3pm crash every day

[ChiefRocka]

No matter what I get groggy and tired at about 3pm...every day. Without fail. Caffeine only makes it worse. Its so predictable I can sit at my desk and can look at the clock turn 3pm and start to notice my fatigue set in. I get that 3pm crash even after a good night's sleep.

It often makes hardcore training after work almost impossible unless I take a nap first (the nap cures this problem but I cant take a nap wherever I am.) Its really been my achilles heel for years now.

Anyone have this issue or have tips on this on how to overcome with?? Tried anything that works? I am considering cutting out carbs until night time, dunno. Any advice is appreciated.

[desslok]

Do you sit in an office/cube all day? This happens to me as well, flourescent lighting for too long makes me like this. Try getting outside at 2:30pm and take a walk outside in the fresh air if you do work inside.

[kusok]

I get that around 5-7 pm.

I think I will blame carbs for this!

[ChiefRocka]

Do you sit in an office/cube all day? This happens to me as well, flourescent lighting for too long makes me like this. Try getting outside at 2:30pm and take a walk outside in the fresh air if you do work inside.

Yea bro, cubicle work for me. And No fluorescent lighting here, just typical office lights. But I've tried getting up and walking around and doesn't seem to do the trick.

I get that around 5-7 pm.

I think I will blame carbs for this!

Every now and then I get it around that time too...but almost always earlier than that.

[otterakl]

Do you eat a heavy lunch? This can certainly have an effect. Also, as others mentioned, try walking around every so often and make sure you are staying hydrated.

Following that, if it is something that you cannot "cure" and is affecting your life, go see your PCP and get his/her input.

[joelash302]

No matter what I get groggy and tired at about 3pm...every day. Without fail. Caffeine only makes it worse. Its so predictable I can sit at my desk and can look at the clock turn 3pm and start to notice my fatigue set in. I get that 3pm crash even after a good night's sleep.

It often makes hardcore training after work almost impossible unless I take a nap first (the nap cures this problem but I cant take a nap wherever I am.) Its really been my achilles hill for years now.

Anyone have this issue or have tips on this on how to overcome with?? Tried anything that works? I am considering cutting out carbs until night time, dunno. Any advice is appreciated.

When I lived close to work, I took at nap after lunch for 40 minutes (since I slowed down my coffee drinking, this happened around 2:30). It was easily the best solution. Set a private meeting on the email and zonk out for a little while. Better productivity overall.

[ChiefRocka]

Do you eat a heavy lunch? This can certainly have an effect. Also, as others mentioned, try walking around every so often and make sure you are staying hydrated.

Following that, if it is something that you cannot "cure" and is affecting your life, go see your PCP and get his/her input.

Right, I've gotten every test known to man but no issues. I also read about adrenal fatigue and thought that was my problem and got tested for that also, but nothing. All my bloodwork from pcp, rheumatologist, endocrinologist shows no issues whatsoever! Its kind of frustrating.

And no, never eat a heavy lunch but my lunch almost always does have carbs.

[ChiefRocka]

When I lived close to work, I took at nap after lunch for 40 minutes (since I slowed down my coffee drinking, this happened around 2:30). It was easily the best solution. Set a private meeting on the email and zonk out for a little while. Better productivity overall.

Nothing cures it like a nap...but i really have to be comfortable to nap and cant just close my eyes in a chair and sleep. When I go home and nap, i wake up feeling supercharged. Only down side is I cant go to sleep til real late after that.

[thenaturalguy]

I get like this at school, usually around 1:00-2:30 I crash, it sucks and happened every day! Getting fresh air outside helps though...which is really weird!

[sunngodd]

Right, I've gotten every test known to man but no issues. I also read about adrenal fatigue and thought that was my problem and got tested for that also, but nothing. All my bloodwork from pcp, rheumatologist, endocrinologist shows no issues whatsoever! Its kind of frustrating.

And no, never eat a heavy lunch but my lunch almost always does have carbs.

An MD tested you for adrenal fatigue?

[ChiefRocka]

An MD tested you for adrenal fatigue?

Well he was convinced there is no such thing as adrenal fatigue and that it was a made up disorder...but I researched so many articles to the contrary, guess its something the medical field is divided on. Whatever the case, I definitely had the symptoms described.

The test for adrenal fatigue simply involves testing cortisol levels and a few other things. He ran a comprehensive blood test for me, all of which showed no abnormalities.

[rrbb]

would love to find an answer to this... by 2-2:30pm i CRASH hard. only have 1 cup of coffee in the AM... i'm struggling to work 8 hours since i started training 6 months ago....

hope you figure it out OP....

[mrpatrson]

I work construction and I am generally around fresh air all day, besides dust and crap. However everyday when I get off at 230 im tired as **** on the way home and it takes all I got to stay awake.

[quayleman33]

i get the same thing at work. but im lucky enough to have a job that permits me to take a nap if needed. thats if we are not out on a call.

[jrcoreymv]

I used to be the exact same as you, at 2pm I'd just become exhausted. I've noticed the last couple weeks (since I started IF) I've had much more energy throughout the day, even during my fast. Maybe it's a fluke, but maybe eating larger meals (~900-1000 cals) resulted in more energy for an extended period than when I was sucking down 400ish calorie meals more frequently.

It's 3:30 here now and I ain't tired at all. Just a thought.

[ChiefRocka]

would love to find an answer to this... by 2-2:30pm i CRASH hard. only have 1 cup of coffee in the AM... i'm struggling to work 8 hours since i started training 6 months ago....

hope you figure it out OP....

Right. I will be experimenting with different things and if i find something that works will post in this thread.

