Why Am I So Tired?

By Sarahohm @sarahohm
Hey loveys,
Happy Monday!
I'm not sure how long this post will be, which is odd for me because I normally blab and blab. I don't have much to talk about really. I guess I'll start out by proclaiming I'm now on vacation for the next week... and by vacation, I really mean staycation. I always have staycations. We had planned on going south this year but C doesn't have a passport and I figure the money I saved to go south would be put to good use towards schooling expenses, so alas I will remain in cold Toronto this whole week.
I'm not sure what I plan on doing. C is gone from today until Wednesday night for work meetings so I'm literally all by myself for that time. No complaints here! :) I think I want to go to a hot yoga class... or maybe check out a Crossfit class. I know I need to go running, and on Tuesday I have to go and take a Math and English placement test for college. Other than that I'm a free bird all week!! Maybe I'll attempt a cool new recipe.. or two? :)
As you know this past week was my birthday week, my actual birthday being Thursday (Halloween), but we celebrated two weekends in a row and went out on my actual birthday to a Halloween Party at Williams Landing. It was an understatement to say that by the time Friday came around, I was exhausted. I only worked a half day because I had to go to Mississauga to get Dr. Lista to check the sisters and make sure everything was healing properly.. and then to get my face peeled at the Miracle 10 Boutique. Anyways - I had the music cranked on the drive from work to the clinic because I knew it would keep me awake.
When I got to the clinic, thank GOD they could put me in a room right away and I didn't have to wait. I would have fallen asleep in the waiting area. Funny story about that. It's HILARIOUS to walk into The Plastic Surgery Clinic and have every staff member behind the desk go "Hi Sarah!!!!!". I felt super important hahaha. Anyways... I had to wait for Dr. Lista for a few minutes and if my chair would have reclined, I would have been passed out when he got in. I almost fell asleep while Diane was doing my face peel as well.
When I got home I fell asleep for a little while, but wasn't anything I would have liked. I love naps. But for some reason on Friday I wasn't able to nap. I stayed in bed all night and C came to bed at like 10:30. I instantly passed out and I didn't see the clock again until 10:45 the next morning. I slept more than 12 hours... I was SO tired. It kind of got me thinking.. like always.. what exactly happens to the body when you get super tired?

I wish I looked like this when I slept in real life.


From my research, there are different categories of side effects that happen when you become too tired:
Emotional Side Effects - irritability, memory loss, difficulty speaking and depression.. which can cause insomnia which would lead to further exhaustion and further negative side effects. Sheesh.
Cognitive Side Effects - dizziness, blurred vision or mild hallucinations.
Observable Physical Effects - when you're overly tired your body can start acting in very odd ways, making you feel nauseous or leading to tremors. Long term exhaustion can lead to dramatic weight loss or weight gain as well.
The Unseen Effects - hypertension or heart disease are the two major side effects of exhaustion.
Other Concerns - in many cases, exhaustion is due to depression, lack of physical activity, an unbalanced diet or the overuse of stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine. If you eliminate these factors and the exhaustion still persists, you should definitely seek medical advice to see if something worse or deeper is going on.
For me... I have a couple theories. I'm tired often. This may have to do with my diabetes, which is a blood and hormonal disease and I'm especially tired when my blood sugars go up and down... not ideal. I notice that I get super lazy when I don't workout for a few days. After my breast augmentation I wasn't able to workout for 4 weeks... and ever since it's been kind of hard to get back into the swing of things... I mean as intense as I was before surgery. So there's that too.
All in all there could be a million reasons why someone is tired but the key is to always listen to your body. If you need a rest, take a rest. If you really don't feel like exercising, then don't. Or you can always sleep for 12+ hours like yours truly.
I'm going to go run 7k on the treadmill and do some weights this afternoon! I've done 4 loads of laundry, put it away, cleaned the condo and made lunch already... so a workout will be the perfect top to my productive day!!
Q: What is the first sign that you recognize, that your body is telling you to take a rest?
PS - My goal is to blog everyday this week!! I've been slacking in that area too.. sorry!!! :)