If you feel worn out with fatigue, weak and tired, you may be suffering from fatigue. It is a common problem that can have many causes, including lack of sleep, stress, poor diet, dehydration, and obesity. In most of these cases, fatigue is easily resolved - it's all about taking better care of yourself. However, sometimes fatigue is a symptom of something more serious and medical attention will be needed. Start with step 1 for some useful information on how to increase your energy levels (and health in general) and beat fatigue.
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Making Positive Life Choices
Step 1. Increase your physical activity
While it's the last thing you want to do when you're already tired and weak, exercising often is one of the best ways to beat fatigue. Various researches have shown that those who exercise regularly are more active, energetic, and in general, are better off than those who do not.
- You don't have to spend an hour on the treadmill to feel the benefits of exercising - find an activity that you enjoy and that also gets you moving - try a dance class, martial arts, or take a bike ride with a friend.
- Not only does exercise make you more energetic, it makes you better overall by strengthening the heart, lungs and muscles. It also makes you happier, as it stimulates the production of the happiness hormone, endorphins.
- Yoga is said to be a particularly effective form of exercise for reducing fatigue. This is because yoga, thanks to its calm and meditative nature, can increase mental energies as well as physical ones.
Step 2. Reduce Stress
Anxiety, negative emotions, and stress in general can drain your energy levels. So, to effectively combat fatigue, you need to lower your stress.
- If your stress comes mostly from work, see to delegating some of the workload to your colleagues, or consider looking for a quieter job.
- If the stress comes from a difficult or demanding partner, talk to the person about it and discuss what your needs are in the relationship.
- Sometimes the stress comes from lack of time for me. If you think this is your case, then make time for yourself. Start an activity like yoga or meditation that will help you clear your mind and reduce stress.
Step 3. Drink more water
Dehydration is a common cause of fatigue and low energy levels, as well as poor concentration. Without a sufficient level of water in your body, the amount of blood reaching major organs (including the brain) is reduced, slowing them down.
- So, an easy step to combat fatigue is to drink more water every day. While 6 to 8 glasses is a good guideline, it's also important to listen to your body.
- One way to tell if you are dehydrated is to look at the color of your urine. If you are hydrated at the right level, it should be pale yellow. If it is darker, you are dehydrated.
- You can also increase the amount of water you ingest by drinking herbal tea and eating fruits and vegetables with a high water content, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, watermelon, and beets.
Step 4. Stop smoking
In general, smokers have less energy than non-smokers. Cigarettes contain an abundance of harmful substances that affect overall health and well-being.
- To be more precise, the body has to combine oxygen and glucose to make energy, but carbon monoxide from cigarettes depletes your body's oxygen levels, so making energy is more difficult.
- So, if you are a heavy smoker who has fatigue issues, the first step should be to quit smoking. It won't be easy, but your body will thank you! Find helpful quit smoking tips here.
Step 5. Reduce the amount of alcohol you drink
Even if you think a drink in the evening helps you relax or maybe even sleep, it can actually make you feel even more tired the next day.
- This is because alcohol prevents you from falling into a deep sleep, so you feel groggy and not at all rested when you wake up, even if you've been asleep for a full 8 hours.
- So, aim to drink less in the evening, and limit yourself to consuming 3-4 units of alcohol per day (men, 2-3 women)
Step 6. Lose weight
If you carry around a few extra pounds, you may feel sluggish and drained of energy. By simply losing some weight, you can increase your energy levels and improve your mood and quality of life.
- Make sure you lose weight safely and healthily - you can do this by decreasing your portion size (using smaller plates helps), eating a balanced diet, cutting out foods that are high in sugar and fat, and getting plenty of exercise.
- It is very important that you avoid traumatic diets, they would leave you even more fatigued than before. This is because diets with low carbohydrates and other very strict diets do not give the body enough energy for its needs, as well as deprive it of important nutrients and vitamins.
Method 2 of 4: Sleep Better
Step 1. Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night
It might seem obvious, but if you suffer from fatigue, the essential first step is to make sure you get enough sleep every night.
- It is estimated that two-thirds of people have trouble sleeping at some point in life, and these have negative effects on energy levels, mood and performance at work the next day.
- So it is important to go to bed at a reasonable time to ensure at least 7 or 8 hours of sleep.
- If you have trouble falling asleep (no matter how tired you are) there are several adjustments you can make to your night routine.
Step 2. Follow a sleep schedule
In addition to getting enough sleep, it's important that you try to go to sleep and wake up at about the same time every day (even on weekends).
- This helps set your internal clock on a regular schedule - e.g. if you go to sleep at 10 and wake up at 6 every day, your body will soon get used to this new schedule and you will naturally fall asleep at 10 and wake up refreshed. at 6 o'clock.
- However, if you have an irregular sleep schedule - you get up and go to bed at different times every day - your body will go out of sync and you may have trouble falling asleep at night and staying awake during the day.
Step 3. Make sure your room is comfortable
It is an important aspect, the room must be comfortable, relaxing, a space focused on sleeping.
- Make sure the temperature is adequate for sleeping - not too hot or too cold. Buy a fan or open the window if the room is stuffy, as sleeping in a room that's too hot doesn't make you rest well.
- Try to eliminate all light sources - the window, electric lights and any flashing LEDs on alarm clocks, televisions or other appliances. If you don't want to turn them off, cover them with a thick cloth.
- Minimize noise as much as possible. Close the door to the room and ask whoever is still awake to keep the TV volume low. If you find it difficult to get rid of the noise coming from the street, think about buying a car that makes white noise or put on some ambient music.
