Boost Your Energy

Do you feel pooped all day? The solution might not be to get more sleep.

Carol Heffernan, a 43-year-old from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, regularly felt worn out from working, shuttling her two kids to school and playdates, and taking care of housework. But when COVID-19 hit in March 2020 and the kids were suddenly home all day and learning remotely, her run-of-the-mill weariness quickly turned into full-on exhaustion.

“All the extra responsibility and the mental load—it just added up,” she says. “I felt grumpy and tired, and it wasn’t due to lack of sleep.”

If there’s one thing many of us have in common, it’s that we’re tired. Doctors even have a name for it: “tired all the time,” or TATT for short. The solution isn’t always as simple as getting more sleep; nearly a quarter of people who get seven or more hours of rest a night report that they still wake up feeling tired most days.

A few weeks after her fatigue set in, Heffernan decided to drop everything and go for a walk, which she hadn’t done since the pandemic began. “I just wanted to be by myself,” she says. “I needed a break.” When she returned, she felt recharged and decided to make a habit of it.

Doing something active when you’re feeling sluggish will actually increase your energy, not consume the little that you have. In fact, researchers at the University of Georgia found that just ten minutes of low- or moderateintensity exercise gave study participants a noticeable energy boost.

In another recent study, people who committed to working out for 20 minutes three times a week increased their energy levels by 20 percent in six weeks. “When we don’t work out regularly, our muscles can become weakened, so when we do use them

in everyday activity, we’re more tired,” explains Dr. Yufang Lin, an integrative medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine.

Exercise also works its magic at the cellular level: The mitochondria—the parts of cells that provide energy to muscles—grow more powerful and numerous after aerobic exercise, providing a continuous source of increased energy.

Now, Heffernan goes for a daily 45-minute stroll. “The walks feed me spiritually, emotionally, and physically,” she says. “I have something to look forward to every afternoon. I’m in a better mood. And after putting the kids to bed, I have the energy to stay up and talk to my husband.”

Getting more exercise isn’t the only defense against TATT syndrome. Here are some other strategies to explore.

15 Minutes Off, 90 Minutes On

“When it comes to optimizing energy over the long haul, it’s about getting into a rhythm of periods of exertion and rest,” says Dane Jensen, CEO of Third Factor, a coaching company that helps people perform better under pressure. “To stay energized over the day, you need a 15-to-20-minute break every 90 minutes.”

Jensen suggests choosing breaks from four complementary categories: physical (walking or stretching), cognitive (doing crossword puzzles or sudoku), emotional (phoning a loved one), and spiritual (walking in the woods or practicing a religion). If you’ve been working at a computer, take a walk outside. If you’ve been doing spring-cleaning, sit down and call a friend.

“It’s just not enough to say, OK, I’m going to take a break every once in a while,” he says. “You want to do it intentionally and spend that time on something that’s actually going to give you energy.”

Make More Red Blood Cells

Fatigue is often connected to not having enough of two key nutrients: iron and vitamin B12. When you don’t get enough iron, you can develop irondeficiency anemia, which means your body doesn’t produce enough healthy red blood cells. “When there are not enough red blood cells, less oxygen gets carried to the cells to allow them to generate energy, which causes fatigue,” says Dr. Lin. Vitamin B12 is also key to creating red blood cells.

Because iron and the B vitamins are commonly absorbed from red meat and shellfish, people who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet are at more risk of deficiencies. These and other vitamin and mineral deficiencies can be identified with a blood test and treated with supplements and a change in diet.

Don’t Assume Mental Health

Some people are genetically predisposed to depression, and others

develop it as a result of difficult circumstances; rates of depression in the United States, for example, tripled during the pandemic, rising from 8 percent to 28 percent.

If you are dragging yourself through the normal tasks of daily living or are unable to complete them because of excessive fatigue, it could be a sign that you’ve slipped into depression. Other symptoms include loss of appetite and irritability. Ask your doctor for a mental-health screening. Talk therapy can help, as can antidepressants.

Careful with Those Simple Carbs

When your body digests food, it turns it into glucose, which is then sent by

way of your blood to all of your muscles and organs, including your brain. Your blood sugar naturally fluctuates during this process, and when it’s low, you can feel sluggish. A simple way to keep your blood sugar consistent is to eat a meal or snack every two or three hours.

What you eat can also affect your energy levels. Consuming too many simple carbohydrates—for instance, juice, candy bars, and white bread— can lead to an increase in blood sugar, prompting your body to produce insulin, which then makes your blood sugar drop. Instead, reach for complex carbs, such as whole grains and non-starchy vegetables, which are digested more slowly and give you a steady stream of energy.

It Could Be a Condition

If you’ve been unusually tired for more than a month, ask your doctor whether an underlying problem could be behind it.

One common culprit is sleep apnea, a condition that causes breathing to start and stop throughout the night, often rousing sufferers from deep sleep multiple times a night. The condition can also lead to other issues, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Sleep apnea affects more than 20 percent of Americans—and those numbers are on the rise, likely because of growing rates of obesity. It can be treated with a machine that pushes pressurized air into the nose or mouth during the night to make sure airways stay open.

Another issue to watch for is hypothyroidism, which affects about 5 percent of the population and almost always includes tiredness as a symptom. The condition is caused when the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck, produces too few hormones.

“Thyroid hormones control your metabolism, which is like the engine in your car,” says Dr. Lin. “When your engine runs too low, the car drives too slowly.” Hypothyroidism may also result in weight gain, slow movement and speech, and sensitivity to cold. The condition is most common in women over 60 and can be treated with medication.