afternoon tiredness?

Question

I usually drink plenty of water to keep me hydrated throughout the working day, but just after lunch through to going home, I have that lazy, dozy afternoon lull and feel exhausted and hard to be enthusiastic about work and in meetings etc - any tips or ideas on how to beat that?

Answer 1

Tips:
1. chemicals.I use an energy drink.
2. take lots of short breaks. make sure you breathe in lots of air
3. This is not a joke: It stretches the muscles and stimulates a nerve in that area so your drowsiness goes away:
a. Stretch your arms in front of you.
b. Put your right arm over your left.
c. clasp hands and rotate it towards you so the inside aspect of the right is exposed.
d. Do it with the other arm.
4. Correct your posture. you feel sleepy when you lack oxygen. So sometimes leaning back on the chair, lying in bed, etc. restricts lung expansion. Reposition.
5. Jump to get your body moving. turn on some up-beat music if you want; and lastly,
6. Motivation is the key. Storing my goals at my subconscious gives an automatic protocol for my body to keep moving.


Good luck!

Answer 2

Don't overdo the lunch!!
Take a lunch of complex carbohydrate with fruit and veg eg granary bread with a little meat or other protein (egg, cheese etc) or white long grain rice mixed with veggies followed by fruit. Look up the GI Diet on any search engine and it will give you ideas of what sort of low GI foods you can use to make your lunch. This will give you a sustained energy release rather than a fast rush and then a rebound (when blood glucose drops). After lunch take a walk if possible and you should start to feel less tired during the afternoons. Oh, keep drinking the water and steer clear of coffee, its a stimulant but caffine is not great fro your system in the long run. Tea is OK.
I hope it works for you, it does for me :D

Answer 3

ok the reason for the tired full fealing after lunch is because your matabilism has slowed down naturally throughout the day and after eating it "wakes" it up again so to speak and because of this you feel slightly warm cosey and tired. I

f you work on a computer it is advisable to take a 5 minute break every 1 hour so that you do not get eye strain. I have also been told that studies of people who spent 3 minutes looking at a red peice of paper felt more awake!! (sounds daft but true) other ways are drink plenty of water avoiding tea and coffee as this gives an instant boost to your system but unfortunately after the initial high your body drops into a lull and you actually feel worse..

Eating things like bananas and keeping your vitimin c levels up also combats tiredness...

If all fails... put an elastic band round your wrist and snap it when you feel like youtr getting to that "nodding dog" stage... it hurts like hell and the adrenaline it casues keeps you awake!!!! (especially good for meetings which drag on!!)

Answer 4

Yup. I can get that too, even if I don't eat a heavy carb lunch. My trick is to have a snack about 30 minutes before lunch. My current snack is either a Zone bar or a mix of almonds, soy nuts and sunflower seeds (about 2 small handfuls), as well as my water.

Sometimes I nap during my lunch hour, and even just a 10 minute nap can really perk me up. I sometimes walk at lunch, but that sometimes makes me even more dozy after lunch.

I have my theories on why this all is. Please feel free to e-mail me if you are curious.

Answer 5

I sometimes get that and I've just started taking the supplement Berocca and it seems to be working. You could try that and also try to keep to a light lunch that doesn't contain too much sugar - sugar will initially increase you energy levels but what goes up must come down, and you end up feeling even more tired than before you ate it! Stick to natural sugars in fruit for example. Also keep you office cool and well ventilated.

It's also been proved that as human beings we naturally want to sleep mid afternoon (notice how in Spain for example, they have their afternoon siestas) which could also be another reason for people's energy slumps around that time.

Answer 6

If you have a heavy lunch, the blood that should be feeding your brain with oxygen will be directed to your stomach to help it digest your food. This will make you feel lethargic because your brain isn't getting as much oxygen as usual.

Try having a light lunch and then a small snack in the afternoon. I eat one sandwich at lunch and then one in my afternoon break later on which seems to keep me perky!

Answer 7

Try eating smaller meals through out the day. Even try this for one day and see if it helps.

Have breakfast (most important) and i dont mean a fry! Cereal or Eggs or Porridge
Teabreak - piece of fruit (anything)
Lunch - Sandwiches or a Chicken salad (this is negotiable)
Midday Snack - different piece of fruit

once you have eaten all this you wont be in the mood for a big dinner and it will keep your energy levels up.

Answer 8

Afternoon tiredness after lunch is natural and is common in most of our "body rythms." Try a lighter lunch or if offered a choice take the work project that stimulates your mind the most. I think the Europeans got it right - we need a siesta in the US.

Answer 9

It has a lot to do with what you eat for lunch, It can give you that "itis" as Dave chappelle called it. It may just be a time where your body says you need to be asleep, you know some people are not morning people (myself!) maybe you are just not an afternoon person!

Answer 10

When you have your lunch is it possible that you could have a nap somewhere for 10mins it would do you the world of good
It is known as power napping!
One of the reasons that you get tired is that your blood sugar levels drop so it is better to eat little and often rather than have one big meal