Emily’s Corner
8 Reasons You’re Always Tired
1. You skipped your exercise
Skipping your workout to save energy actually works against you. In a University of Georgia study, sedentary but otherwise healthy adults who began exercising lightly three days a week for as little as 20 minutes at a time reported feeling less fatigued and more energized after six weeks. Regular exercise boosts strength and endurance, helps make your cardiovascular system run more efficiently, and delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues.
2. You don’t drink enough water
Amy Goodson, RD, a dietitian for Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine center says that dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume which makes the blood thicker. This requires your heart to pump less efficiently, reducing the speed at which oxygen and nutrients reach your muscles and organs. To calculate your normal fluid needs, take your weight in pounds, divide in half and drink that number of ounces of fluid per day.
3. You live on junk food
Foods loaded with sugar and simple carbs (like the ones you’ll find in a box or at the drive- thru window) rank high on the glycemic index (GI), an indicator of how rapidly carbohydrates increase blood sugar. Constant blood sugar spikes followed by sharp drops cause fatigue over the course of the day.
4. You have trouble saying no
People-pleasing often comes at the expense of your own energy and happiness. To make matters worse, it can make you resentful and angry over time. So whether it’s your kid’s coach asking you to help coach his soccer team or your boss seeing if you can work on a Saturday, you don’t have to say yes. Train yourself to say ‘no’ out loud, suggests Susan Albers, a licensed clinical psychologist with the Cleveland Clinic.
5. You have a few drinks before bed
A nightcap sounds like a good way to unwind before falling asleep, but it can easily backfire. Alcohol initially depresses the central nervous system, producing a sedative effect but it ultimately sabotages sleep maintenance. Alcohol creates a rebound effect as it’s metabolized, which creates an abrupt surge in the adrenaline system. This is why you’re more likely to wake up in the middle of the night after you’ve been drinking.
6. You check texts before bedtime
The glaring light of a tablet, smartphone, or your computer’s backlit screen can throw off your body’s natural circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles. Sensitivity to the digital glow of tech toys can vary from person to person, but in general it’s a good idea to avoid all technology for one to two hours before bedtime.
7. You stay up late on weekends.
Burning the midnight oil on Saturday night and then sleeping in Sunday morning leads to difficulty falling asleep Sunday night—and then a sleep-deprived Monday morning. Since staying in can cramp your social life, try to wake up close to your normal time the following morning, and then take a power nap in the afternoon. “Napping for 20 minutes or so allows the body to recharge without entering the deeper stages of sleep, which can cause you to wake up more tired.
8. You have a messy desk
A cluttered desk mentally exhausts you by restricting your ability to focus and it limits your brain’s ability to process information, according to a Princeton University study. At the end of each day, make sure your work and personal items are organized and put away. This will help you have a more positive and productive start to your day the next morning.
