Being tired makes everything hard.
Not only harder. Hard. Difficult.
Two tips about this. Two tiny lessons I try to hold in my head.
- Don’t get tired. (i.e., guard your rest like the sacred, irreplaceable treasure it is)
- Maintain. Damage control. Whatever you call the mode where you don’t spend your precious resources trying to get ahead. Save that push for when it’s got a better foundation. For now, just hold the line.
- Yeah. One more– remember this will pass. This now feeling is not forever.
And that final assurance is pretty close to the definition of Hope.
What do you do when you’re tired? Do you have a strategy?
~ ~ ~
I’m working on a list of low-demand lifestyle choices that have been shown to have a direct impact on health and weight-loss/maintenance.
- Drink lots of water
- One idea that’s worked for me is to fill two quart jars with water and leave them where I’ll see them throughout the day (I’m pretty visual, and this is a huge help)
- Make a consistent bedtime a priority– shoot for 8 hours before you need to got up.
- And shift your kids’ bedtime, too so it’s no closer than two hours to yours. Odds are if you need more sleep, they do too.
- Take a good multivitamin– or collection of vitamins. It’s easier than creating perfectly balanced meals
- Shoot for a full spectrum of B-vitamins, along with magnesium, zinc, E, C and D. Ask me if you want more details, but for now all I’ll say is that human bodies benefit from these vitamins at level way. higher than the 100% level of RDA.
- Eat breakfast. Every day. The more protein in this meal the longer it will last, and (studies show) the fewer calories you’ll eat later in the day.
BONUS TIP (but not everyone can do it): Go to bed hungry.
It will give your body a longer fast in which to burn available energy (with you being asleep for most of the process), and as a bonus, it will remind/motivate you to eat that really-important breakfast.
(Is your favorite tip here? Did I forget one? Add it in the comments.)