20 Ways to Fight Tiredness

On daily basis millions of people complain of being tired.  The most popular reason is having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Huh, huh. I hear this all the time. But the culprit is not about not being able to prioritise the so called ‘too much to do’ bit,  the real problems revolve round our daily living habits such as what we eat, how we sleep, and  how we cope with life stressors.  There are some simple rebooting alterations that can help you fight all the energy drainers in your life.  We identified twenty in total. Too many? Not really. You will smile reading through many of them because they sound oh so familiar.

Invigorate Your Diet

Why is it that filling up on pasta meal or Chinese food for lunch leaves us snackish and sleepy an hour later? Or why is it that dehydration makes us forgetful and foggy headed? The fact remains that eating habits play a strong role in how great we function on every angle. Find below six fatigue-fighting diet strategies to chew on.

1. Eat your breakfast.  Put some food in your stomach in the morning even if you’re not hungry. You'll be a lot livelier. This is backed scientifically that people who eat breakfast feel better both mentally and physically than those who skip their morning meal. Eating just a bowl of breakfast cereal (the less sugar variety), or corn porridge, every morning is associated with lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

2. Eat every three to four hours. Having three smallish meals and two snacks throughout the day can keep your blood sugar and energy levels stable all day long. For those who like supersized meals, go easy as large portion meals require more energy to digest which can leave you feeling sluggish. For the three smallish meals, eat a mixture of carbohydrates, protein, and healthy fats like those found in fish, nuts, and olives. These healthy fats and protein add to meal satisfaction, so you don't go looking for sweets an hour later ending with a short-lived sugar high and subsequent crash. A few meal ideas: Breakfast: a low-fat yogurt and four tablespoon of unsweetened muesli (a mix of rolled oats, sultanas, flakes, hazel nuts and almond nuts). Lunch: pepper sauced flaked grilled mackerel over mixed green salad with little steamed or boiled basmati rice. Dinner: Chicken breast with boiled sweet potatoes and mixed vegetables of carrot, cabbage and spinach. 

3. Eat more fibre to fill up. Fiber has a time-releasing effect on carbs, so they enter your bloodstream at a gentle and stable pace, giving your energy staying power. When choosing your small meals and two snacks, be sure to include fiber-filled options that add up to the daily recommended 25 to 30 grams of fiber. Some suggestions: a bowl of raisin bran (5 grams of fiber per cup); stewed beans and corn (beans have 7.5 grams per 1/2 cup; corn probably about 4 grams); air-popped popcorn (3.6 grams per 3 cups); an apple with the skin (3.3 grams); and whole-wheat spaghetti (6.3 grams per cup).

4. Energise your brain with omega-3s. Present in fatty fish (such as mackerel, sardines, tuna and salmon), walnuts, almonds, and canola oil, these essential fatty acids play a role in energising your brain and helping you feel mentally alert. An extra benefit: Omega-3s encourage the body to store carbs as glycogen rather than as fat. 

5. Stay hydrated. Water makes up the majority of your blood and other body fluids, and even mild dehydration can cause blood to thicken, forcing the heart to pump harder to carry blood to your cells and organs, and resulting in tiredness. In addition, plenty fluids keep energy-fueling nutrients flowing throughout the body. To know your hydration level, it’s recommended that you monitor how often you urinate. The ideal is to go every two to four hours and your urine should be clear or pale yellow in color. Besides drinking more water, you can also consume foods that naturally contain water like cucumber, tomatoes, watermelons, oranges, grapefruits, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and yogurt.

6. Go easy on coffee after noon.  Typically, consuming a moderate amount of caffeine, 200 to 300 mg, the amount found in two to three cups of coffee, can make you more active and attentive in the hours following. But when caffeine is consumed in large quantities, or anytime in the afternoon or evening, the quality of your sleep that night can take a nosedive, leaving you with heavy eyelids the next day. From experience, this advice is spot on.  I love coffee. It’s my favourite beverage. I call it my ‘pick- me- up’. But on days that I’m writing late into the night (say about 7pm) and need a little ‘kick’, I go for another cup of coffee.  I know I shouldn’t really, but I do anyway.  Of course I pay for it because my sleep that night is anything but restful, waking up groggy the next morning. 

Invigorate Your Inner- Self

We have all experienced physical exhaustion, but emotional tension such as  sadness, boredom, anxiety, anger, and general stress (the whopper)  can reduce your vitality totally tiring you out. You’ve got to live life, along with these difficult emotional tensions.  However, if you react with wisdom, your brain and body will recover together with your energy and verve. Find below eight fatigue-fighting strategies for your inner-self.

1. Go for water therapy. Splash some water on your face or take a shower when you're feeling flat out. Studies show that people use water therapy to invigorate their energy.  Obviously a little water refresher can immediately help take the edge off when you’re feeling out of your depths.  If a shower is not immediately available, splash some cold water on your face, or dip a face towel in ice water, squeeze the water out and spread on your face. Works magic.

2. Dress powerfully to lift the spirit. I find that in the mornings when I’m feeling tired and dread going to the office, wearing an outfit I love reduces my earlier inertia.  So you just bought that skirt suit you’ve been saving for that special annual general meeting, this is the time to bring it out.  It helps to look in the mirror and see the image of a go-getter, and not the depressing one that endorses and supports your inner state. A powerful dressing will give you a mental lift anytime you catch a glimpse of your reflection, or receive a positive compliment.  Honestly, try this, it works.

