I seem to have no energy what so ever lately. I feel I could fall asleep at any second of any day, no matter what is going on around me. I just sat down to read with my little ones and yawned the whole time! When I do "chores" around the house I can go a few minutes and then I simply have to sit down and have a break.


I eat a pretty balanced diet, though it is low in carbs. I take a very good multi-vitamin (a prenatal since I'm still nursing my littlest guy 3 times a day). I can sometimes get a boost from a cup of coffee, but I'm trying not to resort to that to get me through the day.

I homeschool my children, and I want to have fun with them so that they love learning. I hate throwing books in front of them and making them do a book oriented school at home approach, that isn't why we teach them at home (we do so, so that they can learn at their own level and also to keep it fun and interesting to them). I want my house to look like I actually care about it... not like I sat on my fat rump while the kids spent the day tearing things apart

Any ideas?

Three things have helped my energy levels, which were pretty low:

1) sunlight and vitamin D3 supplements (my dr has me taking 1200IU/day now)
2) exercise, 30 min/day walking or biking,
and
3) sublingual B supplements (liquid, has lots of B12 and other B's) on top of my regular 100% RDA vitamins. The B's have helped TREMENDOUSLY.

What does this mean specifically? Are you truly getting enough veggies and fruit? What about dairy and protein? How much refined/processed stuff are you eating?

And a very obvious question: How much sleep are you getting, and how high-quality is that sleep? To go along with that, what's your caffeine intake?

I'd recommend calling your doctor so they can check for some of the obvious suspects like anemia, low thyroid, etc. Plus maybe do a home pregnancy test? Fatigue is a common first trimester symptom.....

I get like that when my iron is low (I'm anemic)....I would get really low in iron right after having a baby & while breastfeeding so I had to take a iron pill along with my regular vitamin.

Now I occasionally have to take pills if I don't include food that naturally has it.

Hehe.. peanutsmom.. no more babies for me, I got my tubes tied with the last little one, 4 sections were enough for me.. and I was always backwards with pregnancy.. I was always a ball of energy when I was pregnant, and my iron is alway high, even after hemmoraging with the last baby my iron was still above the normal level... thyroid may be something to look at tough


WarMaiden, I eat lots of fruit and veggies, I don't eat whites.. potatoes, flour (pastas, bread, etc), sugar, and I limit the amount of whole grain I eat.. usually only 2 to 3 servings a day (almost always 40% or less of my calories), I eat at least 3 servings of dairy a day and protein at every meal and often for snacks.

ETA: My iron was last tested 7 months ago (when the little guy was 6 mo), and it was at 12. I eat loads of broccoli and sweet potatoes, both are great for iron.

What about sleep quantity and quality?

Oh yeah sleep. We are usually in bed about 10, asleep by 11. I get up with hubby at 5:30 pack his lunch and usually go back to bed until 6:45. The little guy sleeps through the night but our 4 and 5 year olds have a habit of showing up in our bed in the middle of the night. Now, if it's just one of them, I can usually sleep through them crawling in (they often sleep with their heads at our feet... they think this way we won't catch them and take them back to their beds where they belong..lol), but if both show up (usually 3-4 nights a week both are in there), then until I fuss enough that hubby wakes up to carry the heavy one back to bed, I'm awake pretty much. So I guess sleep could be worse, but it could definately be better.

I definitely recommend having your vitamin D levels checked. I take 5000 iu's a day to get mine up to a reasonable level. Mine was extremely low.

So, on a regular basis, you're getting only 6.5 hours of sleep, and at least 3 or 4 nights per week that's very low-quality sleep. I think you've found your problem

It's going to be difficult for you to feel energetic or to lose weight if you do not improve the quantity and quality of your sleep. I would highly recommend training your kids NOT to come to your bed at all (they are really old enough not to need this), and also making your husband's lunch the night before rather than interrupting your sleep and getting up to do it.

Oh yeah, WarMaiden is right!

And to help you out.... My 4 yr old daughter was coming in my bed every night. I didn't want her to feel bad and think she "couldn't" come to me so I made a chart and stuck it on her bedroom door, with squares on it. Then I bought some star stickers and told her every night she stays in her bed all night (until it is light enough to see in her room in the morning), she gets a star. And after so many stars, she gets a prize (for her, a Polly Pocket). That way if she REALLY wants/needs me, maybe once every other week, she comes in my bed and gives up a star, but normally she is just excited to stay in bed and get her prize.

I agree with Warmaiden too!

yeah I'm thinking sleep is probably a big part of it, as is simply lack of doing things.

I do pack up my hubbys lunch the night before, just throw in his water bottles, and containers into his lunch pail, sit out his meds (if I don't he doesn't take them..even when I put them in a daily pill container thing) and pour him a glass of tea to take along. I'm up 10 minutes max, then I am back in bed before he is done showering and dressing. I'm sure he could put his own lunch together, but I feel it's a small token for me to give him of my appreaciation for working so hard to keep me home with our kids.

I do like the chart idea, I know it would work with my 5yo girl, not so sure with the 4yo boy... but I sure can try.

I know I need to get in more activity every day.. I know when I used to exercise ALOT I had lots more energy.. which doesn't sound like it should make sense.. but I'm sure you all agree it does..lol. I'm thinking I might try getting to bed a hair earlier.. maybe 9 (some nights it's simply later as hubby is out with our oldest for scouts and the littles wait up for him because he reads them their bedtime story and sings them each a song, which is very special to them all) and try to be alseep by 10 instead of 11.

Could you possibly have depression or post-partum depression? The symptoms can be confusing especially if you have never been depressed.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/depression/MH00103_D

My daughter, now 16, used to come into my bed every night too.. I explained to her the importance of having a well rested Mommy, and then we decided that if she needed to be in the room with us, fine, but we made a pallet on the floor.. She would come into my room and get on her pallet right by the bed and she was happy with that until she finally got old enough that a good night sleep was important to her too!! Good luck!! It is very hard to focus on eating healthy when you are tired!!