Afternoon Slump

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teamnevergoingback
teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Every day... no matter where I am or what I am doing... I get tired between 1-3pm. Also, I've been giving in to my tiredness by taking a nap! I'm afraid I am going to get myself into a bad sleeping patter and get use to taking a daily nap.

Yesterday, I was watching Dr. Oz and saw "How to cure the afternoon slump." He said that eating 30 grams of protein within 30 minutes of waking up in the morning will eliminate this problem! So, with a rough start, I woke up and boiled 3 eggs, 15 grams, had some cheese and milk and figured that I got ABOUT 28 grams in. I could NOT eat anymore! Haha. So let's see how this goes and I am going to try and plan a better breakfast with all 30 grams!

Anyone comments/ideas?

Replies

  • celesteadams1119
    celesteadams1119 Posts: 7 Member
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    Let us know how that works out! I am with you on the afternoon slump! I was just commenting to my husband that even though I get 8 hours a night, I still feel SO TIRED from 1-3pm. I'll have to try the protein in the morning tip!
  • christinaburns
    christinaburns Posts: 24
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    That's a lot of protein for breakfast! I wonder if I should be doing a protein bar of some sort in the mornings. I am SO not a breakfast-eater!
  • pattyproulx
    pattyproulx Posts: 603 Member
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    From what I've read and experiences, culprit is probably carbs.
    When you eat carbs, insulin shoots up. Once insulin levels eventually drop you generally crash and get that 'afternoon slump'. Oftentimes you're body also craves more carbs to get your energy levels back up by releasing more insulin.

    By eating protein as you did, what you're basically doing is filling yourself up so that there's a lot less room for you to eat carbs (proteins are very filling).

    That's my take on why eating more protein could work at reducing this. Eating more slowly digested carbs (ex; vegetables) will also help alleviate this as there is less of a sudden crash of insulin.

    I'd be interested to know how this works for you.

    Also worth noting is how 30g of protein filled you up (that's 120 calories of protein); which is equivalent to about half bagel (though I understand that there was also fat with your breakfast beyond the 120 calories).
    I guarantee though that that will keep you satiated longer than a bagel ever would.
  • teamnevergoingback
    teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
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    Let us know how that works out! I am with you on the afternoon slump! I was just commenting to my husband that even though I get 8 hours a night, I still feel SO TIRED from 1-3pm. I'll have to try the protein in the morning tip!

    I also get about 8 hours of sleep and am tired EVERY DAY!! For doing that one day, I am going to say it TOTALLY worked. I'm going to invest in a protein shake though, because it takes 5 eggs to get 30 grams, and that's just too much!
  • teamnevergoingback
    teamnevergoingback Posts: 368 Member
    Options
    From what I've read and experiences, culprit is probably carbs.
    When you eat carbs, insulin shoots up. Once insulin levels eventually drop you generally crash and get that 'afternoon slump'. Oftentimes you're body also craves more carbs to get your energy levels back up by releasing more insulin.

    By eating protein as you did, what you're basically doing is filling yourself up so that there's a lot less room for you to eat carbs (proteins are very filling).

    That's my take on why eating more protein could work at reducing this. Eating more slowly digested carbs (ex; vegetables) will also help alleviate this as there is less of a sudden crash of insulin.

    I'd be interested to know how this works for you.

    Also worth noting is how 30g of protein filled you up (that's 120 calories of protein); which is equivalent to about half bagel (though I understand that there was also fat with your breakfast beyond the 120 calories).
    I guarantee though that that will keep you satiated longer than a bagel ever would.

    Well the information on carbs makes sense, that's my weakness. I hate candy, cakes and cookies, but when it comes to chips and salsa, mexican food and pasta I am weak! I'm going to say that the 30 grams of protein DID work and I was VERY happy. I'm going to find a more practical way to consume that 30 grams though lol.

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