You wake up in the morning – you feel as you haven’t got enough sleep. You work through your 9 to 5 shift – you feel sleepy. You get back home thinking that you are going to do so many stuff, but you are simply too tired to do anything but put on yoga pants and wrap yourself in a cozy blanket. Is this normal? No, but many of us have started embracing fatigue as a regular part of life.

Do you want to know a secret? It doesn’t have to be that way. By getting to the root of the problem, you may learn how to fight it most efficiently and regain the energy that belongs to you. We’ll help you by naming ten potential causes of lethargy and ways to fight them.

Dehydration – Drink water

You may wonder what does dehydration have to do with lethargy, but these two are very closely related. Without adequate hydration, your body may experience muscle soreness and sluggishness. It takes only 3 percent loss of weight due to dehydration to reduce performance level by a 10 percent.

Many people are not aware of how much water should they be drinking, and they grab a glass only when they feel thirsty. However, you should know that when you feel the thirst, you are already dehydrated.

Some general guidelines say that women should drink eight glasses of water during the day, while men should have ten. When you are doing some tedious physical activities or when it is very hot outside, you should drink even more.

Poor nutrition – Eat better

“You are what you eat” expression comes from the profound impact our diet has on our bodies and feelings. There are certain foods and dietary habits that can contribute, if not directly cause, lethargy.

A junk food diet, for example, is high in trans and saturated fats and packed with added sugars and processed foods, all of which can sap your energy.

Certain deficiencies can make you more tired. Make sure your diet always includes foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Sleep deprivation – Sleep more

Skipping sleep even for one night can make you lose focus, cause flawed hand-eye coordination, and change your mood. If this happens night after night, you should rethink the attention you are devoting to your sleep.

To get your seven to nine hours of sleep per night you should create a routine (go to bed and get up at the same time every day), be active during the day, and try relaxing activities (reading, a hot bath, yoga, deep breathing, etc.) before going to bed.

Sleep apnea and other sleep disorders – Improve sleep quality

Sleep disorders, such as sleep apnea, insomnia, and restless leg syndrome can all affect the quality of life. One of the ways they are doing that is by making you tired.

Many of these disorders require medical treatment, but can also be alleviated by improving the quality of your sleep. You can do that by getting a supporting mattress and pillow, sleeping in a comfortable position, improving your daytime habits, and creating an optimal sleeping environment.

Poor blood circulation – Get your blood flowing

Poor blood circulation is not a problem that can be ignored since it can lead to edema, fatigue, and other health issues. Common symptoms of inadequate blood flow are muscle cramps, cold hands, and tingling in the limbs.

Exercising is the number one thing you can do to get your blood flowing. It is followed by a balanced diet, massages, and various natural supplements.

Amino acids are a good way to promote healthy blood circulation throughout your entire body. The numerous antioxidant effects enhance the body’s energy production process, and the fatigue is minimized.

Stress – Learn to manage stress

Stress is a vicious energy killer, and if you are exposed to it for weeks or even months, it will manifest through physical consequences, which include lethargy.

There are many ways stress causes fatigue, including decreasing thyroid hormones and shutting down the prefrontal cortex.

Some of the successful strategies to manage stress are lowering your caffeine intake, minimizing digital distractions, optimizing your sleep, meditation, sports, socializing, and yoga.

Vitamin D deficiency – Catch the sun

Up to 50 percent of the general population has vitamin D deficiency. While researchers are still debating the role of this vitamin in chronic fatigue, we do know that if you are lack vitamin D and suffer chronic fatigue, you can experience mild relief after appropriate supplementation, but this is still something that needs to be consulted with a doctor.

Until then, the most natural way to replenish with vitamin D is to spend time outside and get a healthy amount of sun exposure.

Lack of oxygen – breathe deeply

If you often get weak, dizzy, and tired, your body may not be getting enough oxygen. The fatigue that is associated with low oxygen levels can make you feel exhausted. This happens because your lungs are not inhaling and exhaling the air properly.

Practicing taking deep breaths and exhaling slowly can help you if this condition is not severe. However, if the symptoms are very concerning you can try with a portable oxygen mask.

Lifestyle factors – Get your life in order

As with many other health problems, your lifestyle can cause or worsen an existing condition. Some of the factors that can put you at risk of lethargy are lack of physical activity, boredom, using alcohol or drugs on a regular basis, certain medications, obesity, sedentary behavior, and grief.

As you see, many of these factors are something you can directly influence and change them with the power of your will.

A medical condition – Pay your doctor a visit

Many medical conditions can cause chronic fatigue, including anemia, eating disorders, autoimmune disorders, infections, arthritis, fibromyalgia, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, pulmonary disease, and mental health issues.

These are not conditions that have strictly at-home remedies. If you suspect that you might have one of them, you should visit your doctor and do the necessary checkups. After that, you will be prescribed with a treatment, which should, consequently, help with lethargy as well.

It seems that modern day lifestyle has forced us to embrace lethargy as something common. How do you react when someone tells you they are tired all the time? You look at it as something normal, right? After all, the same is happening to you too.

While it is true that we have developed mechanisms and tactics to function under a constant state of tiredness, this doesn’t have to be the practice. You don’t have to put up the pain of waking up exhausted every day and trying to do your chores as if nothing is going on. Look at the list of these causes and treatments and start changing things, starting today.

Guest Post written by Caitlin Evans, Nutrition and Health Blogger