In today’s modern and sedentary world, feeling tired is almost considered a norm. Many of us spend hours upon hours at our desk each day, heads bent toward our laptops and smartphones. Our schedules are packed with work obligations, family and home responsibilities, and if we’re lucky, perhaps a sliver of time to do something for fun.

However, feeling tired and fighting exhaustion are significant barriers to weight management. It affects our motivation to buy healthy foods at the grocery store, cook our own meals and move our bodies during exercise. If we don’t take measures to increase our body’s natural energy, we run the risk of letting this exhaustion consume us and prevent us from our full potential.

If You’re Too Tired to Exercise, How Can You Stay On-track?

Perhaps one of the most common areas where exhaustion affects us is in fitness. Our bodies require energy to perform movement and work our muscles so that we can burn calories, build strength and promote health. How many times have you put off a workout because you “just weren’t feeling it” or you couldn’t find the energy to get off the couch? Chronic fatigue is not only inconvenient but bad for our health. Our bodies are made to move!

However, an extra cup of coffee or an energy drink just won’t cut it. Your body needs natural energy so you can feel your best each and every day. Energy gives us focus, motivation and endurance. These are some natural ways you can boost it:

• Strive for seven to 10 hours of sleep each night
• Reduce stress and ward off anxiety
• Exercise on a daily basis, if possible
• Avoid smoking and limit alcohol consumption
• Eat a nutritious diet with limited or no processed foods
• Try to avoid added sugar in food/beverage products
• Drink at least 80 – 100 fl. oz of water each day
• Supplement with vitamins if you have a deficiency
• Spend time doing something you enjoy

Making Fitness a Priority

Even despite our best intentions, it can be hard to find the energy or motivation to get our bodies moving. Exercise doesn’t always come easy, and many factors are at play in our bodies and our lifestyle. Perhaps the trick is stop thinking about exercise as a chore and begin thinking about it as a tool our body needs to stay healthy. Fitness should be a habit and a priority!

It may benefit you to work out at the same time every day as much as possible. Do the evenings get a little busy in your household? Wake-up early and work out. Do you have a flexible lunch break? Take a walk for an hour or a half hour. By building a routine, you train your body to want exercise and become accustomed to the work. But remember, fitness is a journey you can always work toward. And small changes like boosting your energy levels can help!