Fix an Energy Crisis

Feeling tired is a common complaint. If you’ve already ruled out illness, the trouble likely lies in your lifestyle. Putting a spring back in your step could be a simple matter of tweaking daily habits: getting outside more often, for example, drinking more water or meeting the recommended target of seven to nine hours of sleep every night.

RETHINK YOUR SCHEDULE:

“Let’s say you lean naturally towards going to bed late, past 1am, for instance,” says Till Roenneburg, a chronobiologist at LudwigMaximilians University in Munich. “If that’s the case, social norms [such as office hours that start at 9am] will conflict with your biological clock.” Central to how the body operates, your biological clock (also known as the body’s circadian rhythm) controls metabolism, behaviour and cognition. In a perfect world, sufferers of what Roenneburg dubs “social jet lag” would be able to adjust their personal and professional lives to match

The maximum amount of weight you should lose in

a week, in most cases. Any higher

loss can lead to severe fatigue due to insufficient

calories. their bodies. But if your timetable is inflexible, try pushing your sleep cycle earlier by absorbing lots of bright light in the morning and keeping to dim environments in the evening.

WATCH THOSE EXTRA KILOS:

Carrying extra weight is a wellknown contributor to fatigue, with obese people traditionally reporting higher rates of tiredness. Though the root cause isn’t quite clear, this lethargy is frequently attributed to sleep apnoea, metabolic issues and psychological distress. Achieving a healthy weight will help boost energy levels, but be careful to pace your efforts: overexercising and crash dieting are surefire ways to deplete your batteries

even further.