Constantly tired

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Skrib69
Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
These last few months I seem to be constantly knackered, particularly in the evening. Tonight is no exception, despite having reigned in my bed time by about an hour (I used to regularly turn in after midnight but am now reasonably consistent at 11pm) I will often have to have a nap in the afternoon and since driving is a big part of my work, this can be a problem. The other downside is I will often find myself reaching for food to stay awake - not a great habit I know!

Anyone else come across this issue???

Replies

  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    How much sleep do you get?

    If you are working out pretty heavily your body is going to require more sleep for recovery. If your body wants to sleep and you can let it sleep you should go ahead and sleep. There is nothing wrong with taking a nap if you have the time.

    Alternatively this could be an indication you aren't eating enough calorically. However without knowing:

    1) How much you are sleeping
    2) How much you are eating
    3) How much you are exercising

    its hard to say.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    Generally speaking, now I go to bed about 11pm and the alarm goes off at 6am.

    Eating wise, I generally hit around 1700 calories a day. It's low because I am pretty sedentary and my exercise in the week is walking the dog for up to an hour most evenings. Friday evening and Sunday morning I do 90 and 120 minutes of Aikido respectively.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
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    If you're a normal height, it's not surprising you're tired at that intake.
  • ANGIE181062
    ANGIE181062 Posts: 24 Member
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    These last few months I seem to be constantly knackered, particularly in the evening. Tonight is no exception, despite having reigned in my bed time by about an hour (I used to regularly turn in after midnight but am now reasonably consistent at 11pm) I will often have to have a nap in the afternoon and since driving is a big part of my work, this can be a problem. The other downside is I will often find myself reaching for food to stay awake - not a great habit I know!

    Anyone else come across this issue???
  • ANGIE181062
    ANGIE181062 Posts: 24 Member
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    These last few months I seem to be constantly knackered, particularly in the evening. Tonight is no exception, despite having reigned in my bed time by about an hour (I used to regularly turn in after midnight but am now reasonably consistent at 11pm) I will often have to have a nap in the afternoon and since driving is a big part of my work, this can be a problem. The other downside is I will often find myself reaching for food to stay awake - not a great habit I know!

    Anyone else come across this issue???

    Maybe you need to eat a little more x
  • henriettevanittersum
    henriettevanittersum Posts: 179 Member
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    Could be anything from lack of iron, vit D3 (winter blues), too little sleep... I personally don't function long term if I get less than 9 hrs/night, but I work out lots. If persistent get blood work done and you'll know more.
  • techgal128
    techgal128 Posts: 719 Member
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    Could be anything from lack of iron, vit D3 (winter blues), too little sleep... I personally don't function long term if I get less than 9 hrs/night, but I work out lots. If persistent get blood work done and you'll know more.

    Beat me to it. This is wise advice right here. You should get your iron levels checked as well as your vitamin D. Also, depending on your weight and facial structure you might want to get a sleep study done to check for sleep apnea.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Sounds to me like you are both not getting enough sleep and not eating enough.

    For an active man 7 hours of sleep and 1700 calories a day is not going to cut it. Need more sleep for sure and probably more food as well.

    The more active you are the more sleep and food you will need for recovery. If you cut on either one (sleep or food) you will be tired and you won't get the gains you could have.

    There is nothing wrong with sleeping more if you can. If you can cut out say an hour of TV watching and just sleep that extra hour could do you a lot of good. If your excuse is not having that extra time think about it this way, if you take an extra hour more of sleep you will be much more effective during the hours you are awake during the day because you won't be tired all the time.

    People today seem to think sleep is what lazy people do and they strive to sleep less and less as almost like a badge of honor.

    Vit D is probably a good thing to check as well, that's a common problem with people who are indoors a lot or in cloudy climates.
  • Skrib69
    Skrib69 Posts: 687 Member
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    mmmm, thanks. I take your points about eating more. I have to be careful on that one otherwise I start to gain again - I can spend 5-6 hours a day driving and the rest sat in front of a customer so to my mind 'sedentary' doesn't really cover the level of activity! When I do get more exercise, I generally eat back the calories. My diary should be open.

    So, reigning in bedtime and possibly some vitamin supplements would be an easy place to start. Thanks!
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Really best piece of advice I can give is listen to your body. If your body says "sleep" and you have time to sleep then you should probably sleep.

    Now if you said you were sleeping 13 hours a day then that would be a different matter altogether but if you are only getting 7 hours then yeah you should probably just listen to your body and get some more rest.

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