fatigue and energy

Rkap1017

how much does exercise really help re-energize you, do you think? Last year I got mono and a series of other viruses and illness and since then I've noticed that overall I have a real lack of energy throughout the day. Towards the beginning of this school year/end of the summer, I had been exercising every day and doing much better energy wise. Now though, I've put back a little of the weight and am only able to work out maybe twice a week - much less than i want to. Yet even when I have time, I notice that I don't have the energy. Its difficult some times to even get through normal days. I'm not sure if thats illness, the decrease in exercise, or the added stress/lack of sleep that comes with being a college student with two jobs.

Which do you think would help more? Increase of energy or increase of sleep? (i know there are a lot of factors involved, i'm just curious what has helped other people regain energy)

Akimajuktuq

Of course exercise is great, but NEVER at the expense of adequate sleep.

You might want to reassess your diet, not in terms of calories, but the kinds of food that you eat. I had a very long list of health problems including depression, fatigue, chronic pain, chronic infection/illness, and many others. I resolved all my health issues by changing what I eat.

I've seen lots of advice on MFP that people should get up as early as it takes to get exercise, and while I agree that exercise is important, healthy food and adequate sleep are even more so.

fiberartist219

Honestly, you should get at least 8 hours of sleep every night AND find time to exercise.

If you are a college student with two jobs, something's got to give. Let go of one of the jobs, or try going to school part time. I know going into debt is scary, but neglecting your health is even worse.

Exercise can give you energy. It takes awhile to see the benefits of it, but for me, I feel like it changes my metabolism over all. The more muscle I have, the more consistent my health is. I feel good when I've been keeping up a routine. When I don't work out, I get a lot more highs and lows and when I crash and burn, it's ugly.

sheleen302

For me, when I've been stressed out, (most of my adult life it seems), I always tried to recover by sleeping more because my sleep cycle was so wonky with stress. It never really helped increase my energy level. So far, the only thing that has allowed me to combat stress and up my sleep cycle is excercise. IMO I would bring in a 30 min workout that really pushed you daily. 2 10 or 20 lb hand weights, do 5-6 sets of 8 reps, Rest between sets for a min, then 30 sec or less as you progress. Do each excercise to count as 1 set. Pushups on the handweights, then row one arm up while still in position, then pushup and do the other side. Do 8 bicep curls with overhead press, do 8 squats with weights held in front near shoulders, do 8 back lunges with weights by your side, when in the depth of the lunge, press the bell up. When I'm super pressed for time I do a workout like this, and complete in in under 20 min, heart racing. I can burn about 150 cals in 20 min.

PamelaKuz

I have fibromyalgia and I can tell you what works for me. Number one is tones of sleep. I feel best if I get 11-12 hours, I can't function the next day if I get under 9. I do have more energy when I exercise, but I can only do small amounts. I've found that if I do around 30 minutes a day of 'easy'cardio (speed walking, slow jogging, dancing, elliptical) in small chunks, like 10 mins at a time (I started with 3!) I feel great. It does give me a boost of energy. If I either go too hard, or too long, it has the reverse effect. I've had to play around a bit in the last month to find a balance. I've also started to notice that I can comfortably go a little longer each week, so i go with what my body tells me and increase slowly. For me the hard part is not doing too much! My brain sometimes wants to keep going, and i've done too much several times and was in bad shape the next day. Maybe some of this could work for you. Good luck!

1holegrouper

Lack of energy is never fun! I think of 4 major factors that influence my energy levels; in nor certain order; sleep, stress, diet, exercise. I know there are many other causes but most of the time I can track an increase or lack of energy to one of these.

Coincidentally, many times I discover that my fatigue is merely in my mind. That is, I go out for a run when I 'feel' like just going to sleep or vegging out and usually during the middle and after the run I feel very energized. Or I get called to do something out of my normal routine (ex; hey want to go do this or that?) and then realize the fatigue is gone. Either the run or activity provided the energy or it took me out of my mental funk- I don't know. Sometimes our mind is ahead of our body. Sometimes our body is ahead of our mind, like usually in my case.

However, if this is a chronic thing it needs to be looked at systematically and with the help of a good doctor. If you have ruled out obvious things, like lack of sleep, then you want to rule out more serious and/or more hard to figure out things.