There are dozens of reasons that your energy levels are depleting. It could be as simple as you’re not getting enough sleep; or as extreme as a sleep condition such as sleep apnea. So, before we get too in depth with how to improve energy levels, we’ll have to take a look at the possible root causes. Keep in mind that these are just general overviews and if you’re experiencing a continuation of a lack of energy you’ll want to talk to your doctor.
Possible Causes of Lacking Energy
Depression
According to the American Psychiatric Association (ASA), depression negatively effects how you feel and can even effect how you think and act on a normal basis which can hinder your ability to improve energy levels. It is primarily characterized as sadness or a lack of interest in things you used to enjoy. In more extreme conditions, depression doesn’t only affect your energy level. It can also affect your overall functions whether you’re at home or work. Here are some common symptoms of depression.
- Sadness
- Loss of Interest
- Weight Changes Not Related to Diet
- Problems with Sleep
- Increased Fatigue (Loss of Energy)
- A Feeling of Worthlessness
- Lack of Concentration
In extreme conditions a person with depression may also experience thoughts of death or suicide. This tends to come from the exacerbation of feeling worthless.
Lack of Sleep & Sleep Apnea
When you think about sleep, there are many conditions that can be attributed to a lack of good sleep. Sleep deprivation basically happens when your body doesn’t get the amount of quality sleep it needs to boost your energy for the day ahead. Typically, getting less than seven hours of sleep is considered detrimental to health, especially when over a longer length of time.
In laymen’s terms, your body needs sleep just as much as it needs food, water, and oxygen to function every day. Why? Because good quality sleep can improve energy and restore the chemical balances put out of whack during the day. This means that your body and brain will start to not function properly in the long run if you lack quality sleep.
So how do you know if its sleep deprivation and not something more serious like sleep apnea? Here are some basic symptoms of sleep deprivation for you.
- Daytime Fatigue & Frequent Yawning
- Uncontrollable Sleepiness
- Irritability
Now, in the more serious terms, sleep apnea doesn’t just restrict your ability to improve energy. It can also cause other complications to your health and wellness. What is it exactly? It’s a condition where your breathing stops and starts in spurts while you sleep. There are three common types. Obstructive sleep apnea which is more common and affects the throat muscles. Central sleep apnea which involves your brains signaling. And last but not least, complex sleep apnea syndrome which is a combination of both obstructive and central sleep apnea.
Anemia
Something that may surprise you is that anemia, even though it’s a blood disease, can affect your energy. The condition itself is when your body lacks enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to different muscles and tissues in the body. Dealing with this condition can make you feel weak and tired. Not only that, there is good and bad news. The condition itself can be short term or long term and range from being mild in nature to being severe. So, you can imagine the level of difficulty a person can have when trying to regulate and improve energy throughout the day when they have this condition.
Hypothyroidism
Your thyroid is located just below your Adam’s apple. Hypothyroidism causes this gland to produce minimal thyroid hormone. When your body doesn’t get a sufficient enough amount of the thyroid hormone you can experience things such as a disruption to heart rate, body temperature and metabolic changes. More common symptoms of this condition are listed below.
- Fatigue
- Sensitivity to Cold
- Dry Skin
- Weight Gain (unexplained by diet change etc.)
- Constipation
In most cases, this condition is treated with a thyroid hormone replacement supplementation.
How to Improve Energy
The good news is that there are ways that you can naturally work to improve energy with lifestyle changes as well as through different supplementation.
Reduce Stress
I know what you’re thinking, reducing stress is not an option for you; right? Wrong, it is possible through many different forms and can really help to improve energy levels when they are depleted. The most used ways include meditation, journaling, and the process of “grounding”.
Meditation
Meditation is one of the more common varieties of stress relief used in today’s society. It’s a practice that dates back to at least 5,000 B.C.E. and has ties to ancient Egypt and China. Much to the surprise of those looking to start meditating, it isn’t about changing who you are. It’s more about awareness and perspective. How so? Your main goal with meditating is to work on understanding how to slow down and really pay attention to what’s going on around you. It can be a liberating experience and improve energy levels tenfold when done correctly.
This is not a practice that is mastered over night and can take some time to really grasp. Your main goal is to observe your feelings and thoughts objectively and to understand the root causes. By doing so, you can then work towards accepting them.
