Why Am I So Tired? 3 Top Causes of Fatigue

The biggest reasons for getting sleepy are listed below.

  1.  Your diet.  Sugar and caffeine are the usual standbys when you feel ready to put your head on your desk and take a nap like a Kindergartner.  But both substances make your blood sugar levels do handsprings, leaving you even more drowsy after the sucrose wears off.  Try instead a snack involving fruit or vegetables, nuts or dairy.  According to J. Fred Ralston Jr.,MD, a former president of the American College of Physicians, healthy snacking help control weight gain and is directly tied to how tired you feel in the mid-afternoon.

2.  Are you getting enough sack time?  Try warm milk just before bedtime and stay away from coffee and alcohol.  If you have a television in your bedroom, get rid of it.  Listen to the radio or your iPod.  Even an extra half hour of sleep at night can keep you reinvigorated during the entire next day.

3.  Push ups!  Ralston is big on getting his patients to exercise to prevent those midday yawning sessions.  A good work out three hours before bedtime helps you sleep better, with more RMI time, and stabilizes your blood sugar level so it doesn’t do a nosedive in the middle of a critical presentation to your boss the next day.

People who sit around all day and never get out for a walk or run consistently feel more tired than people who stretch out a bit each day.

Ralston suggests a full forty minutes of aerobics at least four times per week to keep the siesta bug at bay.