Are You Tired All the Time?

From Good Housekeeping magazine:

Here are a few surprising reasons why you’re ready to drop at 4 pm every day, and need to hit the snooze button three times every morning.

• You get by on “good enough” sleep. In other words, you think you’re not sleep-deprived, but you regularly hit the sack too late to get the seven to nine hours of sleep most of us need. The fix: Make your bedroom cool and dark, set a regular bedtime and wake-up time, and do stretches during the day. Studies show that stretching your muscles for 20 minutes on most days makes it 30% easier to fall asleep.


• Another reason you’re always tired: You eat out more than three times a week. Restaurant meals – especially fast food – tend to be low in the nutrients that give you all-day energy. A study in Wales found that people who ate high-fiber breakfast cereal were 10% less tired because the fiber helps the microbes in your gut churn out more energy. So, eat more fruits, veggies and whole grains for fiber, as well as lean protein, and good fats, like olive oil for more nutrients.


• You rarely turn off your cell phone, pager, laptop or BlackBerry. A study of over 1,000 people at the University of Wisconsin found that modern-day multitasking boosts stress and saps your energy. While a little stress can be energizing, constant stress leads to fatigue. So, check your email less frequently, shut off your cell phone when you go for a walk or out to dinner, and turn off all electronics – including the TV – an hour before bed.


• One final reason you could be tired all the time: You exercise intensely– which burns calories, but can burn you out. Researchers at the University of Georgia put tired-all-the-time couch potatoes through high and low-intensity workouts three times a week. The result? The slower-movers were 20% more alert and 15% less fatigued than the high-intensity group. To boost your energy, take easy 30 minute strolls three times a week, instead of pushing your body to the limit.