The Woman Who Confused the Fridge With the Sofa
Snacking in the late afternoon? It could be ‘fatigue craving’!
September 2019. 3 pm. Working from home
I take my hands off the keyboard. I sigh -should I say groan? — and mentally recall what I’ve been doing during the day since I sat down on the non-ergonomic chair at 6:30 am:
◾Breakfast at some point while scrolling down the email inbox.
◾Writing, researching, two sessions with clients, answering emails, one zoom meeting…
◾I don’t remember a proper break.
◾I’ve merely stopped to drink water, prepare some more coffee, and visit the bathroom.
◾I’ve even eaten lunch while tackling my to-do list tasks labeled as “it can be done in less than two minutes” or “it does not require many brain-cells” …
I’ve planned to work until 6:30 pm… but now, I doubt how realistic this is.
Immediately, I start feeling the uneasiness rising from my chest, the inability to remain focused on the report I am writing, and the failing attempts to sit still…
Soon after, the ‘trance dance’ begins
Over the next 45 min, I start a trance dance from the desk to the fridge, following the rhythm of some inner drum beats, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, at regular intervals:
🥁[drums]
1. Dark chocolate,
2. A Greek yogurt with nuts,
**Mental note while I return to the undaunted word document “I must go shopping…” **
🥁[drums]
1. A pear…
2. More chocolate… 3 more nuts
I scroll down the inbox — one of my goals this year is to reach Inbox Zero — Good luck!
I give up at the glance of 435 pending emails.
🥁[drums]
1. A cup of black tea to accompany the chocolate…
2. …and some sesame crackers
Opening the fridge for the fifth time seems to have the same effect on my brain as opening the Mary Poppins’ bag: It keeps me in perpetual excitement as if I didn’t know what I would find.
…even if, by now, I know by heart the content of my fridge shelves, screaming-for-a-refill.
4:15 pm. I give in
Caffeine and sugar do not play the trick anymore.
My head feels like flooded with molasses. Heavy. Sticky. Unable to focus on the lines in front of me.
My brain is firing signals similar to nuclear alarm sirens: “If you stop now, you won’t resume later (!)”. However, my exhaustion wins this round, and I just lie on the sofa for a few minutes, eyes closed, no cell phone, no laptop, no ‘anything’…
And in that ‘space between words’…the magic happens
I fall into that shallow snooze in which you can still hear fading noises around you, but you lose any notion of time and space…
Just 40 minutes and the food craving, the uneasiness, and the liquid lead filling my brain completely vanished…like magic.
… A mental note:
“What if tomorrow, instead of dancing to the rhythm of these inner drum beats from the desk to the fridge, I allow myself a break, i.e., a non-work space to recharge my batteries?
…The following day I tried again — this time far earlier; and again, it worked.
…And at that moment, the realization:
I wasn’t “hungry for food.” I was “hungry for a break.”
Not all the body’s energy sources come from food
Think of a car engine. When the overheating alarm goes off, you don’t refill the tank — already at 75% — and continue driving full speed.
You need to stop and let the engine cool down.
That’s exactly what your brain and body’s fatigue signals scream out for: a break, not fuel.
However, many of us do exactly the opposite, i.e., we push the pedal to the metal when the first signals of exhaustion appear during an insanely long workday.
In my case, the afternoon break usually takes the form of a short nap. Most of the time, I literally need to close my eyes for around 30–40min. Max.
However, these mental breaks can take the form of any activity, not only napping: It is totally up to you and your circumstances.
Some questions to best support your energy and wellbeing
✔️ Do you allow yourself to take time off in the middle of your working day?
✔️If so, what form does your break take?
✔️ If not, why not? Do you blame the circumstances, or are there certain expectations about productivity that prevent you from allowing it?
Last but not least:
✔️ Have you properly eaten enough during the first half of the day?
Your late afternoon energy crisis may of course also come from a real lack of energy due to insufficient or inadequate food intake.
Therefore, it is essential to balance your plate before starting to search for other plausible explanations.
If you would like to read more articles like this about nutrition, emotions, hormones, and making peace with your food, you can connect with me here 👇:
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