Growing up we always had "tea time" around 4 o'clock- it was a time when you made a pot of early grey, sliced up some apples, bananas, cheese, and deli meats then dug in. Sort of a "snack-and-caf". So, what I mean by tea time crash is that at 4 o'clock I find my energy just sinks.
I can't separate if the "crash" is due to what I'm eating, or just my general schedule. However, I have had a similar schedule for several years and this "crash" has only been noticeable this semester. My schedule is wake up at 6, leave my house by 7, stay at school until about 3-4, and get home by 4-5. Between 4-6 (roughly "tea time") I am SO exhausted. I get home and literally just crawl into bed. I either nap or sip a cup of earl grey while propped in pillows trying to read. I put together dinner, then crawl back into bed until it's ready. After dinner, my energy levels are usually back up, and then I head to the library until 9, head home and in bed by 10.
For food: I usually eat breakfast on the bus, so that would be around 8ish. Lately it's been 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 slices of bacon (or a sausage), and a little nest of fried kale (cooked in bacon or duck fat). I sip on a coconut milk smoothie (2/3 can coconut milk, handful of berries, 1 banana, 2 c spinach, cinnamon, sometimes 1 raw egg) in my first few classes. Around 2 I eat a lunch of either shrimp and 1 avocado, shrimp and bone broth, leftover steak/pork and 1 avocado, along those lines (usually fits in a container that I measured holds a cup and a half of water, usually douse the whole situation with olive oil and vinegar). Throughout this period of time I drink usually 2 cups of tea (first one is black, second one is herbal). For dinner we have meat+veggie- relatively large portion of meat, plenty of veg. If we worked out that day, a sweet potato. I don't feel hungry throughout the day, but I do wake up hungry.
I do some kind of interval training 2-3 times a week (1/2 hour of jumping, lifting, sprinting), and walk about an hour a day for transport to school.
My question relating to tea time, is should I re institute tea time to get my energy levels up? Snack-and-caf so to speak? The caffeine part isn't as big of a deal, but the energy levels is getting annoying. I don't feel hungry, but I do feel exhausted. Is the nap a good idea to get energy levels up, or should I be trying to stay active during that time so that I get a good nights sleep? Anything I can change earlier in the day to affect this?
