Parents (especially moms): Don’t give into the lie that fatigue and tired brain are just part of the territory as a parent. Past the first few months of baby arriving you should be feeling better. If not, then it’s time to evaluate. Here are some questions you can ask yourself.
What are you eating?
Are you eating a balanced diet? Look at the foods you are eating. Eliminate as much processed food, refined sugars, and caffeine as you can tolerate. Try to eat fresh. When you are grocery shopping stick to the outer isles. They tend to have your fresh, whole foods.
Are you drinking enough water?
You should be drinking half you weight in ounces/day. If you are sick increase your water intake to help flush toxins out of your body quicker.
Are you getting enough sleep?
Get to bed by 10 PM to take advantage of optimal sleep times for your body to follow its self-healing processes. From 10 PM to 2 AM your body is healing from the wear of the day. From 2 to 6 AM your brain is processing all that it had to deal with. If you don’t allow for your body to be at rest/asleep during these times it will eventually catch up with you.
Here are some things you can also do to help clean up your sleep hygiene.
- Keep your bedroom for sleeping and intimate times/relaxation. It is very easy to just throw all the I-don’t-know-what-to-do-with-it or let’s-hide-this-from-the-public zones of the house into your bedroom. Don’t. Keep your bedroom for sleeping. When there is clutter, it can create stress and increased stress can get in the way of proper sleep. Try to minimize the clutter in the room.
- Keep your electronics to a minimum or better yet completely eliminate them. If at all possible keep your electronics out of your bedroom or at least turn them off. The electronic signals that they put out can interfere with your sleep. This goes for light as well. Also an hour before you want to begin going to bed I would recommend turning off electronics. By viewing electronics especially when your body is winding down you risk waking your brain back up. Consider taking a nice warm bath or curling up with a paper book before you retire.
Do you have stress in your life?
If so try to find ways to eliminate/minimize stress.
Are you exercising?
If not get up and start moving. Find a friend or family member to help keep you motivated.
If you are doing these things and are still experiencing fatigue and tired brain you could have vitamin/mineral deficiencies, thyroid or adrenal issues, or a host of other things. Talk to your doctor, don’t push it aside. Get on top of it or you could be missing out on living a full and vibrant life like I have (8 years!).
Don’t wait until you’re falling apart and don’t have the energy to do much. If you have these symptoms or others and your doctor tells you you are fine, find a new doctor until you find one that will listen. Only you know what your body is telling you, and if you don’t speak up nothing will change.