Health And Beauty

Lately, I've been down in the dumps, in a funk, struggling to get back to a sense of normalcy. I'm exhausted when I wake up. I'm downing coffee by the gallon just to get through the morning and I'd trade my right eye for a nap after lunch. Does this sound familiar?

Fatigue and Your Workout

It can be hard to get up and work out when you wake up fatigued and desperately wanting another hour of sleep. After all, if you get up at 5 a.m. to work out for an hour before showering, getting ready for work or getting the kids ready for school or both. You may feel like you've done a marathon before you've even dropped the kids off at school.

Sleep is important and we've talked about being well rested, but your workout provides your body with an energy boost that may surprise you. I've had those dragging days, days when I could cheerfully have shut the alarm off and rolled back over. But inevitably, when I've done that, I've regretted it.

Building Blocks

Your body receives energy from different sources. One source, of course, is food. Our food is fuel that provides the body with carbs, proteins and fats. All of these are processed, utilized or stored. Sleep is another source of energy. We 'recharge' as it were when we sleep. Our minds process and store information as well as converting short-term to long-term memory while we are sleeping. So, if food is our fuel and sleep is our recharge - what is exercise?

It's an action that produces an equal and opposite reaction. You think that when you workout you'll just get more tired because you are exerting a lot of energy, but what happens is that your body reacts to this energy output by - yes you guessed it - producing more energy. It reaches into the storage and starts the output.

Don't Skip Your Workout

Yes, you need rest and you need to eat, but you need to exercise too. Your body and your mind will be charged and ready to go and you may just surprise yourself with how much extra energy you end up having.

It's been a while since we featured Dear Heather here in the Fitness Blog and to be honest, it's been a while since we've been featuring a great deal here in the fitness blog. I think I was tackled by the same blues that gets everyone else. But we're back and we're going to do this together. A couple of years ago, we launched our Spring Forward to Action fitness plan around this time (the time change is coming on Sunday, March 9) but I think this year we're going to focus our ambitions on "Getting Back on Track" so look for that to launch this week. In the meanwhile, Momof1 asks the following question:

Dear Heather

Heather, I'm a mom to 1 child and I'm not facing the same challenges of all those parents out there who have 2 or more kids, but I can't seem to catch a break. This year, one of us is always sick. I feel like we've had cold and flu in the house since Thanksgiving and it doesn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. I have been trying to do a fitness program in fits and starts, I seem to be able to go a whole week great and then something happens or I'm up all night or I'm just exhausted and I can't bring myself to go to the gym or hit the treadmill. Does it get any better? Can you help? - Mom of 1

Dear Mom of 1,

First and foremost, don't compare yourself to other moms. This is one area where every mom is different and her experiences are different. Sometimes, when you just have one child, you think things should go easier than your neighbor with her three or the woman next door to her that has four. But life has a way of making things as difficult as they can be no matter the number of children that you have.

When it comes to illness, sometimes there's nothing you can do but ride it out. Taking care of your family and yourself is extremely important. Usually when we get a spate of cold and flu through the house like that, I start chain cleaning, like it is turning spring every day. The crazy weather of this winter has not been helpful either.

Also, take a look at your workout program, are you doing too much? Sometimes, on the days when you're tired, a 60 minute workout can be daunting. You might consider creating an alternate workout. For example, my general workout is about 60 to 75 minutes in length from warm up to cardio to weights. On days when I am fried, I have a 20 minute speed workout on the treadmill that's designed to ramp my cardio, but I can get it done in short order.

I hope this helped!

Heather

Do you have a fitness question for Dear Heather? Feel free to send it in; if I don't know the answer, I'll do my best to find one for you. Be sure to check out Lisa Pietsch's Body for Life Challenge.