How old are you? I’m 43, and I’m starting to get that peri-menopausal sleep disruption. I’m tired, I fall asleep just fine, but my quality of sleep is starting to decline, to the point where I almost ready for afternoon naps. As far as I know, this is a normal part of aging. At some point I might just have to have afternoon naps, in the time-honoured tradition.
Don’t be dormant. Get up. Get something going. Don’t make excuses. You pay for your gym membership. Use it or you’re just wasting money.
That may not do the trick. I’d been taking a multivitamin every day that was supposed to supply 100% of my daily requirement of Vitamin D (400 I.U.). Apparently not; the prescription the doctor gave me is for 50,000 I.U. (once a week instead of daily, but still a hell of a lot more than 400 I.U./day!)
(ETA: Oops! Well this is Eva Luna, not Tom Scud, but the doctor told him the same damn thing anyway. The perils of sharing a computer…)
Instead of prozac, try zoloft. Also, if you have started taking anti-depressants recently, there’s an adjustment period as your body starts to release the pent-up emotional energy. Usually after about 2-4 weeks, your energy will increase again.
One thing that worked for me was avoiding simple carbohydrates. For lunch, I cut my carb intake in half (rice, potatoes, other starches,) and eating more complex carbs and protein (lean chicken, tortillas, veggies, etc.) This helped keep my energy peaks and valleys more level during the day. At night, I eat normally.
This is a very good post.
The reality is that there are pros and cons with every kind of approach to exercise and fitness. At different times in my life I’ve tried several different things, including being a very active five-times-per-week denizen of the gym. You have to find whatever is the right approach for you, for now, bearing in mind that any form of exercise, even if it’s qute light, is better than none at all.
Personally, I think walking is greatly under-rated. I go for an hour’s walk every day (I am lucky to live very close to a vast, beautiful public park that makes this option very appealing). Walking is free. You can do as much of it or as little as you want. You are exercising all your limbs as well as your cardio-vascular system, and getting lots of fresh air, and keeping in touch with nature and the seasons. You sometimes see interesting things and meet interesting people. You can take it at your own pace, and it’s easy to make adjustments: walk a little faster if you want to feel more benefit and push yourself a little, slow down if it’s a day when you want to take things more easily. No membership fees, no locker rooms, no special equipment or training needed other than a decent pair of shoes.
You don’t actually need a dog to go walking! Nor do you need to be listening to music the whole time. Just because we can take music with us everywhere doesn’t mean we have to, or that it’s always a good idea. For me, walking time is also time to think and reflect on other aspects of life, about work, about other people and so on. It’s also excellent creative thinking time. Many of the best ideas anyone ever had came to them while they were out taking a walk.
Combine regular (preferably daily) walks with an improved diet, and you can see real improvements in every aspect of health and fitness, mental as well as physical. On the food and diet side, I heartily recommend the books of Michael Pollan, especially ‘In defence of food’.
How old is your baby and is he sleeping though the night?
Taking care of babies is tough work and has caused more than one parent to be slugglish.
My one and a half old is very good with sleeping. Still, the day starts early with a kid, and we don’t really have off time in the evenings untill he goes to sleep at 8.30 pm. It can certainly be a contributing factor. But one that can’t really be helped…
Superhal, thanks, I’ll google the side effects of prozac vs zoloft. But I think I will ride this one out 'till spring, to see if the longer hours of daylight improve things. I guess it IS Grey January Syndrome and I’m not the only afflicted one; I guess I was too fast in thinking there was something wrong with me, just me, and that it had to do with the depression thing.