How to break through that mid-afternoon slump during the day

How do you break through the mid-afternoon slump? Our morning team weighs in

Maybe it doesn't happen everyday but sometimes you probably feel that mid-afternoon slump. So what do you do about it?

FOX 2 - The mid-afternoon slump is very real - especially between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Why?

In part because of Circadian Rhythm. It dictates a period of sleepiness in the afternoon. Your body isn't meant to be alert for eight hours straight, so what's the solution?

What does Deena's tuckered-out TV friends do to reinvigorate? Mostly coffee and naps, sometimes both.

Welcome to Ryan Ermanni's office

Deena: "What do you do when you feel the afternoon slump?"

"First of all I'm too busy to be talking to you right now," he quipped. "That thing right there."

Ryan points to his trusty Keurig coffeemaker.

"Little afternoon slump? A little afternoon coffee," Ryan said.

We also checked in with Kellie Rowe.

"Coffee in the morning and then once I get home I sleep in halves," she said. "A lot of us do. So, four hours and four hours. It's crazy."

Deena: "How do you handle it? How do you energize?"

"Naps," said Alan Longstreet. "Look at that couch right there. I nap on that couch almost every day."

Not everyone has a couch at work

"So when I get home, I feel that slump, I do nothing, I put down my phone and go straight to bed," said Josh Landon. "I sleep when my body tells me to."

Jay Towers has a unique situation - he balances two jobs - and keeps his energy up.

Deena: "Jay Towers how do you stay energized?"

"The greatest thing for that mid-afternoon slump for me, is I don't need to take a long nap, I don't need to power up on coffee," he said. "I put a show on and I lay down for 15 minutes. I don't even have to fall asleep. I just focus, shut my phone off, and just zone out a little bit. Even if I zone out for two minutes, it's a great restart for me.

"And I take about 12 showers a day - and that always helps."

Marielle Lue shares her tips for breaking through the mid-afternoon slump.

So we've got showers, tiny naps, big naps, coffee even water - but what about food? Specifically breakfast?

"If you're able to spread out your calories throughout the day, you're going to be less likely to have that energy deficit later in that afternoon," said Beth Czerwony, Cleveland Clinic. "So certainly, having again a mixed meal, so you want to have some sort of protein, some healthy fats, a whole grain for breakfast.

"That's going to be more likely to help you to carry you kind of through."

Sticking to balanced meals with lean proteins and complex carbs clean proteins and complex carbs can give you energy over a longer period

Since it takes your body more time to digest them. For example, packing a grilled chicken sandwich on wheat bread for lunch is better than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on white bread.

And staying active helps, something our Marielle Lou already knows.

"Get up, move around, go outside, get some fresh air, get some sunshine," Czerwony said. "Sometimes just having that disconnect from the computer screen or just from your workstation, would naturally give you a little bit more of an energy boost because you're up, and you're moving around."

"I do take walks around the building," Maurielle said. "And a little energy drink. I'm trying to get off of these, but they just perk me right up. I can run a marathon after I drink one of these - and I'm good."

Deena will chew gum to break through the slump. The physical act of chewing gum gets your heart rate going and increases blood flow to your brain. This wakes your body up and makes you feel more alert.