Getting Rid of Mid-Day Sluggishness
shailynn
They never tell you what you need to know.
I guess I’m not 30 anymore but I’ve noticed I’m usually exhausted by 3:30 regardless of how calm or wild my day was.
Any of you guys do anything to alleviate this? I don’t drink coffee and no I’m not going to chug a Red Bull.
Any of you guys do anything to alleviate this? I don’t drink coffee and no I’m not going to chug a Red Bull.
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No medications, (used to take vitamins but none right now), do not smoke and go weeks without even having a drink. I do drink a decent amount of Diet Coke, maybe the equivalent of 2-3 cans on an average day.
Probably not getting enough sleep, sometimes I have trouble sleeping as well.
I used to have a yoga instructor who made the class do that before every session and it made a huge psychological difference.
Other factors...
If you have a highly stressful job, then work on that (easier said than done...). That's something else I do directly relating to stress.
Cut as much shitty food out of your diet as possible (including the Diet Coke).
See if changing the times that you eat improves things. I can't do big lunches anymore. They knock me out.
Get a bunch of blood work done. Just in case it's something diagnosable and treatable.
Could this hurt me? I don’t eat breakfast and I eat a light lunch. In the rare event that I do have breakfast I skip lunch. I usually have lunch somewhere between 11am and 1pm and dinner around 5:30ish.
Yeah I’m guilty for eating processed foods when out on the road but always minimal. Like chik fil et nuggets and fruit or a few tacos from Taco Bell (only 160 calories each) or a McMuffin from McDonald’s and nothing else. Those are the worst lunches when I really don’t have any other options.
Shailynn said "Could this hurt me? I don’t eat breakfast and I eat a light lunch. In the rare event that I do have breakfast I skip lunch. I usually have lunch somewhere between 11am and 1pm and dinner around 5:30ish."
Possibly. I'd try having a light breakfast *and* lunch to see how that affects things. You may not be taking in enough calories to get through the day. Especially if you're walking several miles per day via your job.
Maybe your blood sugar is dropping too low by 3;30 because you are not eating enough during the day? Might help if you added some fresh fruit into your afternoon schedule, especially on days where you skip lunch.
Maybe your Diet Coke caffeine fix is wearing off by then? Maybe you could treat yourself to another one around 2;30 or so.
Have you been checked for diabetes and high blood pressure? Both are common in older men and either one could explain why you might be getting sluggish at a certain point in the day.
I am well north of 30 myself, but do not always have the luxury of getting drowsy during the day. I don't want to over-disclose, but let's just say that there were multiple factors in play and I've since taken steps to fix the issue. Now I don't get sluggish during the day anymore unless I have a very bad night or I carb up during a meal.
If you are not sleeping well at night, have you considered asking your doctor for something to help?
It might be time for you to get proactive, starting with getting some medical tests run (and medication if needed) while also making behavioral adjustments.
This is based on studies I have read about ZMA and several other types of supplements over the years. I have no experience using ZMA as my diet and other supplements I take daily give me adequate dosages of the three ingredients that make ZMA. You do have to be careful that you don’t consume too much zinc as it can be potentially hazardous to your health.
For a more serious answer, when I had this problem my doctor recommended some melatonin at bedtime to help get a more regenerative night of sleep. I don't necessarily get more sleep (avg about 6 hrs/night) but according to the sleep tracker on my fitbit I spend more of the night in "deep sleep" on the nights I take it and I can feel the difference the next day.
You don't drink coffee or I would suggest drinking a cup in the afternoon.
I'd stop skipping lunch.
I grind my own coffee and use a french press. Coffee is delicious, but estimate that I consume something like 300mg of caffeine per day. It's a wonderful pick up in the morning, but it slams the shit out of me in the late afternoon. Prevents me from sleeping and the cycle is even worse the next day. What's worse, the lack of sleep has a direct affect on sexual health and it's well-proven that testosterone is produced during deep sleep.
I mention all this because 3 cans of diet coke has about 150mg of caffeine, which might be capable of causing the same adverse cycle (although less severe than mine).
You could experiment by cutting out all diet coke for several days to see if it resets your system. A moderate amount of caffeine is okay, but becomes a problem if it prevents you from sleeping or causes massive fatigue in the afternoon.
I think I will try adding some fruit into my daily food and cutting back on the Diet Coke. I would like to totally eliminate the Diet Coke but I think that's impossible for me. I don't think my testosterone is an issue because I can easily get a hard on with a slight breeze.