If you’re often asking yourself ‘why am I always tired and have no energy?’ then this article is for you. Read on to learn how to stop feeling tired all the time.
Learn how to fix fatigue and get your energy back
No matter whether you’re a busy mum, young professional or mid-life gentleman, feeling tired all the time is a problem that affects most of us at some point in our lives, or even numerous times.
Providing you don’t have a medical condition that is causing your tiredness, there are a lot of lifestyle changes and self-care tips that you can follow to combat the fatigue you feel and get energised once again.
If you do feel you have fatigue or exhaustion that cannot be helped yourself, then seek the advice of your GP. Otherwise read on.
Let’s banish those ZZZs and look at the ways in which you can help yourself to be less tired and get your life back on track once again…
1. Are you sleeping enough?
The most obvious thing to address if you are feeling tired all the time is whether you are getting enough sleep?
And, not only whether you’re getting enough shut-eye, but is your sleep high quality? Do you wake up feeling refreshed?
Humans are creatures of habit and routine and the same goes for our sleep. A sleep schedule is a great way to ensure you are getting enough sleep and that your body gets into a routine.
Simply make sure you go to bed at the same time each night and wake up at the same time each morning. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a day off or the weekend – make sure you stick to your sleep schedule.
Your body will get used to the sleep routine and you’ll begin to feel tired and drift off easily when it’s your bedtime.
The same in the morning – you may not even need to rely on your alarm to wake up once your body is in a sleep routine. But set it just in case!
Getting “high quality” sleep is equally important too, or you’ll keep feeling tired…
It’s also vital to make sure your sleep is high quality. If you are tossing and turning all night or constantly waking up and struggling to drift off again, then of course, you are not going to feel well rested in the morning. In fact, you’ll probably feel tired all day!
Make sure you have a good bedroom setup to promote a healthy sleep. Make sure you can shut out daylight and noise for a peaceful sleep. Ensure your bedframe, mattress, pillows and duvet are comfortable and of a high standard. They don’t last forever, so check out the manufacturer’s guidelines to see when each should be replaced.
For lots of advice on how to sleep better without resorting to pills from the doctor, read my article 10 natural sleeping remedies and tips.
What do sleep experts say about improving sleep?
Matthew Walker is a sleep expert who I’ve enjoyed watching on long-form podcasts such as Joe Rogan as he delves into the science and the importance of sleep. It’s always mindblowing!
Here’s a shorter video addressing some of the shocking things about sleep, but also sharing ways to improve your sleep, such as:
- Moderate Alcohol Consumption: While a small amount of alcohol might initially make you feel sleepy, it can disrupt sleep later in the night.
- Embrace Consistency: Stick to a regular sleep schedule, going to bed and waking up around the same time each day, even on weekends.
- Dim the Lights: Create a relaxing bedtime routine by dimming the lights in your home an hour before sleep.
- Cool Down Your Room: Aim for a slightly cool room temperature between 18-20°C (65-68°F) for optimal sleep.
- Don’t Toss and Turn: If you can’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get out of bed and do a relaxing activity until you feel drowsy.
- Limit Caffeine Intake: Avoid or significantly reduce caffeine consumption, especially in the afternoon and evening.
2. Assess your diet
A good diet is vital for all aspects of our health, including feeling energised and motivated each day. Without the correct nutrition, we can feel sluggish and lack energy.
One saying I always remember is ‘if you eat crap, you feel crap’!!
It’s so true.
If you have been eating a lot of junk food lately then don’t be surprised if you feel like junk!
Your body needs an abundance of plant-based food to thrive and it needs it every day to nourish your body with the vitamins and minerals required to function properly.
If you don’t fuel your body with the right food, then it won’t work at its best, and this includes feeling awake and energised.
Assess your diet and work out what’s lacking. Do you need to level up your fresh fruit each day or eat more veggies?
Feeling tired and low energy all the time? Are you lacking in iron and vitamin B12?
A deficiency in iron or vitamin B12 can cause tiredness and fatigue, so consider taking vitamin B12 tablets to see if your energy increases. If you are vegan then you should already be taking a vitamin B12 supplement to ensure your plant-based diet is healthy.
It’s such an important vitamin and must be supplemented on a vegan diet. It’s a bacteria that covers the Earth and whilst we used to get enough from the fruits and vegetables we ate from the Earth, we now sanitise our food so much that we can’t get it this way anymore.
“Vitamin B12 contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. It’s necessary to the normal function of the immune system, red blood cell formation and homocysteine metabolism. This vitamin contributes to normal functioning of the nervous system and normal psychological function.”
Learn more about your needs as a vegan in my article understanding your basic nutritional needs when vegan.
Experiencing unexplained fatigue as a female? Perimenopause could be a factor
Feeling persistently tired despite getting enough sleep? If you are aged 35+ then you might be experiencing the effects of perimenopause, a natural transitional phase leading up to menopause. This can happen for up to a decade before the menopause!
Hormonal fluctuations during this time can significantly impact energy levels, often leading to:
- Crashing Fatigue: Sudden drops in energy, leaving you feeling exhausted throughout the day.
- Persistent Tiredness: A constant low-level fatigue that makes it difficult to concentrate and enjoy daily activities.
If you suspect perimenopause might be contributing to your fatigue, consider consulting with your doctor. They can help you understand your specific symptoms and discuss potential management strategies.
Or you can try to manage it yourself by adding natural supplements like agnus castus (chaste berry) to your diet and exploring other natural remedies such as:
- Adaptogens: Ashwagandha, known for its stress-reducing properties, may help combat fatigue and improve overall well-being. Rhodiola Rosea can enhance energy levels, improve cognitive function, and reduce stress.
