Is your Thyroid Working Properly?
Do you suffer with any of these symptoms?
- fatigue
- weakness
- weight gain
- difficulty losing weight
- coarse, dry hair,
- dry skin
- hair loss
- cold intolerance (you can’t tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
- muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
- constipation
- depression
- irritability
- memory loss
- abnormal menstrual cycles
- decreased libido.
If so, you could potentially have a thyroid problem. Many people out there do, but don’t know it. And as discussed in another great Precision Nutrition article, there are many different problems all related to the thyroid, so how do you know if you are one of those people with one of those problems?
Read here. As I’ve said before, you do need to become a member of the Precision Nutrition site to view the article, but it’s free.
Enjoy!
To your health,
Kimberly
How to Beat Afternoon Fatigue
The Afternoon Slump
Whether you work in an office, from home, at a construction site, out there on the roads everyday, or anywhere else, I think most of you will have experienced the afternoon slump. This is something that seems to kick in somewhere between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, or if you have an early lunch, maybe sooner. It makes you feel like curling up and going to sleep.
I can remember times when I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open in front of my computer. It was the worst feeling and it was horrible thinking that someone might see me with my eyes closed, even if just for a second!
And since a midday kip normally isn’t possible, due to work commitments, location (I certainly don’t have a nap room at my office!), or any other reason, what do we end up doing?
This slump usually makes us reach for something to bring us back to life. Some form of caffeine. Maybe chocolate. Maybe even just some fresh air or an ice cold glass of water.
How to Avoid It
Whatever it is that helps you get through this afternoon fatigue, you don’t have to deal with this feeling ever again. What is it that has rid me of the PM slump and can help you do the same?
Nutrition.
What you eat (especially at lunch time) can help you avoid the afternoon tiredness. Once I started cutting out high carb lunches, and/or sugary things right after my lunches, I noticed a huge change in my energy levels.
What exactly did I do? I substituted bread heavy sandwiches (i.e. baguettes, baps, rolls) with whole grain sliced bread sandwiches. Or I substituted any type of sandwich with a salad. I also made sure I was getting wholesome vegetables in my meal. Just to clarify, this doesn’t include iceberg lettuce and a couple of slices of cucumber. I’m talking about hearty vegetables, like spinach, rocket, or other nutrient packed leafy greens. Broccoli, green beans, carrots, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, zucchini, and sweet potato are good options (and there are plenty of others.) You can steam some of these to have as a side dish with your salad/sandwich, or you can just have them raw, either on your salad or on the side.
One other thing I did was to make sure I was getting some healthy fats. This includes putting some good quality olive oil on my salad, having some avocado, or adding seeds/nuts to my meal. These all provide the “good” fats to your meal and help you stay full for longer.
Finally, I made sure to have some lean protein. If you’re a meat eater, this can be turkey, chicken, or fish. If you’re a vegetarian, this can be low-fat cheeses or tofu. Just like fats, protein also helps you stay full longer.
Sweet Tooth
Now, regarding what I said about not having sweets, candy, cookies, etc right after eating, here is what I found. If I really needed to have something sugary, I waited until a couple of hours after I had my lunch before I indulged. By doing this, I was giving my lunch a chance to digest a bit and my blood sugar levels a chance to stabilize before feeding sugar into my body.
Now, I have to just say a quick piece here about sweets. If you’re trying to follow a healthy eating plan to lose weight, just be a healthy person, or for any other reason, sugary things should not be a big part of your daily diet. This includes sugary drinks…even fruit juice.
Blood Sugar Levels
Why does eating high carb (especially low quality carb) and sugary things make you tired? The short answer to this is that these things all hit the blood stream really quickly and heavily, causing the blood sugar levels to increase rapidly. This makes the body give out insulin to help control the blood sugar levels. Because the blood sugar levels were sent so high, the amount of insulin given out is more than what is necessary to control it, and therefore, it brings the blood sugar levels down to an even lower level than they were at before you ate anything.
Where does that leave you? Tired. And probably wanting more food and/or caffeine to compensate for that.
This is not a healthy cycle to put your body through on a daily basis.
In Summary
The things I’ve talked about in this article should actually apply to all of your meals. If you follow these principles, you will have more energy, feel happier, be healthier, and lose weight. Even if you’re happy with your current weight, if you’re not eating like this now and you change your habits to follow these principles, you’ll probably lose a few pounds.
To your health,
Kimberly
