Let’s talk about why we are experiencing low energy. I know this is something that everybody struggles with. I personally am struggling with lack of energy and you know when I struggle, I assume most other people are struggling too. I was doing my research and what I found out is surprising.
The first possible reason for low energy is sleep. I know it’s not that we’re necessarily sleepy. What we tend to do is have interrupted, restless sleep. Between worries, TV, and social media, our sleep is not restful so either we’re not going to bed on time or our sleep is restless. That definitely can be one of the reasons why we’re feeling a lack of energy.
Stress is number two. Being stressed out takes a lot of energy. Look at these stats, if you have mild stress you are probably feeling a lack of energy about two days a week. If you have moderate stress, you are probably lacking energy three days a week. If you have extreme stress, you are lacking energy four or more days a week. If you’ve experienced any of these levels of stress, you can say, yep that’s about right, These days are more stressful than what our grandparents went through and our great grandparents went through.
I’m sad to say the third possible reason to look at, is food. Believe it or not, food is an enormous cause of low energy. The reason for that is two fold. Number one, Many foods, processed or partially processed, have chemicals and additives. They do not provide us with the nutrients that we need so our bodies, as miraculous as they are, are machines and they need to be fueled like a machine. Unfortunately, what we’re finding is that the foods that we grab, the processed foods, the quickie foods, and the fast foods are either laden with chemicals that are affecting all of our cells, all of our systems and that are aiding the feelings of low energy. Also, they didn’t keep the nutrients they were “born” with. I’m going to challenge you to check the back of the canned goods in your pantry. I was a big canned good purchaser because they’re cheaper and you can buy a ton of them to keep a good supply. I remember this distinctly, because my kids were little and I just started to become aware of these grocery store problems. I was looking at my cans and all I saw on the label for nutrients was zero, zero, zero, zero. I was thinking, wait a minute, I’ve been giving my kids canned fruits and veggies because I thought I was being the best mom, and the best wife. Then I looked at the cans and there was not a single nutrient in it. So you know the items we are eating, that we may think are healthy, may not be: not to mention the whole foods. Everyone is talking about eating well and including a whole food diet. That is also a problem. The problem is that our soil isn’t as nutritious or full of nutrients as it was 50 years ago. What that means is the fresh fruits and vegetables that we’re eating, even if they’re organic, do not contain the same amount of nutrients as they did even 50 years ago.
I know it’s very disappointing and you may be thinking, why am I bothering? It’s still the top tier, the best way to use food as energy.
The fourth possible energy sapper is a sedentary lifestyle. I believe there are many people that prioritize movement as an added part of their day. Many of us, though, feel we don’t have time, are too tired or just can’t get there emotionally. A lot of people either work at home and drive everywhere else. We drive to the store, or to work. There’s TV watching, and phone scrolling. If you’re in the Midwest or other colder climates, you are less apt to go walking around in the winter time so we tend to stay in and “chill”. Believe it or not, you would think that not moving would give you energy because you haven’t done much but actually, not moving makes you more tired. That’s why there are certain exercises or yoga positions and postures that you would do in the morning versus doing at night because some will calm you down and some will wake you up. Definitely being sedentary and not doing any of this can sap our energy. While it’s wonderful that we have so much technology and we know so much, we’re evolving. This is good but the problem is while we’re using our brains, we are just not using our bodies as much and that is what is causing some of this lack of energy.
Number five is under a big umbrella, our mental health. It’s not just the stress but there’s depression. Even if you’re mildly depressed, it drains your energy. Watching the news, relationships and financial difficulties can cause depression. Have you ever been sitting on the couch or at the kitchen table and didn’t want to move? For a lot of us, that can last a really long time. It’s not a moment and it may not even be a day. For many people, it’s lasting, especially in the present world we live in. You just feel like, what am I doing, what’s going on, or why bother. So mental health is also a possible reason that you may be feeling low energy.
These are but a few situations for you to look at as why you may be experiencing low energy. I will be posting a Part 2 for remedies for these and other causes so stay tuned. The main idea is that all of the above are situations that can be changed. If you don’t like how you feel, let’s get to the root cause and make a change.