- Hormone-Balancing Herbs: Maca Root may help regulate hormone levels and improve energy production. Dong Quai, traditionally used to support women’s reproductive health, may help alleviate some perimenopausal symptoms, including fatigue.
Just do your research especially if you are already on medication that any natural remedies may interfere with.
3. Exercise for increased energy (yes, really)
If you’re not one for exercise then you might be sick to death of people recommending exercise as a fix-all solution for your problems, but there’s good reason, sorry… exercise is so important and it works!
Not only will exercise boost your energy levels and make you feel alive again, but it will help you to sleep better too, so it’s a win-win solution when it comes to helping you with your tiredness issues.
The trick is to find an exercise you love. Whether it’s by yourself, one-on-one or in a group class – try a few different styles of exercise until you find the one you love and you’ll stick with.
Don’t quit exercising before you get started…
But also be mindful that if you haven’t exercised for a long time, it may take some getting used to. So don’t rule something out if you’ve only tried it once and hated it, or felt exhausted after. It will be hard at first, but once you’ve built up some stamina you may even start to enjoy it!
If you feel sluggish in the day, then a quick 15-minute walk outdoors could be all you need to feel re-energised. Try it!
Eating the right diet and correct portion sizes, along with exercise, will help you maintain a healthy weight. If you are overweight then this might be causing your tiredness as your body is under extra pressure to carry the extra weight.
Learn more about why you must make exercise a part of your lifestyle in my article why exercise is so important.
4. Reduce stress
As the NHS points out, “many cases of tiredness are due to stress”. Stress affects not only your mental wellbeing, but your physical wellbeing too.
Extended periods of stress can leave you feeling fatigued and even result in exhaustion if it is not addressed.
It’s important to act upon stress and find methods that work to destress your body to prevent it from having an effect on your physical health, such as causing tiredness.
Our lives are pretty crazy nowadays and we are surrounded by things that are out of our control causing stress every day such as economic worries and pandemics.
We were already feeling stressed due to our increasingly busy lives, social media, and always-on culture, and now things have become even crazier and more stressful!
Plus we might have stressful jobs or stressful family politics or situations to contend with!
Learn to switch off and destress to improve your overall energy levels…
It’s really important to take time for yourself and switch off in order to feel less stressed about life in general and the things you have to cope with as an individual that cause stress. Learning to practice self-care every week and even daily is vital.
Stress can interrupt our sleep making it harder to drift off and therefore making us more tired.
One way to bust stress is to exercise and another is to talk to others about what’s bothering you. Sharing your worries can make you feel like a weight is lifted off your shoulders as well as help to put things in perspective with another person’s point of view.
If you feel stressed out then don’t suffer in silence. Reach out to your trusted family and friends for a good chinwag or even go for a walk and talk it through.
Check out my article stress management in a world gone mad for some coping techniques.
If you opt for counselling, you should know what you are getting yourself in for if you have very stressful or traumatic events to raise, and when it’s good for your mental health to stop. Find out more in my article about the disadvantages of talk therapy and how it can take over your life.
5. Have a glass of water to hydrate and re-energise!
We all know we should be drinking enough water each day, but many admit they don’t ever drink enough.
As WebMD explains, “If you’re thirsty, you’re already dehydrated”.
Did you know, being dehydrated can also cause you to feel tired?
Yep, fatigue can be a sign of dehydration. So grab a refreshing glass of water next time you start to feel tired or sluggish in the afternoon and see if some good old H2O helps to revive your energy.
Being dehydrated can make your blood pressure drop, resulting in poor circulation and reduced blood to the brain. This makes you feel tired.
Who’d have thought? A glass of water or two each day could be all you need to stop feeling tired all the time!
How to know if you’re dehydrated…
Not sure if you’re dehydrated? Here are the symptoms of dehydration in adults and children from the NHS:
- feeling thirsty.
- dark yellow and strong-smelling pee.
- feeling dizzy or lightheaded.
- feeling tired.
- a dry mouth, lips and eyes.
- peeing little, and fewer than 4 times a day.
If you’ve no idea how much water you need to drink each day then my article on how much water do we need to drink may help.
If you can’t stand the taste of tap water then check out these seven ideas to improve the taste of your water and see why I prefer to drink distilled water.
Final thoughts on how to stop feeling tired all the time
Feeling tired all the time with no energy is never a good feeling. It can leave us feeling miserable and unmotivated to work or to do the things we usually enjoy. If your tiredness is a result of your current lifestyle or happenings, then you can take charge to combat the fatigue with the tips above and feel great again.
As always, it’s the same things we need for an overall healthy lifestyle that can also stop us from feeling so tired all the time. These are a healthy diet, good quality sleep, stress reduction, enough water and exercise.
And, of course, if you’re already living the optimum healthy lifestyle and feel there’s something more to your tiredness then you should make an appointment with your GP to see if there’s a medical reason you are tired constantly. Or consult with a nutritionist who can perform a vitamin and mineral test to see if you are lacking in something.
So, next time you’re wondering “why am I always tired and have no energy?” check you have these five things under control first:
- Sleep
- Diet
- Exercise
- Stress
- Hydration
Before you go…
If you enjoyed this article about how to stop being tired all the time, and you’re looking for more healthy living tips, learn how to financially invest in your health and why strength training should be on your radar. Enjoy!
Are you on Pinterest? Please pin this to your boards to help others who are always tired with no energy! Thank you!
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I really enjoyed reading this post!
Up until 2 months ago I was up every 2 hours through the night, I was confused as to why this was,
I started eating healthier and keeping to a routine of meal times and exercise this helped my sleep alot.
Tiredness is a symptom of so many different conditions. Whether you have one of them or not, it’s important to find out if there are any changes you can make to minimise it, and this is a great list of ideas to work through, thank you!
Really helpful post!