How to avoid the 3pm slump

Yorky

Can anyone advise on the above? I know someone who feels tired, lethargic and listless between 3 and 5pm every day. They have a good diet consisiting of unprocessed wholefoods. Any ideas?

Oryx

Make sure they are hydrated, and dont have a heavy lunch. Those are the main causes for me.

beth-lou

Drink plenty of water and get out for a brisk 15 min walk at lunch time. That should help, unless there is an underlying medical reason. are they eating all their food groups?

Wurly

Well personally, I eat what I like. Come 3pm, I bring my slumber bag into the disabled jacks in work (no disabled people in work), lay out my blankies and pillow and have a good oul snooze for meself.

Usually 30-45 minutes does the job. It's especially effective when hungover.

beth-lou

Tri wrote: »

Well personally, I eat what I like. Come 3pm, I bring my slumber bag into the disabled jacks in work (no disabled people in work), lay out my blankies and pillow and have a good oul snooze for meself.

Usually 30-45 minutes does the job. It's especially effective when hungover.

Really? That's gas.

Canis Lupus

My gym is across the road. I usually spend my lunch swimming or something similar.

However, best advice is to be eating throughout the day rather than have one big lunch if that's what your mate does. On the odd occassion I have a biggy lunch I'm practically snoring an hour or so later.

Wurly

beth-lou wrote: »

Really? That's gas.

Yeah, honestly.:D

Im lucky to have a laid back workplace and a semi laid back boss.

It'd be rude to not take advantage, frankly.:pac::pac:

mikemac

As said already, don't eat a big lunch.
And sure go for a walk around.

If you walk quickly and carry a clipboard and have a determined look nobody will question what you are doing
They will all assume you are doing something important. If someone does stop you, keep walking and say "can't stop, top urgent work to do"

valleyoftheunos

Avoid a big meal and coffee on your lunch break. The caffine can lead to peaks and troughs in alertness causing sleepyness. they could try snacking on unsalted nuts or other low sugar things during the day.

Drinking plenty of water is probably the most important thing however.

NextSteps

Organise something practical and not too important to do around 3pm.

Miss Fluff

Avoid a stodgy carb-heavy lunch as you'll just get an energy slump. Try and avoid too much caffeine in the morning as well. Have a light, high-protein lunch and go for a walk at lunchtime.

SpookyDoll

Yep, deffo avoid carbs, I find specially the likes of baked potatoes, white baguettes things like that are terrible culprits.....!

Chicken salad and if they have to have bread, make it a small amount of brown!

Also plenty of cold water!!!

Sleepy

Yorky wrote: »

They have a good diet consisiting of unprocessed wholefoods. Any ideas?

Sounds like a healthy diet but are you sure they're eating enough? Not giving the body enough fuel would make you tire easily...

How're the sleep patterns?

leeroybrown

My suggestion would be that something as simple as having a banana and an apple at about 3pm could be enough to get past the slump.

towel401

would drinking coffee at exactly 3pm suppress the slump or will that just delay it and make it worse when it does arrive?

these energy slumps are a dose. i used to get them on the train and the bus home. usually i wake up on time or realise the slump is there and walk around to keep myself awake but one day I did fall asleep on the bus and ended up in Buttevant

Jack B. Badd

I find having something like a cereal bar or a piece of fruit in the afternoon when I feel I'm starting to crash can help enormously. Slow release energy foods are probably best as if you have sugar or caffeine you'll probably just crash again within an hour or so...

Splendour

Protein every 2 hours is the best way to keep any tiredness at bay.Big meals not good...

Lady Lainy

a protein bar or a yogurt with lecithin graduals mixed into it,

its made from soya its high protein, and has a pretty nice flavor and texture when mixed into a yogurt, it'll tie u over till your dinner that evening.

kelle

Definitely go out for a walk during lunchtime. It makes you feel refreshed and the day doesn't appear as long (ingredient for tiredness!). I think it's also best to just have dinner, dessert can be heavy and make you feel lethargic. Does this person work in a sedentary or active job? I have a job where i'm on my feet the whole time which helps. I'm not really sure what he/she could do if in a sedentary job, maybe get up every 15 minutes and walk around if allowed?

Reesy

I have the same problem. When it occurs, I combat it by horsing chocolate into my gob.

I've managed to stop it happening most of the time by a) getting fit and b) reducing my sugar intake at breakfast.

Zapho

Hey OP. Sorry, I didn't have time to read all the replies so sorry if this has been mentioned...but I do suffer badly from the 3pm slump too. I'm useless at work at that time!

So what I do is avoid eating too much at lunch time. Instead of buying rolls/baps/sandwiches I tend to make my own. Once I stopped buying those, things improved slightly. But recently I also stopped eating white bread, switched to whole grain brown and this so far has been the best thing!

And like already said, drink plenty of water too.