Simple Steps to Improve Fatigue
Simple Steps to Improve Fatigue
You are not alone with this problem. It happens to most of us and it can derail your life. Fatigue and low-energy are some of the most common health complaints I see in my practice. You can improve your fatigue!
1. Timing – Are you fatigued only when you wake up in the morning? This might indicate you have sleep apnea, and you will need to see your regular doctor or licensed medical provider for a conversation about sleep apnea, even if you have a normal body weight.
2. Only tired in the afternoons? You may have imbalanced blood sugar, even if you are not a diabetic. Our blood glucose, or blood sugar, will spike after eating lunch, and then fall after a few hours, which is normal if you eat carbohydrates. If this process causes your blood sugar to raise too high, this can trigger fatigue and sleepiness. What causes this? You might be eating too much for lunch, or maybe eating too many starchy carbs (bread, pasta, potatoes, sugar.) Cut back on a few bites of your starchy carbs at lunch. Cut out the breaded or fried foods and eat a little more protein (meat, fish, nuts/legumes, or dairy). This might help you feel full longer and help with sugar cravings in the mid-to late afternoon too.
(for ideas on healthy fat and healthy protein options - see blog on Struggle with Sugar Cravings?)
3. Fatigued all day long, but then wired but tired in the later afternoon or evening? This might be due to chronic high stress and blood sugar imbalances together. Consider stress management ideas along with eating a lower-carb diet, and gradually limiting caffeine during the mid-late afternoon. Improving your resilience to high stress might include meditation or deep breathing techniques for a few minutes once or twice a day. It only takes about 10 minutes a day to improve your body’s brain-stress response system.
Most people with fatigue will use caffeine to “kick-start” their energy. This becomes a vicious cycle of fatigue-caffeine use-fatigue-more caffeine use to get through your day.
(for ideas on how to cut back on caffeine - see blog on Struggle with Caffeine?)
(for ideas on how to manage stress, and tips on reducing your stress response – see blog on Struggle with Chronic Stress?)
4. Finally, you might be fatigued because you are actually dehydrated. Seriously, how much plain water are you drinking every day? Track this for a few days. Ideally, you should drink approximately ½ your body weight in ounces of plain water daily. If you have a heart condition, called heart failure or congestive heart failure, or if you have chronic lower leg swelling, please check with your medical provider on exactly how much water you need daily.
Consider drinking a few extra glasses of plain water daily, and see how you feel. Our brain gets dehydrated easily, which can contribute to fatigue. Drinking coffee and tea (any kind) doesn’t count as water. It needs to be plain water, no additives, no flavoring drops, etc.
Now, these ideas may not seem “simple” but they are doable. I’ve seen these steps help dozens of patients. Changing habits is hard, and cutting back on things like your favorite caffeine drink is not fun. But if you want your energy back, these are first steps to help yourself in the long-run.
The good news is improving your fatigue typically helps you sleep better, which can help you improve your chronic stress, and may help with weight loss or other physical/emotional symptoms.
Next steps? Contact me to help you through this process.
I’m here for you, to help you improve your fatigue, so you can take back your life and your health!