3. Open up. Piling up anxiety, fear and stress inside may seem like a matured way to deal with these emotions. But the truth is that discussing  negative feelings with another person can ease them far better than keeping them pent up inside. By disclosing them you lessen their potential for sapping your stamina.

4. Play some music. Listening to music is one of the most effective ways to change a bad mood, decrease tension, and increase energy. Runners in one study who listened to music while on the treadmill ran faster than those who jogged in silence, no matter how loud the volume or how fast the tempo. Music effectively distracts you from feeling fatigue. Anytime you need a pick-me-up, try playing a CD of your favourite songs. If you exercise, so much the better, but the music will make you feel good either way. 

5. Learn to forgive. Having a grudge prods your mind and body to react as if they're under chronic stress, surging your heart rate, blood pressure, and possibly resulting in a weakened immune system and exhaustion over time, according to a study. On the other hand, showing compassion and forgiveness after you've been hurt gives you a feeling of being back in control, which curbs the body's stress responses. So whenever you harbor ill feelings, repeat a stress-relieving mantra to yourself, such as, ‘I am happier and stronger when I forgive’.

6. Take deep breaths. We are likely to take short, shallow breaths -‘chest breaths’- when we’re stressed. Chest breaths function with less air into the lungs, which decreases the supply of energizing oxygen to the body and brain, ultimately leaving you physically and mentally exhausted. The aim is deep, diaphragmatic breathing similar to an infant sleeping.  When you breathe in, your belly should be round and fill like a balloon, and on breathing out your belly should slowly deflate. Of course, remembering to practice deep breathing isn't the first thing on your mind when someone is pointing a gun at your head, therefore place a tranquil visual such as a waterfall or ocean or your children smiling with the words ‘chill and breathe’  next to your computer, or  anywhere you’re vulnerable to tension. 

7. Arrange your space. Nothing makes you want to scream than a cluttered office desk, house or bedroom. Re-arrange that mountain pile of papers or congested closet and clear it out. Clutter can make you feel out of control and overwhelmed, especially when you're already feeling stressed or down. Plus, the fact that you’ve accomplished a goal no matter how small can be invigorating.

8. Do some good. Acts of selflessness can put a little spring to your footsteps. For instance voluntary work, pro bono, can boost your energy in six ways, according to a study: It stimulates happiness, life satisfaction, self-worth, sense of control over life, physical health, and mood. So it’s not a bad idea to volunteer, short or long term, your expertise to charitable organisations.

Invigorate Your Rest Time

When you have your hands full (huh, huh…forever), normally the first casualty is restful sleep. But lack of restful sleep dissipates your energy, positivity, productivity, and memory. Millions of adults are not getting enough rest, leading to a breakout of daytime drowsiness, according to a research. The key to kicking this drift is to improve on sleep triggers. Try these seven steps for starters.

1. Reduce TV and Computer use after 8 p.m. If you're already someone who goes to bed late and sleep in on weekends, the bright illumination from television and computer screens can make falling asleep at a decent hour more difficult.  This is because light suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone secreted at sunset that tells the brain that it's nighttime. And when melatonin levels are low, your brain is fooled into thinking that it's still daytime and stays active. If there’s need to use light releasing technology at night, try to log off an hour or two before going to bed. 

2. Put Away your alarm clock. Watching the clock to see how long it's taking you to drift off or how much time remains before your alarm goes off can result in a poor night's sleep.  This agitated monitoring keeps the brain awake and alert and prevents you from slipping into deep, healing sleep.  What to do? Set your alarm clock, then either face the clock away from you or put it on the floor, in a drawer, or across the room.

3. Make Your Room Comfortable. For a good night's sleep, make sure your room is comfortably cool enough so that you need a light cover or blanket. This ensures that your environment is in sync with your body's internal temperature, which naturally drops during the night  Studies suggest the ideal sleeping temperature is between 54 and 75 degrees; anything cooler or warmer may give you a sleepless night. 

4. Avoid late night alcohol. Alcohol depresses the nervous system. So while sipping a glass of wine before bed may help you doze off, the sedative effects wear off as your body metabolises the alcohol, which may cause you to wake up in the middle of the night and find it difficult to fall back to sleep. Alcohol has also been shown to interfere with the body's natural 24-hour biorhythms, causing blood pressure to rise and heart rate to race at night when it's normally calm and relaxed. You don't have to give up that evening cocktail entirely to achieve sound sleep, just try to avoid alcohol within two to three hours of bedtime. 

5. Get your exercise. While scientists don't yet understand why aerobic exercise has been proved to help you fall asleep faster at bedtime, spend more hours in deep sleep, and wake up less often throughout the night. At the same time, vigorous exercise can act like a stimulant, which is a great daytime energizer, so plan your workouts for morning or afternoon when you need a boost the most.

6. Tune your body to sleep. Follow the 15-minute rule. If you can't fall asleep, or if you wake up and can't get back to sleep within about 15 minutes, get out of bed and do something relaxing that will help clear your head, such as reading, praying or meditating, but not watching TV or chatting to your friend on Social Media. Then, once you feel sleepy again, go back to bed. If you stay put and fret about being awake, you'll only make yourself more anxious and less likely to catch the sleep you need. 

Photo Credit: Creative Commons.