7 Reasons You Feel Like Crap

When entering a new year it seems like everyone's got resolutions; people want to lose weight, read more books, take time to themselves, and just generally make themselves better in one way or another. Along with making oneself better comes just feeling better in general.

Today, I wanted to go down a list of the possible reasons you may not feel your best, so that you can identify where to start in terms of making yourself feel better, more refreshed, and more capable of tackling all your grand 2019 goals. Now there could be any number of things going on in your life that aren't on this list, but even so, the majority of the times you feel less than your best could reasonably be attributed to one (*or more*) of these 7 simple reasons.

1. Lack of Sleep
   
   
   
   
   Our bodies NEED sleep. They thrive on it, and without it, they die. There’s no really concrete explanation as to why exactly sleep is so dang important to the human body, but we just know that without it, everything goes to crap.
   
   Sleep is the time your body heals, it integrates the new information you’re taking in, it restores and consolidates memories, and it also refreshes itself.
   
   
   
   
   It’s been said that lack of sleep has some of the same effects on your body that drinking alcohol does; delayed reactions, impaired decision making, and stimulates your appetite (and it’s not the salad that you reach for in those moments. Cheese and fried goodness is what the real cravings are, if you’re not a total psychopath).
2. Stress
   
   
   
   
   Want something that will wear you out, give you wrinkles/gray hair, and decrease your health and happiness in one fell swoop? Then you certainly are looking for stress. There are so many things that we stress about unnecessarily and stress is really detrimental to how we live our lives! Increasing blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety levels as well as getting your hormone levels all out of whack are just a few of the potential harmful side-effects of stress. And long-term, stress can take years off of your life.
   
   
   
   
   One of the things that I find so sad is that a lot of the stress people are under, are completely avoidable things! We’re all too quick, as a society, to take on a plethora of things that are unhealthy and unnecessary to our happiness and pretend that we need to do them.
   
   I’m a firm believer that there is a time and a place to say no to people, and protect your own health (and SANITY) in the process. The fast-paced life is all fine at first, but in the long run, will that really be the thing that makes you content? For most, I don’t think it is. It may be time to re-prioritize in your life. Just something to consider.
3. Dehydration
   
   
   
   
   
   If I had to guess, I’d say that 80% or more of Americans are dehydrated on a regular basis (and I’m totally one of them most of the time). This is something that I majorly struggle with. Most days I have my water bottle with me everywhere I go, but actually drinking as much as I should is a real accomplishment for me.
   
   Here’s the rule people: you should drink ½ of your bodyweight in ounces of water per day. And if you have caffeinated drinks, they don’t count towards your water-ounces (in fact, you have to drink an additional (whatever amount you had in caffeinated drink) of water to offset the caffeine!)
   
   
   
   
   Hydration has profound effects on your ability to digest, your skin health, your ability to clear toxins from your blood, and your ability to maintain your body weight. It also has an effect on appetite suppression.
   
   Start by drinking a huge glass of water immediately in the morning, and before each meal. That at least will get you rolling in the right direction, hydration-wise. I know that I feel way better when I hold myself to this rule and actually drink the amount of water that I should!
4. Diet
   
   
   
   
   The old-school saying “you are what you eat,” while somewhat exaggerated, can be somewhat accurate. Maybe better stated as, “you feel as good as the food you eat.” But really, people, if you eat junk food all the time, you’ll feel like a big piece of junk!
   
   
   
   
   If you really make an effort to eat fresh and healthy food, you’ll feel so much better! I can definitely tell the difference between when I eat chips, sweets, and greasy food in a day and when I eat whole grains, lots of fresh veggies, and lean meats. It’s a total no-brainer.
   
   And with cheaper food options like Aldi or Trader Joe’s there are so many ways to get these healthy options without breaking the bank. Your body will thank you.
5. Inactivity
   
   
   
   
   It goes without saying that you’ll start to feel icky if you don’t exercise. Not just physically, but mentally as well. My whole future profession is built around the many ways that exercise and movement are medicine. And it doesn’t have to be strictly regimented 6 am workout sessions 7 days a week or anything like that, but you just need to get out and move more days than you don’t move. The more, the better.
   
   Your body needs to get it’s heart rate up and pump blood to all the tissues and organs that you rely on! It needs to cleanse the waste from those areas and learn how to exchange oxygen for carbon dioxide.
   
   
   
   
   The CDC and AHA recommend 150 minutes of moderate intensity (or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity) cardiovascular activity per week in order to achieve heart health benefits and reduce your risk for disease.
   
   If that sounds unreasonable at this point, just do as much as you can, and work your way up! Even walking briskly is much better than sitting down all day. Get out for a 20-30 minute walk in the evening to start getting into the movement mindset!
   
   
   
   
   I know that I can tell when I haven’t worked out for a while; i get cranky and certainly less loving towards Bryson. I’m not the most pleasant person to be around and also start to feel major mood swings that aren’t like me at all.
   
   One of the most useful things I’ve learned about exercising is that it doesn’t have to be in a gym or a workout class. Biking outside is great exercise. The same can be said for hiking, walking, running, tennis, and even dancing.
   
   
   
   
   Find what you love to do, and what makes you happy, and you’ll never feel like working out is a chore.
6. Habits (smoking/drinking)
   
   
   
   
   I don’t have too much to say about this except that in PT school, I’ve realized that if there’s a disease or condition that one can get, it almost exclusively can be said that smoking either helps you to get it, makes it exponentially worse, or hinders your recovery from it.
   
   There are 0 good things that come from smoking, and one million bad. Feel free to message me if you want more information on this.
   
   In terms of drinking, I only mean excessively or overly often; there's nothing that feels nice about a wicked hang over.
   
   
   
   
   There’s no problem with having the occasional drink or even daily glass of wine. Some studies actually show that red wine daily is protective to certain areas of the brain and body. I’m all for that!
7. Need for Social support
   
   
   
   
   I know this is really cliche, but the world we live in can be a lonely place. There’s never been more instances of mental health issues or feelings of loneliness and depression as the current times.
   
   One third of the population has a mental health or addictive disorder, and more people die from suicide every year than homicide. If those aren’t staggering facts, then I don’t know what are.
   
   
   
   
   I really believe that so much of this depression and loneliness can be combated through human interaction and care. With so much technology and the multiple screens in our lives, we have less reasons than ever for face-to-face interaction, and it can really take a toll on you!
   
   Social support can change everything.
   
   
   
   
   I really encourage you to put down the phones, stop checking (and getting discouraged by) social media, and get to know the people around you better; it really can lift your mood and change your perspective for the better! 

Thanks for reading, I hope you found something useful in this post! Let me know if you think there’s something I missed, or would like more information about anything. I’d love to hear from you!