“Why do I always feel tired?” is a question we often ask ourselves. Despite many of us feeling as though we’re getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep at night. A poor diet, a busy lifestyle, and hormonal imbalances can affect sleep in many ways. In this post, we’ll share tips to regain energy and improve sleep quality, helping you feel more refreshed and energised.
1. Nourish Your Body with a Balanced Diet
Our diets play a huge role in how we function each day. Our modern diets are often high in sugar, saturated fats, and additives. At the same time, they can be low in essential nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Highly processed, refined carbohydrates (like white bread, pasta, sweets, and sugary drinks) are metabolised quickly and can cause large spikes in blood glucose followed by sharp drops, which can bring on fatigue.
Caffeine intake is also a huge contributor to a poor night’s sleep. When you drink caffeine, it prevents the feeling of drowsiness. Sounds good? Yes, but once it wears off, the accumulated caffeine that has been building up throughout the day wears off and we experience a significant drop in energy, increased tiredness and the much-dreaded afternoon crash.
What to do: Ensure you are eating a balanced diet full of healthy fats, lean protein, fibre, and lots of vegetables. Start your day with a balanced breakfast that is high in fibre, protein, and healthy fats, as this will reduce the dramatic spikes and crashes in your blood glucose levels across the morning. A nutritious diet can significantly help improve sleep quality. Read food labels. If there are several ingredients you don’t recognise or understand, its best left as a ‘treat’ and not as a regular part of your diet.
When it comes to caffeine, limit your intake to 200 mg per day (which is roughly 2 cups of coffee). Avoid consuming it late in the day or using it as a crutch to boost energy.
2. Manage Stress Effectively
When we’re stressed, our body enters a state of “fight or flight,” resulting in high cortisol, adrenaline, and energy. Modern life daily stresses can make our body respond in an unhealthy way. Over a period of time, stress can cause burn-out, disrupting sleep and causing hormone imbalances. When you’re tired, you also tend not to eat well and have no energy to exercise… so begins a vicious cycle.
What to do: Combat acute stress using breathing techniques, specifically box breathing. Box breathing is a basic technique to reduce stress and increase mental clarity that involves four steps: Breathe in for four seconds. Hold that breath for four seconds. Breathe out for four seconds. Repeat steps one through three until you feel calmer.
If you typically rely on high-intensity workouts, swap them for something that’s less stressful on the body, like yoga or gentle walking while listening to music.
3. Stay Hydrated For Optimal Energy
One of the most common symptoms of dehydration is lethargy because water is essential for oxygen transport. When the body is dehydrated, blood pressure decreases, which means that less blood is pumped to the brain and other vital organs—this can lead to feelings of fatigue and sluggishness.
What to do: Drink water regularly, consume water-rich foods (like cucumber and watermelon), and monitor signs of dehydration, such as dark urine or a dry mouth. If sipping water all day isn’t appealing, try natural water drops to flavour your water and make it more enjoyable.
4. Incorporate Movement Into Your Routine
The less we move, the more tired we feel—and with modern desk jobs, many of us are more sedentary than we should be. Be mindful though, aerobic exercise causes the body to release endorphins. These chemicals can create a level of activity in the brain that keeps some people awake. These individuals should exercise at least 1 to 2 hours before going to bed, giving endorphin levels time to balance.
What to do: Get moving. Aim to take regular walk breaks throughout the day. Take the stairs instead of the elevator and get outside for regular fresh air. Exercise has also been shown to improve focus and creativity levels, so it’s a win-win. Regular movement not only boosts energy levels but can also help improve sleep quality. If troublesome sleep persists, you may want to seek help from a sleep specialist, specifically one that offers a multi-speciality approach.
Auckland Sleep boasts a collective of experts who specialise in eight different domains of sleep health. This team of eight different specialities under one roof provides an unparalleled multi faceted approach, which helps you achieve better sleep health, simply.
Get in touch with our friendly team at our sleep clinic Auckland to find out how they can help you achieve better sleep health.
