Do you know the feeling, when you get really tired after lunch? You’ve just had a big lunch, feeling really good about yourself and you are ready to face an afternoon full of delicious work challenges.

And then it hits you! You get tired, your eyes start closing and you may even be a little grumpy.

Do you know that feeling?

Why does this happen? Well, the short story is that you body is digesting the food you ate and most likely you are experiencing a sugar crash. There can be other causes, such as just plain tired if you haven’t slept well in a while or something else that is nagging at your life.

But no matter the cause, what do you do in these situations?

I used to (I still sometimes) grab the first sugary treat I could find and down it with some coffee! I am sure some of you do or have done that too!

Unfortunately this is the worst thing you can do! If you are experiencing a sugar crash, then adding more sugar is like adding insult to injury.

But what can you do instead? Here are 5 suggestions.

1 – Avoid refined sugar. If you are experiencing a sugar crash, then avoiding sugar for lunch, will avoid the crash! Easy, no? 😉

2 – If you are still experiencing this classic fatigue, even without sugar, then maybe it is a different kind of sugar. CARBS! Carbohydrates are also a type of sugar and will also lead to sugar crashes! This one is hard to avoid, since the most common quick lunch is a sandwich! Try to avoid eating bread and have a salad instead!

3 – If you are already avoiding these two foods but you are still getting tired after lunch, then try to have a nap! Sometimes we are just tired and a 20 min nap can work wonders. So if you are in a position to take a nap, then do it! Even nodding off in a conference room at the office can work. A trick to avoid falling deeply asleep is to hold your keys in your hand. When your body is falling a sleep you will drop the keys and hopefully the noise will wake you up. At this point you should get up and feel more energized. Do a few stretches and you are good to go!

4 – Talking about stretches: a good way to get over the nagging sleepiness in the afternoon is to move! Do some stretches, go for a walk or take a fitness class! Your body will feel more energized afterwards! I promise you. So even if this is the last thing you want to do, give yourself a kick in the butt and off you go!

5 – If none of these things work, then try talking to someone. Maybe you just need a different perspective and change of pace or a friendly conversation with someone. People can give you so much energy, it is amazing. Try it!

So, what do you think? Can you try some of these? Do you have other ideas?

This article was also published on healthylux.com. I am a passionate contributor to HealthyLux.

http://www.healthylux.com/five-actions-avoid-drowsiness-lunch/