Do you feel tired in the afternoons?

I am going to be talking about why we get the afternoon slump and how to have more energy without eating sugary foods.

Here are the six main causes of an afternoon slump and what you can do to improve your energy levels, 1. A natural response to circadian rhythms, Circadian rhythm is a natural internal process that regulates the sleep wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours it’s pretty much our biological process which typically make us most sleepy from 2 to 4 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.

 

  1. An underlying metabolic disorder these conditions include increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Having just one of these conditions doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome but having more than one that occur together could be a sign of metabolic disorder. Improving your lifestyle by including more exercise, eating healthier and managing stress can really help with reducing the risk of getting those conditions.
  2. Getting too little sleep on a regular basis, sometimes life calls and we don’t get enough sleep. But five to six hours of sleep for the vast majority of people out of a 24-hour day isn’t enough, especially in the long term. According to a study of more than 10,000 people, the body’s ability to function declines if sleep isn’t in the seven- to eight-hour range.

 

Researchers found verbal skills, reasoning skills, and overall ability to think weren’t at full capacity. Seven to eight hours of sleep per night is needed to perform at your best at communicating, planning and decision-making such as do I do my exercise today or skip it for next week? So, aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep and if your sleep gets interrupted try to get a 20 minute power nap in the day and your body will thank you for it.

 

  1. Poor eating habits, such as eating too many carbohydrates and the wrong type of carbs that don’t agree with your body, this causes your blood sugar levels to go up and down many times throughout the day causing stress on the body which results in fatigue leaving you exhausted. Firstly you can work on reducing your portions I’ve made a video on this called “A simple method to lose weight straight away” which shows you ideal portions amount for each food group which will not only improve your energy levels throughout the day but also promote weight loss.

 

Secondly munch on something that combines fiber and complex carbohydrates—such as whole-grain crackers or raw vegetables—to raise your blood sugar levels and keep them up. If you do fancy something sweet a square of dark chocolate is a good choice its antioxidants and healthy fats, is better for you than milk chocolate. In addition to being delicious, dark chocolate contains a small hit of caffeine to give you a boost.

  1. Dehydration, whether you’re working out or working a desk job, your body needs water to work well and keep cool. If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated so drink regularly by including a glass of water in each of your meals, before and after your workouts and sipping throughout the day.

Last but not least 6. High levels of stress, if you’re always getting the afternoon slump and your feeling progressively more tired it’s basically your body’s way of telling you that you need to slow down.

Your fast-paced lifestyle coupled with a lack of sleep (because you are trying to fit everything in) puts extra strain on your body. You may start to feel less energetic and over time may feel constantly weak. Stress may also make it harder to sleep, so if you start experiencing fatigue take some time out from your busy life and do something to help manage your stress.

The first thing you can work on is finding time for yourself to focus on nothing else but you, it doesn’t need to be a huge amount of time even an hour or two every week focusing on your health & fitness is a great start and will have huge benefits to your mind, body and energy levels.

So that’s the six reasons why you get an afternoon slump and how to overcome it, you can find out more ways to increase your energy and if you to look and feel better you can discover a simpler way to eat healthier and exercise that’s works within your busy lifestyle on brigopt.com.