By Dr. Ryan Lee
Have you ever woken up in the morning after getting 8+ hours of sleep still feeling like you were run over by a truck?
Is coffee your best friend?
Do you have the bags under your eyes despite getting enough sleep?
If so, you are not alone. One third of teens, adults, and seniors report experiencing fatigue and tiredness. General fatigue is a common symptom in many health conditions, but often it can be fixed by making just a few simple lifestyle changes.
Today, I’m going to give you a few simple changes you can make to increase your energy and stop chronic fatigue in its tracks.
1. Too Much Stress
If your lifestyle is all hustle and bustle with no time to stop and smell the roses, it will eventually catch up with you, causing chronic fatigue. The body uses stress to increase performance in sporting events, during business presentations, or to maximize productivity during a time crunch. However, excessive stress for long periods of time takes its toll on the body. This can lead to lack of sleep, decreased focus, lowered immune response, and all-around damage to the body.
Also, the brain does not perceive the different types of stress differently. This means that the brain can’t tell the difference between physical and emotional stress. So, if you are emotionally distraught about something, you could experience the same types of stress symptoms as you would if you physically overworked yourself. So, it is very important to manage our stress levels, but this can be difficult in our current age of endless responsibility and work. Try combating your stress with these natural stress management tips!
- Locate Your Stress: Play detective and find the sources of what stresses you out the most. It could be your job, a relationship, not fulfilling your dreams, etc. and go and plan to address the stress head on!
- Say, “No” Sometimes: If you are an over achiever or a hard worker, it can be difficult to say, No, sometimes when more work is thrown your way. Learn to say, no, so that your can stick to your limits. This can also be applied to social settings as well.
- Avoid Stressful People: Limit your inter actions between people who stress you out, you will thank yourself later.
- Take Time to Decompress: Take ten minutes out of your day to sit in silence, no TV, no computer or phone, just time for your to sit and think on your day. This time for reflection not only lowers stress but can help you plan your day more efficiently and help you to increase your mood as well!
- Stretch Daily: A daily stretching routine is a great way to increase your energy and mood as well as increasing your flexibility, which lowers your chances at physical injuries! Find a daily stretching routine online and stick to it!
- Chiropractic Care: Chiropractic adjustments are a proven way to reduce the effects of stress in your body. If you can’t cut stress out of your life completely, you may want to consider seeing a chiropractic physician.
2. Proper Sleep:
Only one out of three American adults report getting proper amounts of sleep. Adults ranging from 18 to 60 years of age need 7+ hours of sleep a night. Getting less than seven hours of sleep a night can cause general fatigue, lack of focus, increased chance of accidents and health conditions. These health conditions include obesity, cardiovascular disease, depression, and more. Therefore, a healthy sleep cycle is so important. If you’re struggling to get those much needed seven hours of sleep, try these tips to help you sleep soundly!
- Stick to a Regular Sleep Routine: A regular sleep routine should be followed every day, even on the weekends! Make sure to get to bed at the same time and wake up every morning at the same time. This helps the body know when to produce melatonin, the hormone produced to make us sleepy, so that we get appropriate amount of sleep.
- Limit Blue Screen Activity Before Bed: Our phones, tablets, and other electronic devices utilize a blue screen. This blue screen activates our brains making it hard to fall asleep. Turn off all electronic screens 1 hour before your planned bed time so that your brain has enough time to shut down.
- Limit Awake Time in Your Bed: If you sit in your bed thinking or daydreaming, it is best to get out of bed and sit somewhere until you are sufficiently tired. Our brain is wired to do things based on where we are, so if you watch TV in bed, your brain is trained to do that instead of getting rest.
- Avoid Caffeine, Alcohol, and Tobacco Before Bed: Limit caffeine intake after noon. Caffeine’s affect on the body can last for many hours and can make sleeping difficult. Alcohol and smoking can cause fragmented sleep, which causes you to wake from sleep multiple times a night.
3. Poor Diet + Sedentary Lifestyle
Fixing a bad diet and sedentary lifestyle are some of the easiest ways to boost your energy and fight fatigue. 85% of Americans work desk jobs, and many leave work only to go home and sit some more to watch TV and relax. For most of us, a sedentary lifestyle has become the norm. Not eating a balanced diet can drastically affect your energy levels and can make you tired all the time. Try these nutrition and exercise tips to boost your energy levels!
- Eat the Right Amount of Calories: Be sure to eat the right amount of calories for your sex, age, activity level and weight. Not taking in the correct amount of calories, be it too little or too much can create fatigue.
- Breakfast is a Must: Do not skip breakfast, breakfast kick-starts your metabolism which affects your energy levels.
- Eat More Fruits and Vegetables: Fruits and vegetables have key nutrients and minerals that aid in your bodies function. When the body is functioning better you are less prone to tiredness.
- Cut Down on Sugar Intake: Sugar gives us a quick surge of energy, but long term it makes you feel sluggish and tired. Plus sugar is prone to causing weight gain which can also create general fatigue.
- Exercise Regularly: It is recommended that we should get 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercises per week and muscle strengthening exercises at least 2 times per week. It is easy to think that after working all day sitting down to relax will get rid of your fatigue, but it is shown that 20 mins of exercise can re-energize you. So, get out there and get active!
4. Health Conditions:
There are also health conditions that can affect our energy levels and can create chronic fatigue and tiredness. If you have tried dietary and lifestyle changes and are still experiencing fatigue and tiredness, you may have a medical condition from this common list below:
- Anemia
- Hypothyroidism
- Heart Disease
- Pregnancy
- Depression and Anxiety
- Diabetes
- Food Intolerance
- Vitamin and Mineral Deficiency
- Fibromyalgia
- Arthritis
If you are concerned that you may have a medical condition causing your chronic fatigue and tiredness, set up an appointment with your healthcare provider.
Are you interested in learning more about how chiropractic care can help you feel less tired? Click here to read our article: Can Chiropractic Help Me Feel Less Tired?
If you would like to set up an appointment with one of our chiropractic physicians, click here to schedule your new patient consultation now.
Dr. Ryan Lee is the practicing chiropractic physician at Reach Health and Wellness Chiropractic. For his full bio, click here.
*This content is strictly the opinion of Dr. Ryan Lee and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of medical advice or treatment from a personal physician. All readers/viewers of this content are advised to consult their doctors or qualified health professionals regarding specific health questions. Dr. Lee does not take responsibility for possible health consequences of any person or persons reading or following the information in this educational content. All viewers of this content, especially those taking prescription or over-the-counter medications, should consult their physicians before beginning any nutrition, supplement or lifestyle program.
Reach Health and Wellness Chiropractic is located in the Chattanooga, Tennessee area specifically in Collegedale, TN, a short distance from Ooltewah, Cleveland, East Brainerd, East Ridge, Ringgold, Apison, and Harrison.