I used to be the exact same as you, at 2pm I'd just become exhausted. I've noticed the last couple weeks (since I started IF) I've had much more energy throughout the day, even during my fast. Maybe it's a fluke, but maybe eating larger meals (~900-1000 cals) resulted in more energy for an extended period than when I was sucking down 400ish calorie meals more frequently.

It's 3:30 here now and I ain't tired at all. Just a thought.

Sorry, can you tell me what IF is? As for the meals, so are you saying you ate a big lunch and breakfast and that helped with your fatigue?

[deadpool9]

When I lived close to work, I took at nap after lunch for 40 minutes (since I slowed down my coffee drinking, this happened around 2:30). It was easily the best solution. Set a private meeting on the email and zonk out for a little while. Better productivity overall.

This.
I used to have the same problem as the OP. (I work in a cube, florescent lights, not much activity though the day). So now at lunch, I go out to my car and sleep for about 30 minutes. Makes the rest of the day MUCH easier.

[RSS1761]

i use to have the same problem work from 8am -5pm then by my workout feeling drained. but I found the cure to that. I know wake up at 5 and train from 5:45-7 and in bed by 10 at night. My workouts are 10X better now im training early morning fasted.

[IraHays]

I think I will blame carbs for this!

Lulz but so true. Low carbing it for me meant an end to afternoon crashes.

[usawinston]

Do 25-50 burpees and the crash will probably dissapear.

[ParsonBrown]

I was having periods of really struggling with this myself before I lost weight...and then it continued after I lost weight, so I was really scratching my head on it too. I have always trained first thing in AM fasted, and I do believe it helps.

I finally figured out my problem. I was laying in bed for 6-8 hrs/night, but I was not resting. I had a wore out matress. New matress = no more afternoon crashes for me now! If the quality of your sleep at night is garbage it will mess up the day for you...

[TruStatement]

I dont have a job so I can pretty much nap whenever I want, but whenever I crash and need to stay awake, I just do some bodyweight squats, lunges, pushups, and jumping jacks to get my blood flowing and then I feel good. It might be entirely a mental thing, idk, but it works for me.

[jnycs]

What time are you working out OP?
I find that training in the morning really wakes me up. Some days I feel a bit tired from the workout, but it's more of a relaxed feeling then a complete knockout.
Try to change your sleeping schedule to make that work.

EDIT:

i use to have the same problem work from 8am -5pm then by my workout feeling drained. but I found the cure to that. I know wake up at 5 and train from 5:45-7 and in bed by 10 at night. My workouts are 10X better now im training early morning fasted.

This guy has got the idea.

[ChiefRocka]

This.
I used to have the same problem as the OP. (I work in a cube, florescent lights, not much activity though the day). So now at lunch, I go out to my car and sleep for about 30 minutes. Makes the rest of the day MUCH easier.

Yea, a nap is really the end-all cure to this problem. But it takes me forever to fall asleep if I am anywhere but my bed or am not drunk. I used to try napping on this couch in our office backroom and it would take me 20 minutes to get comfortable, another 10 minutes to fall asleep, then before I know it some noise outside the door would wake me up and I wound up more tired than i was before!

Sometimes when I get home around 6:30pm, i take a nap and wake up refreshed and energized...but then i would be up til 2 or 3am, then lose a few hours of sleep during the night then wake up tired again. If I had a bed somewhere to crash on during my lunch break, this would be my cure.

What time are you working out OP?
I find that training in the morning really wakes me up. Some days I feel a bit tired from the workout, but it's more of a relaxed feeling then a complete knockout.
Try to change your sleeping schedule to make that work.

EDIT:

This guy has got the idea.

I almost always work out between 7pm and 8:30pm during the week. I absolutely cannot work out in the morning because the morning is my anti-christ. Since i was a little kid I have not been a morning person and my energy doesn't come around until about 2 hours after i wake up. Forget about waking up before 6am, whenever I do I feel like sh*t all day.

Although this carb thing does have me curious...wondering if I save my carbs for morning and dinner and skip the carbs in lunch, if that would prevent crashing. Shall give this a try.

[TransientBeing]

Yea, a nap is really the end-all cure to this problem. But it takes me forever to fall asleep if I am anywhere but my bed or am not drunk. I used to try napping on this couch in our office backroom and it would take me 20 minutes to get comfortable, another 10 minutes to fall asleep, then before I know it some noise outside the door would wake me up and I wound up more tired than i was before!

Sometimes when I get home around 6:30pm, i take a nap and wake up refreshed and energized...but then i would be up til 2 or 3am, then lose a few hours of sleep during the night then wake up tired again. If I had a bed somewhere to crash on during my lunch break, this would be my cure.

I almost always work out between 7pm and 8:30pm during the week. I absolutely cannot work out in the morning because the morning is my anti-christ. Since i was a little kid I have not been a morning person and my energy doesn't come around until about 2 hours after i wake up. Forget about waking up before 6am, whenever I do I feel like sh*t all day.

Although this carb thing does have me curious...wondering if I save my carbs for morning and dinner and skip the carbs in lunch, if that would prevent crashing. Shall give this a try.

pretty sure nutrition timing has nothing to do with this , you said it yourself you've done every blood work , test known to man .
there is nothing wrong with you , you just developed a sleeping habit .
You say its hard to sleep anywhere else but home or a bed . Now if you were genuinely tired it wouldn matter where you slept your body will just adapt and go to sleep. Your habit not only involves the time you sleep but also the place that you consider comfy and not just any place . your home.
My solution to you would be to try to stay awake during this time as much as possible , get your mind off sleep and remove all "ideas" of sleep. Play an online game or something , hand held consoles or something like a puzzle etc . Im not saying get rid of a habit by starting a new one , just do this for a couple of weeks till your body gets used to the new trend. Its all in your head bro as a youngster you may or may not have slept at 3 but something made you get this habit.......be creative and try to stay awake . Habits die hard ....... Good luck.