5 Tips To Battle Fatigue

Fatigue can have a number of causes, the obvious is insomnia or a lifestyle that does not support regular sleeping patterns.  But what about all the people who suffer from fatigue and sleep at night? There are a number of physiological causes such as apnea, depression and hypothyroidism which can be ruled out by a few tests.  So having ruled out and certain health conditions, it comes down to lifestyle.  Here are 5 simple things you can do to minimize fatigue and maximize vibrancy.

1. You Feel How You Eat

It takes 20 minutes to absorb the nutrients from a fresh fruit, 2 hours for a raw salad, and 8 to 24 hours for a vegetarian cooked meal.  Meat takes the longest to go through the system and varies with the health of the intestines.  It can be 24 to 72 hours for the animal protein to completely tour the GI tract.  The longer it takes to digest and absorb a meal, the less energy you will have.  While the body is digesting, more energy resides in the GI tract than in any other area of the body.  Once the body is in a fast, more energy is available for cleansing, higher mind, and rejuvenation.

Taking digestive time into account, eat mostly foods that are easy to digest such as fresh fruits and vegetables and vegetarian cooked meals such as steamed veggies and rice.  Meat in moderation will not cause chronic fatigue but when your days are filled with meals consisting of animal protein, your liver, adrenal glands, and pancreas will pay a price and this may be a significant contributor to your unexplained fatigue.

2. Do Not Over Sleep

This may sound counter-intuitive, but it’s true.  Over sleeping makes one feel groggy the rest of the day.  Too much time spent in the subconscious realm will affect your waking hours when you need to be more conscious.  When you first awake in the morning, rise and start your day.  Do not yield to the temptation to sleep into the later morning hours.  After rising and drinking your tea, you will not only feel more awake but will be grateful that you had the will power to stay up.  A few minutes of meditation is a great way to transition into consciousness after a good night’s sleep.

3. Exercise

Just 20 minutes of cardio per day, 3x per week can affect your energy.  A greatly improves vibrancy and well-being.  Even when the body says no, use your will and exercise that day.  Try to exercise the same time every day to instill a regular habit.  Make it fun by including friends into your workouts.  Go for a hike, a bike ride or do some yoga.  Exercise covers so many areas that cause fatigue such as obesity, heart disease, and depression that this one activity will pay you the greatest dividends to your overall health and quality of life.

4. Drink Tea

Dehydration is well-known to be a significant contributor to fatigue.  Especially if you live in a dry area because you are not aware of when you are sweating.  How often you urinate is a good indicator of whether or not you are dehydrated.  You cannot go by thirst.  In chronic dehydration the thirst mechanism in the lower brain is not functioning properly.  Just as in starvation, the body stops asking after a while.  So in the beginning you must force your drinking and after a couple of weeks you will begin to feel more thirsty again.  In dry areas, drink a gallon per day. In wetter areas drink 2 to 3 quarts per day.

Why tea over water? Today’s commercialized and processed water is depleted in nutrients.  There are herbal formulas such as one called/>, that consist of food grade herbs that are safe to drink every day, all day.  Make sure the tea formula is food grade and not medicinal.  If you cannot find a good herbal formula to add to your water, simply squeeze a fresh lemon into your water and it is alive again.

5. Think Positive Thoughts

Mind and body are connected, there is no question.  So it is natural to conclude that negative thoughts and emotions drain our energy.  Big energy suckers are jealousy, criticism, worry, and self-loathing.  It is difficult to monitor our thoughts constantly, but practice being in the moment more often than not.

When you reside in the present moment, you are in a state of observation and can catch some unhealthy thoughts.  Notice the negative thought without judgment and replace it with 3.  Keep practicing the presence and in just a few months your life will be different.  You will have more energy, relationships will improve, you will be much more productive, and most importantly you will be happy.