Step 4. Do not drink caffeine for at least 5 hours before going to sleep
While a cup of coffee every now and then helps fight daytime fatigue, drinking too much or drinking it just before bed can have negative effects on your sleep..
- Some people don't realize the effect of caffeine on their sleep quality and overall energy levels. To understand this, gradually eliminate coffee and caffeinated drinks (black tea, cola and all energy drinks) from your diet over a three week period and see if you feel more energetic.
- Even if you seem to have a high tolerance for caffeine and don't want to give up your morning coffee, it's a good idea to drop all caffeinated drinks at least 5 hours before bed. Try the decaffeinated version instead.
Step 5. Avoid using technology before bedtime
While it seems like a good idea to watch TV, play games, or surf the web to relax before bed, these activities can do more harm than good.
- The bright lights reproduced by these devices fool the brain into believing it is daytime, preventing your body from producing the hormones (melatonin of all) responsible for inducing sleep.
- Also, watching TV series or action, horror or thriller movies before bed causes your heart rate to increase, which then stimulates your body and brain, making sleep impossible.
- Hence, you should make the effort to turn off all technological appliances at least an hour before bed and do a more relaxing activity instead. Try reading a book (but not from a backlit e-reader), meditating, or listening to music.
Step 6. Take a warm bath
Doing this before bed is said to be very effective in making you sleepy, for two main reasons:
- First, a warm bath helps you relax and forget the stresses and worries of the day - which are often the causes that keep you awake at night. Second, the increase in body temperature (while in the tub) followed by the rapid decrease of the body temperature (when you leave) mimics the work of the body-cooling hormones released by the brain when you fall asleep.
- Take a bath for at least 20-30 minutes before going to bed, and try to keep the water temperature at 38 degrees, or as hot as you can without getting burned!
- Add aromatic essential oils, such as lavender or chamomile, to the water, light candles and play soothing music to increase the effect even more.
Step 7. If necessary, take a nap
If you are feeling really exhausted all day, consider taking a short nap, as it can have fantastic effects on your energy levels. It must be short and intense, however, from 10 to 30 minutes maximum.
- If you fall asleep for too long, you may wake up fatigued and then have trouble sleeping at night. A short, intense nap, however, can increase your energy and make you feel more awake and productive.
- Also, try having a cup of coffee and a snack after your nap for extra energy.
Method 3 of 4: Improve Your Diet
Step 1. Make healthy food choices
Eating a healthy, balanced diet will give you more energy and prevent you from feeling sluggish and fatigued.
- Therefore, you should increase healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole foods, low-fat dairy and lean meats in your diet.
- On the other hand, you have to decrease the consumption of not so healthy foods such as those with a lot of salt, sugar and fat.
Step 2. Eat foods rich in iron
Fatigue is often caused by anemia, which is a deficiency in red blood cells often caused by a lack of iron in the diet.
- Eating more iron-rich foods can help settle the red blood cell levels in your system, so try to eat more lean meats, tofu, shellfish, beans, and seeds.
- Alternatively, you can take a ferrous supplement, but talk to your doctor first
Step 3. Eat Omega-3s
They are fatty acids that have been shown to increase clarity and energy levels, as well as have numerous other beneficial effects.
- The human body naturally produces Omega-3s, so it's important to include foods that contain them in your diet. You can do this by eating fatty fish such as salmon, tuna or mackerel.
- If you don't like fish, you can also find omega-3s in walnuts and flax seeds, or you can take a fish oil supplement..
Step 4. Don't skip meals or overeat
Your energy levels are closely related to your blood sugar levels, which can spike or drop depending on how much you eat.
- Eating too much will cause your blood sugars to spike, which may drain your energy and leave you drowsy. Instead of three large meals a day, try eating six small ones to spread the calorie gain throughout the day.
- Eating little or skipping meals throughout the day will cause your blood sugar levels to drop, leaving you weak and without energy. Always have breakfast (even a cereal bar is better than none) and eat low-fat fruit or yogurt when you feel a little hungry.
Method 4 of 4: Health Problems
Step 1. Beware of medicines
Some can cause drowsiness and fatigue. These include:
- Antihistamines, diuretics and many blood pressure medications, among others.
- If you think your medications are causing fatigue, talk to your doctor. He may be able to change by giving you an alternative that doesn't make you feel sleepy,
Step 2. Deal with depression fatigue
Sometimes fatigue is related to depression - both because the former is a symptom of the latter and because the depressed person cannot sleep.
If you are feeling depressed, talk to a doctor and know that there are a number of effective treatments, such as getting treatment from a professional or cognitive behavior therapy
Step 3. See a doctor if you think fatigue is a symptom of something else
Sometimes fatigue is just a symptom of more serious problems, such as diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, sleep apnea, arthritis, and heart disease.
- If you think this is the case, or you notice any other symptoms, go to your doctor right away.
- The sooner these problems can be diagnosed, the sooner treatment can begin.
Advice
- Sleep helps reinvigorate your metabolism and allows the body to repair tissues.
- Rest a lot; muscles grow more when you rest more. A balance between exercise and rest is crucial for muscle growth and fat oxidation.
- Exercise to combat fatigue.
- Good hydration ensures a good metabolism, as water is a good catalyst for bodily functions.
- Control your appetite with hunger suppressants.
- Avoid stressful jobs and situations that could hinder your sleep.
- Stick to your sleep regimen and keep doing it regardless of what happens.
Warnings
- Never drink too much caffeine just to combat fatigue.
- Find a fitness expert and show them how to exercise without getting injured.
- Never have fasting sessions.
- NEVER heal yourself
- Don't take more hunger suppressants than recommended.
