Why am I so tired?

ReneeJ814

Hey guys!

I just started getting serious with my diet and exercise about a month ago, and I feel great! But for the past 2 weeks I've been extremely tired for some reason. I figured that it's just my body getting adjusted to this new lifestyle and I even added another workout day. So because I'm getting more exercise, I should be sleeping better, right? I don't have insomnia on a regular basis, but I haven't been sleeping well for the last 2 weeks, with the exception of one night. I either have trouble falling asleep or I wake up several times during the night and so I'm tired when I get up in the mornings.

Has anybody else experienced this? Girls, I was also wondering if maybe hormones cause this. No, I'm not having my period right now, but soon. I've read about hormones disrupting sleep in menopausal women, but I'm obviously not menopausal. Any tips to help me sleep would be greatly appreciated.

missbethea

I get sluggish when I PMS.

But I find that the time of day I work out makes a difference. If I exercise in the morning, then I feel more alert and have more energy for the rest of the day. I'm also hungrier throughout the day.

If I exercise later afternoon/evening, I feel exhausted and sluggish until it is time to go to bed.

However, if I go to the gym late at night (around 10 or 11PM or later) then it makes me alert.

Are you taking any vitamins? Getting the right nutrients? Changes in your diet can affect your body, too. If you've drastically lessened your caffeine intake it can take a while to bounce back from that. (In my experience, anyway.)

If it persists- definitely talk to your doctor about it. Just to make sure it's not something more serious than a change in your habits.

Back2Basic

This is going to sound dumb, but if you're just into your 20s, it could be the end of puberty. I was shocked when I was 21 and the Drs told me my acne would go away--after puberty. I had a HUGE hormonal shift after I turned 22. I had to quit the BC I was using because the side effects changed (weird) My sleep cycles changed as did other things charged by hormones. After a month-ish, I got used to the changes.
Change in diet and exercise does mess with your body too. When I was in Basic Training (a very big change in diet and exercise) we all had weird stuff happening.
I really think it could just be your body freaking out about different foods- if you used to eat bigger dinners for instance, your digestive system had to work hard all night. Plus, your sugars have shifted, so your body has to burn the starch/fat for energy which it's probably not as used to.
Make sure you don't skip breakfast, and maybe eat earlier? You can try reading in bed. (We do that sometimes for 30 min before bed and fall asleep better) Or maybe listening to relaxing music?