The best way to start meditating is to start around 5 minutes a day. You don’t have to sit cross-legged on a yoga mat to do these practices. You really just need a space where you can relax and focus more inwardly.
Journaling
Of course, if meditation sounds like a bunch of unrealistic hocus pocus to you, you could try more literal ways to reduce stress and improve energy. This could manifest itself in the form of journaling; with journaling being a general term. A journal could be a sketch journal, a written journal, a “vlog”, or any other form of journal where you get your stresses out productively.
Grounding
Last but not least by any means is the practice of grounding. While it seems extremely odd for some, connecting to the earth can actually be seen as beneficial. You can do this through literally sitting in the grass with your hands or bare feet on the ground or you could literally start and tend a garden. By “grounding” you’re taking your stress and anxiety and refocusing the energy in a positive sense.
Change in Diet, Hydration, + Exercise
Diet
If you didn’t know before, you know now. Your diet, level of hydration, and amount of exercise you do will significantly impact your energy. Whether that is to hinder or improve energy is based on you. So let’s take a look at your diet first and add some foods to improve energy. It’s been proven that there are certain foods that slow you down and certain foods that amp you up.
Things like deep fried goodness that you find at most fast food places is not always the best choice. But what can you do if you’re in a pinch and can’t cook? Make sure you have a decent amount of energy boosting foods on hand for snacks.
Some snack foods could include:
- Bananas
- Apples
- Avocados
- Yogurt
- Berries
Of course, if you’re out and need to get fast food, try to stay away from the fried foods and even bread if possible. Why? Because in most cases, the buns you use or the nuggets you eat from your local fast food place can actually bog down your energy levels.
Hydration
At this point, if you’re not adequately hydrated not only will you deal with an energy slump. You’ll also notice that your overall health is taking a hit. So how do you know how much water you should be drinking? There’s actually a simple equation. You take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 0.67. So, for example, a person that weighs 200lbs would want to drink 134oz per day. That would mean a gallon plus 6oz.
If you’re active and working out for an hour a day, you’ll want to add an additional 12oz per 30 minutes. So, if that same 200lb individual is active for 2 hours at the gym he or she will want to add another 48oz to his daily intake to keep up with their physical activities. That would mean they would need close to a gallon and a half of water on the days they work out.
Exercise
I know it may seem counter intuitive that exercise would give you more energy. However, it is a proven way to improve energy levels because of the fact that it helps keep your body working optimally. In most cases, three to five days a week of at least 30 minutes of exercise will do the trick.
Think Supplements
Of course, when you’ve done the lifestyle changes and are at your wits end there are supplements that can aid you with energy improvement. Some of the more common supplements used to improve energy include caffeine tablets and creatine (especially if you’re working out). However, there are other supplements such as MK 677 that can also make the difference.
- Caffeine Tablets
- A few things you’ll want to note when taking caffeine tablets or supplements of any kind is that they are meant to be a short term fix. In fact, in some cases they have caused things like cardiac arrest when overused. The biggest factor to that is when someone exceeds the typical dose which is about 400mg per day. In most cases, caffeine tablets are used to aid in the weening off of caffeine. This is because your body can naturally create its own energy if given the chance.
- Creatine
- Creatine is another option to improve energy; however, again it has some side effects to think about. The most prevalent is the “jitteriness” associated with it when you don’t actively work it off. This is why many fitness enthusiasts use it before a workout as they boost energy and speed. Not only that, it is a compound known to improve lean muscle mass and help those muscles recover.
- MK 677
- Last but not least is the SARM, MK 677 also called ibutamoren. SARMs are compounds typically associated with muscle gain and improved bone strength. However, some can do many other things including improve energy. That is one of the better attributes of MK 677. Keep in mind that much like the other supplements you use to improve energy, there is potential for side effects. You can find out more on the side effects and purchase quality MK 677 from Paradigm Peptides here.
So whether you sit in front of a computer all day and therefore don’t get enough movement in or your sleep quality is absolute garbage. There are still many ways you can try to improve energy levels. Whether that be through lifestyle changes we went over above or an addition of supplements.
The one thing you can’t substitute or skimp out on is knowing the quality of supplements your buying is legitimate. That’s where Paradigm Peptides can help.
Improve Energy through Paradigm Peptides
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