You awaken feeling energized and ready to tackle the day, but by the afternoon, you’re dragging. It’s all you can do to keep your eyes open from the energy drain you experience. You’re miserable, and you have 100 things to do, but you need a little more pep in your step.
If you feel an energy drain in the afternoon, you’re among the masses. Many people think the same way, but a few have mastered how to prevent this dreaded fatigue. If your get-up-and-go is gone, you need help.
The most common time frame for this energy slump is between two and three pm, which isn’t too long after you’ve had lunch.
Signs That Your Day Drains Your Energy
Not only do you feel exhausted during this time, but you might also experience the following symptoms:
- Constant yawning
- Craving salty and sweet snacks
- Irritability
- Visual disturbances – blurry vision
- Muscle aches
- Headaches
You don’t need a medical professional to diagnose an afternoon energy drain, as it’s easy enough to do alone. However, what can you do when you experience this daily? If you must drive a car, watch children, or do other things that require your attention, it can be dangerous to be nodding off in exhaustion.
Ten Ways To Avoid Afternoon Energy Drain
If you’re tired of being lethargic, having no focus, and fighting to stay awake in the afternoon, there are a few things you can do to alleviate this issue. First, know that you might have a medical condition, such as diabetes or narcolepsy, that could be driving this problem. However, there’s no underlying medical issue for most, so you should try these ten things.
1. Stop Chugging Caffeine
People think that drinking caffeine will help their afternoon slump, so they load up on coffee, energy drinks, and soda. Actually, these things can worsen the exhaustion, especially if the drinks are laden with sugar. Caffeine is a stimulant that can make your heart race and increase anxiety, and when you add massive amounts of sugar to the mix, you’re not doing yourself any favors.
If you feel tired, there are better things for you to do to combat it than loading up on caffeine. Also, stay away from those so-called energy shots and over-the-counter stimulants as they’re dangerous to your heart.
According to the American Heart Association, many studies prove the correlation between caffeine and heart disease, and the risks are undeniable. While some studies remain inconclusive, they cannot deny there’s a direct link to the metabolic effects caffeine has on your body.
2. Stay Hydrated to Avoid Fatigue
If you’re thirsty in the afternoon, try drinking ice-cold water rather than a soft drink. Shockingly, the water may make you feel better. See, most people become dehydrated during the day and don’t even realize it.
Adding some lemon to the water can help to decrease blood sugar levels and increase your energy. The best part about this combination is that you won’t have any side effects or issues with your heart.
3. Get Sufficient Rest
If you don’t sleep at night, you can’t expect to make it ten to twelve hours the next day. Your body is like a car running on gas fumes, and soon you will be out of fuel. While people always seem eager to talk about a lack of sleep, the other side is that you might be getting too much sleep.
If you come home from work and take a nap, and you go to bed by 10-11 pm, you could be getting too much rest. Shockingly, too much sleep is just as big of a problem as not enough rest. So, you need to get around 7-9 hours a night, according to the Center for Chronic Disease Prevention.
Anything less than this is insufficient for your body, and anything more than this amount of time can be counterproductive.
4. Monitor What You Eat for Lunch
Your lunch could be a significant factor that drains your energy, especially if you’re consuming high sugar and carbohydrate-laden foods. It would help if you opted for fresh fruits and vegetables as well as lean protein. Don’t go overboard on snacks, especially when there are simple carbs involved.
5. Get Up and Move When You Start to Feel Exhausted
One way to combat afternoon fatigue is to get your blood pumping. Find some way to get up and get moving. Somethings that you can do to get your energy to increase is:
- Take a few flights of stairs
- Do a brisk walk
- Do some jumping jacks
- Try some squats or lunges
- Run on a treadmill
You’re probably tired of hearing about all the fantastic things exercising can do for your body, but the reason it’s so touted is that it’s true. Getting up and moving for a few minutes every couple of hours can be a huge energy boost.
6. Do the Most Taxing Work Early
People tend to procrastinate when it comes to the most tasking chores. Try getting the major stuff off your plate early and the items that will drain you most. Leave the more straightforward things for the afternoon; as you know, your energy levels will not be nearly as productive as they are in the morning.
7. Avoid Gossiping and Participating in Drama
While this doesn’t have anything to do with what you eat or drink, ingesting negativity can be just as toxic as drinking those energy drinks. When you participate in office drama and gossip, it’s going to bring you down. Talking about others and getting involved in toxic negativity is nothing but a trap that depletes your resources.
Put your energy towards positive things that can help lift you and not bring you down to the level of others. According to the Holistic Health Directory, when you hang with people who are constantly negative and gossip, they will transfer their pessimism onto you. If you wonder why you feel so tired and worn out in the afternoon, it can link to who you spent lunch or some of your morning entertaining.
8. Sit in the Sun’s Golden Rays
While you don’t want to sit in the sun for too long, try getting about ten to twenty minutes of direct rays. The sunshine will boost your vitamin D levels, which will increase how amazing you feel. Did you know that an estimated 41 percent of this country has inadequate levels of this vital vitamin?
The National Library of Medicine discusses this deficiency can link to many diseases, and it’s one of the leading causes of risk factors that can contribute to death. So, when you start to feel exhaustion hit you in the afternoon, step out into the sunshine and breathe in goodness for your health and vitality.
9. Eat a Healthy Breakfast
Did you skip breakfast today? Do you usually eat a well-balanced meal before you head to work? You need breakfast to help keep your sugar levels balanced and to fuel your system.
The chances of you binge eating or hitting the vending machines increase when you don’t have a nutritious start to your day. You should avoid things like toaster pastries, cinnamon rolls, and donuts, as they will do nothing more than add to your sugar intake. However, things like oatmeal, fruits, eggs, and fiber cereals can be very beneficial.
10. Choose a Snack That’s a Good Carb-Protein Combination
When you get those pangs of hunger that send you to the vending machine, look for something that will give you some protein. These machines aren’t known for providing healthy foods, but things like peanut butter or cheese crackers, beef, turkey sticks, or even pretzels are better options. Sure, that candy bar looks great, but you don’t need all the extra sugar when you’re in an energy slump.
Final Thoughts on Ways to Avoid an Afternoon Energy Drain
If you do some examination, you might find the culprit of your slump in the afternoon. With a bit of tweaking to what you eat and how you conduct your day, you can combat the exhaustion you feel. However, you can’t deny that there may be an underlying health problem that is at play.
Diabetes is notorious for causing exhaustion, whether your sugar is too high or too low. Additionally, depression and anxiety can zap a great deal of your energy, and it’s a condition that needs to be addressed. Chronic fatigue is a frequent problem that plagues the masses, and it’s one of the reasons why people seek medical care.
The good news is that most folks find that making some adjustments to their day can fix things. However, there are other things to consider. The body naturally gets tired during the afternoon.
Many cultures embrace the siesta or nap so that people can refresh and rejuvenate themselves. While having daily naps at the office will not happen in this country any time soon, a power nap during your lunch break might help. Did you find any tips that you can use from this article to assist you in combatting the things that drain your energy in the afternoon?
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