Are your energy levels ok?

Hello all ! Today, I want to talk about energy levels. Do you hop out of bed in the morning and keep going with gusto all day until bed time? Or, do you drag yourself out of bed in the morning and take about an hour to wake up? You are fine until after lunch when, around 3pm you start to feel tired again..? If the latter is you, I would hazard a guess that you have sugar and white carbs in your diet? Am I right? These really mess with your blood sugar levels, causing highs and lows in energy. When you get energy dips, you then crave sugar to give you a quick pick me up. And yes, the sugar does give you a quick fix, but this is short lived until you start to feel tired again and crave more sugar.

Your diet largely determines the amount of energy you have during the day, given that you have had a good nights sleep. So, get rid of as much junk as possible out of your diet, drink lots of water, start your day with warm water and lemon, and help get your energy levels back on an even keel.

Now I will look at sleep. Do you get 7-8 good hours of sleep a night? If not, why? If you have children interrupting your sleep, then this is out if your control. However, if the reason for your lack of sleep is within your control, then try and change it.
If you have trouble falling asleep at night, there are things you can try doing to get to sleep quicker, examples are:

Listen to relaxing music before bed.
Don't watch tv, computer, smartphone, iPad, or otherwise 30 minutes before bedtime.
Avoid caffeine after 6pm.
Try and get some daily exercise.
Meditation.
Try having a herbal tea, or cup of warm milk before bed.
Keep your bedroom nice and cosy, if you are cold, you will not have a good nights sleep.
Make sure you never go to bed hungry. This isn't an excuse to fill up on junk or cereal at night, if you are feeling peckish, have some protein.

It is so important to get a good rest at night. When I am tired I tend to crave sugar more the following day, looking for a quick fix of energy. Also, if you are tired, you will find it harder to motivate yourself to exercise.
Tiredness results in you being more quick tempered, often taking your quick temper out on your kids or close family/work colleagues.
Tiredness also results in you being more forgetful and scattered ! A lot of us get baby brain after having a baby, I think it's just down to us being over tired.

Also, remember, it is when you are resting that your muscles are recovering and repairing after exercise, resulting in stronger and more efficient muscles.

So, in a nutshell, try and get more sleep !