Filed Under: Overeating
2 February 2024 | Written by Xenia Ayiotis
Tiredness is something we all experience, it’s unavoidable. We can’t escape feeling tired from overworking, lack of sleep, staying up late or all three.
Tiredness is one of the biggest triggers that causes overeating for most of my clients.
So why do we turn to food when we are anything from mildly tired, to absolutely exhausted?
Food gives us a boost of energy, it’s pleasurable and it’s there! Eating distracts us from the discomfort of feeling tired, especially during that afternoon slump or late in the evening. Whilst eating provides momentary relief, it doesn’t cure tiredness.
How do we deal with tiredness so that we don’t turn to food each time?
How else can we take care of ourselves in these moments?
Recognise
Many of us take better care of our phones than we do of ourselves! When our phone battery goes low, we recharge it or we turn on save-battery mode. Our phones give us notifications that the battery is low. So do our bodies, but in our busy, distracted lives we don’t always notice this and we continue to push ourselves. We don’t listen to our bodies. We dread feeling tired. The first step to dealing with tiredness, is very simple: recognise and acknowledge that you are tired. Name it.
Re-calibrate
Once you are aware that you are tired, accept that your capacity to do things is going to be lower than you would like, so reduce your expectations. Slow down a bit. Think about it – if your phone battery is low and there is no charger around, you will probably save your battery for important calls. Save your energy. Focus on the most important things and aim for small wins.
Accept
Acceptance of the feeling is an important step to dealing with it. So often we resist feeling tired because we want to get things done and crossed off our to-do list. The resistance creates more tiredness especially if it’s accompanied by thoughts like “Ugh I am sooo tired!” – thoughts like that will make you even more tired. Accept that you will probably have an urge to eat and you can if you want to but ask yourself: “What can I do in addition to eating?” Accept that you won’t be as sharp or as productive as you would like to be. It’s also important not to be hard on yourself or blame yourself for being tired, as this will only make matters more challenging.
Embody
Bring a gentle awareness to how tiredness feels in your body. How do your eyes feel? Perhaps your eye-lids are droopy. Is there a heaviness or tightness in your body? How do your muscles feel? If we could learn to stop fearing this sensation, we could start to allow ourselves to become familiar with it. Allow yourself to experience the sensation of tiredness in your body.
Practical things you can do in the moment to energise yourself are:
Stand up, stretch your arms and neck, move a little.
Go for a walk if you can.
Water – take a shower or drink water.
Go into nature, look at the sky.
Do a short meditation — here is one I have created for you. (Background ambience: Zapsplash)
Take deep breaths, bringing oxygen into your body energises you.
If you can, rest. If you can’t, make a plan to rest later. Plan a day of doing nothing.
Of course, you can always choose to eat. If you do, let go of judgement. Put the food on a plate and savour the experience.
Tiredness is a doorway, it’s an invitation to slow down, to take time to rest. Whatever you do, when you notice you are tired, try to treat yourself gently, in the same way you would care for a tired baby. Tiredness can offer us an opportunity to pause and give our frantic selves a break. Later, we can get busy again.
Wishing you well,
Xen
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