits. Red Hot Chili Peppers, rap music, whatever. As long as it's upbeat, it's impossible to resist the physiological effect.

Tim: I liked leaving my shoes at the door. It wasn't just about keeping mud and dirt from tracking inside the house. It left me with a reassuring feeling that it was the end of the day and time to relax. It was refreshing.

Susie: The bag in the car -- in our case, a Chevrolet Suburban -- was very helpful. I'll have my clutter in the front seat, with junk mail sliding everywhere, so we picked that up. Then I passed the bag behind me, and the kids went to work. I don't even like to look at what's in the third row, where the youngest ones sit. By the end, we collected everything in the bag: old sneakers, crayons, Lego pieces. Just removing all of that stuff was energizing.

With the groceries, we really got into this. It was a huge way to organize our lives. It took the pressure off, knowing that we wouldn't have to run to the store every other day. Because we knew we were only going to go once, we went to the healthier Whole Foods location that's a bit farther than the other stores, so that was another benefit.

Thayer: All of these steps speak to organizing your life and reducing clutter -- both in a literal and a "time clutter" sense. Things that normally get in our way, like dirt and trash and spot errands, are eliminated or greatly reduced. Now, you could take this to extremes and spend your whole life making lists of things to do. But by doing this in a reasonable way, I've found that people are less likely to get drained by the things in life that constantly need doing.

Tim: As a chef, I savor any time I get to spend with plants. I've actually already been doing this seriously for three years now. This is the first year that my blackberries are producing, and it just gives me such joy. It's an awakening, really. If only everything I ate could come from a process like this.

Susie: You don't have to convince us about pets, either. We have lots of them. We like the chaos, and, for me, my pets signify that I can be with a creature that provides a lot of soothing comfort.

Leichtling: That's good to hear. These principles speak to how nurturing can be a source of energy. When you have a pet, you focus on it instead of on the aggravation in life. We thrive on touch, and this is a way to get it without spending a lot of energy. If you don't have a pet, you still can make time for this kind of interaction. You can volunteer as a dog walker at a local shelter, for example, or volunteer at a humane society.

Gardening is another way to nurture while getting touch therapy. You get down and do it yourself, and you get a tangible result. So many people have jobs where results aren't tangible. But, as Tim has discovered, with gardening you get down into the ground and work with the plant, and, before long, blackberries come up. You did it, and you get to eat it. Few activities do as much to lift our spirits.

Susie: We grow mint, and the smell and taste are invigorating. I tried eating the candy and found that it's a temporary pickup. It enlivens the senses for a moment.

Tim: I like it, though. I'll pop them into my mouth when I'm out and about. And the jasmine is a great mood enhancer. It's one of the best smells anywhere. It's a clean, purified feeling.

Hirsch: You're finding, as others discover, that these smells and tastes signal the beta waves in the brain to be more alert. It's like an alarm clock in the brain, but without the rebounding, "drag you down" effect of too much caffeine. Peppermint, I find, has the added olfactory benefit of recalling your childhood. You eat it and think back to a pleasant memory, perhaps eating candy canes on Christmas, and it adds vitality to your day in a subconscious way.

Tim: You don't have to convince us about the water. On a hot day, dehydration will bring you down more than anything.

Susie: I don't go anywhere without my water bottle. It doesn't matter if I'm training for a triathlon or just in the kitchen. The small meals are important, too. A big meal feels like you just eat a load and you want to crash. After a small meal, I feel like I can do anything, like a bike ride.

Tim: Small, healthful meals are fuel -- take a fuel stop, then go. It's like a habit now, as if our stomachs have shrunk. We don't think we could eat a huge meal now if we wanted to. As far as exercise, we're obviously buying into that. For me, it's like meditation to be on a bike for an hour, or running. I'm clearing my head at 140 beats per minute. If I miss it, I don't like that. I need it. Everything about it invigorates me: the sweating, the showering, and then going back to work and feeling 10 times better.

Thayer: These are accepted principles of energy-building -- exercise and proper nutrition. The small meals allow you to sustain energy over a longer time, as opposed to having it arrive in peaks and valleys. As for the water, the 48- to 64-ounce figure is widely held among health experts. There is some thought that this much may not be necessary. But the alternative -- dehydration -- is clearly something to avoid. Scientifically, we know your system will shut down.

Exercise is something that many people -- obviously not Tim and Susie -- struggle to fit into their day. The important thing is to be consistent about it. Tim and Susie's routines may be intimidating to many readers. They may reason that they can't possibly do what they do, so why bother at all? But this wouldn't be the right conclusion.

If you maintain moderate activity through the day, you'll see results. Take the stairs instead of elevators. Park farther away from the grocery store instead of up close. Get up and talk to a co-worker instead of e-mailing him. When you exercise, seek the routine that's enjoyable to you and doesn't drain you entirely. What's most important is sustained activity over time, not a "gut buster" workout that takes so much out of you that you don't want to do it again.

Credit for our 15 energy "secrets": Prevention Health Books; Jim Loehr of Florida-based LGE Performance Systems; Robert Thayer; Alan Hedge, Ph.D., of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.; Cheryl Dellasega, Ph.D., of Penn State University; and the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation.

Cover and cover story photographs by KATHERINE LAMBERT for USA WEEKEND. Styling by LORI CALEDONIA.