“Hey, girl. I’ve got something to tell you!” Wouldn’t it be cool if our bodies could speak to us in this way? Sad thing is I already know what mine would tell me: “You’re not getting enough sleep.” “Good job with exercise, but you need to eat better.” “Sis, you’re not superwoman. Just say no.”
Although the body doesn’t speak in plain English like that, it has its own way of letting us know stuff. Think headaches, muscle tension, pain, upset stomach and lack of energy. Those are all ways your body lets you know when something is off. Check out these other clues that may mean your body wants you to do a better job caring for it.
You’re tired for tomorrow
If you feel like you could conk out in the middle of a work meeting, or you’re looking forward to a nap shortly after you wake up, you’re probably not getting enough sleep or you’re just plain ole’ overdoing it. “Excessive fatigue is one of those symptoms that’s easy to miss because we might chalk it up to just having a busy lifestyle,” says Vivian Jones, M.D., a family medicine physician at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Plano and Texas Health Physicians Group. Get more sleep. Still feel like crap? Discuss it with your doctor since a long list of things can cause ongoing drowsiness or fatigue.
You put the milk in the cupboard
OK, maybe that’s just me. Perhaps you thought you were cooking and, 15 minutes later, realized you never turned on the stove. Or you’ve found yourself looking for your cell phone while you were on it. That brain fog and lack of focus can be related to perimenopause, but it may also be a sign you’re sleep-deprived or need to stop and breathe deeply to relieve stress.
Your waistline (and everything else) is growing
Yes, many women gain weight as they get older. But packing on more than a few pounds probably means you need to improve your eating habits and boost your physical activity. Fortunately, you can lose weight with some simple changes.
You’re a hot sniffling mess
If you seem to catch everything that goes around — cold, flu, stomach bug, anything — that’s a sign your immune system isn’t at its best. “Our immune systems are built to try to handle physical, emotional and external stressors, but if you’re constantly juggling all those stressors without relief, after a certain point you’ll experience what I call ‘immune system overload,’” says Jones. Basically, your immune system goes kaput (or close enough). So you pick up this or that illness. The solution: Get your immune system up.