If tiredness is affecting you and that holiday in Hawaii seems a hundred light years away...

Here are some simple strategies you can implement into your life straight away. Chronic Fatigue, Depression and SAD (seasonal affective syndrome), these symptoms affect more women than men, and symptoms can be much worse in winter.

Giving into fatigue can really ruin your life, disrupting eating patterns, sleep patterns, moods and relationships. Chronic fatigue leads to fibromyalga, and weight gain, its little wonder that depression goes hand in hand with fatigue. Winter can be much worse, lack of daylight hours and sunshine can lower our feel good hormones serotonin and melatonin, many women complain of irritability, tiredness and a general down in the dumps feeling during winter. Cravings for carbohydrates and rich desserts replace salads and fresh fruit, probably to offset our reduced levels of serotonin.

Health is all about energy management. The most important factors in increasing and sustaining energy are the two things we take for granted - eating and breathing. We can’t create more time in our day, but we can create more energy. Learning how to manage your energy will help you immediately feel better, look fitter, lose fat, and increase the quality of your whole life.

6 Steps to More Energy

1. Breath Deeper - Oxygen is our number one nutrient, when we are stressed and tired we tend to breathe very shallow and fast. Learning deep breathing techniques is one way to counteract the stress response .Deep breathing can cure headaches, backaches and insomnia, deep breathing also releases feel good hormones and lowers blood pressure. Just being aware of how we are breathing can make big changes in how we feel.

2. Drink up – Be honest, how much water are you drinking every day? Many women think that if they are retaining water, they need to drink less, but this is not true, the body will retain water if it is not getting enough. Dehydration is the most common form of fatigue, We often confuse thirst with hunger and sometimes when you think your body is asking for food, what it really needs is water. We need between 1.5 and 2.5 litres of water per day, more if you are active. Water carries oxygen and nutrients to our cells .Reduce the amount of caffeinated drinks you consume, having too many stimulants interferes with your adrenals, which help you cope with stress. Coffee is also a mild diuretic, so if you drink a lot of coffee your need for water increases.

3. Fat is Unused Energy- While energy is stored in fat cells on our body it doesn’t contribute to the vital energy we feel or have on a daily basis. In fact if we carry too much fat we actually feel less energetic and our quality of life is decreased. Energy in food is measured in calories or kilojoules. How much energy we store as fat depends on how much energy we burn in a day and how many calories we eat .However how many calories we burn in a day or how energetic we feel depends on the type of foods we eat, the times we eat them and the quantity. Don’t diet to lose the weight, you’ll end up more tired, if you are struggling to lose the extra weight, seek professional advice and beware of diets that promise fast results, they don’t work long term and will make you feel worse.

4. Food is Fuel – Breakfast is your most important meal. Breakfast starts your engine and will ensure you burn energy more efficiently over the day. .Sugary cereals or white toast are a poor choice and won’t last the distance, try a bowl of hot oats in winter, and stir in some stewed fruit. Including protein at breakfast is a great way to stop cravings later in the day; there are many options, such as an egg on wholegrain toast with tomato, or a protein smoothie with fresh fruit. My favorite for winter is roll oats and fruit, a warm breakfast keeps you in a good mood all day. If you’re rushed in the mornings there are many ready to drink shakes available, grab an apple as well and you’ve made a good start to the day.

5. Skipping Meals – Blood sugar highs and lows can create bad moods and head aches, leave it too long in between meals and it’s hard to resist the chocolate biscuits in the afternoon. Plan a nutritious snack for morning and afternoon tea, natural yoghurt with fresh fruit, or a mug of hot soup with low fat cheese on wholegrain crackers. Even if you are on the go, a small handful of nuts and a piece of fruit is a portable easy snack.

6. Exercise – Strange but true, you really do have to expend energy to have more .Discipline your self to do at least 20 minutes of cardio- anything that gets your heart rate up, aim to do this daily, it could be walking, cycling or swimming,. Just a small time investment in the morning will make a huge impact on your energy levels all day. You will get much more done, and you’ll sleep better too. Twenty minutes in the morning is better than a day of feeling depressed and tired. Keep this up for 3 weeks and you’ve formed a new habit. Don’t put up with the blues, if you are feeling over loaded, take time out to plan a dietary overhaul, insist on 20 minutes a day to exercise, get out and walk, if it’s raining don’t let that stop you. You deserve to be healthy so make it a priority. If you still can’t shake the blues, visit a nutritionist, a nutritionist will assess your current diet and help you make necessary changes to ensure you are getting all the nutrients your body requires to function fantastically.

If you still can't shake the tiredness use one of our hormone test kits to check your melatonin (sleep hormone) which naturally declines with age or periods of stress. A strong antioxidant, melatonin is a vital hormone involved in wellness and anti-aging, by testing for a deficiency you can correct your levels which will improve your sleep and quality of life.

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