I’ve been helping women in their 50s to regain their energy after burnout for over 20 years in my naturopathy practice and in that time, I’ve seen some amazing transformations.
Although every woman in their 50s and their specific health history/background is unique, I have noticed some common reasons many seem to struggle getting their energy and motivation back even though they have been making some changes.
So, I want to share these with you and also (most importantly!) tell you what you can do instead, to finally beat low energy.
1.Firstly we need to find out and address the underlying cause of your low energy
When it comes to regaining energy after burnout, it's really important that you find out and address the real cause of your low energy (and there may be more than one!) This will be different for everyone, and if you’re treating the wrong ‘cause’ then you're not going to fix the low energy.
With my clients, I like to look at all the possible contributing factors to ensure that we are able to identify the actual cause. My mantra when it comes to regaining is energy is “your body is unique, you need to listen to what it is telling you”
So, what could the underlying cause be? We need to find it out and then address it. It may be nutrient imbalances (or depletion), blood sugar highs and lows, or hormonal imbalances (think thyroid, oestrogen & progesterone, adrenals, low iron) or it may be chronic inflammation or from toxins (either from the environment or poor detoxification/ methylation) or it may be simply lots of stress causing adrenal fatigue.
How can you find out what it is? You can start by getting some investigations and blood tests done. A naturopath will ask you lots of questions, covering all your body systems so we can work out which tests would be best for you to have.
2. Secondly, we need to ensure that you are providing your body with the fuel it needs to create energy.
Let's face it - If you aren’t eating enough then your low energy won't improve. You need to ensure that all the required nutrients are included in your diet, and this means eating enough protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates. And we also need to cover the basics to ensure you have optimal digestion and remove any foods that can deplete the body of nutrients like caffeine, coffee, alcohol, sugary foods and processed foods:
For example: Sugar depletes the body of magnesium - which is vital for energy production.
What can you do? Start a symptom journal now that tracks your energy levels so that you can begin to see patterns over the day or week. It’s also helpful to track your food too, as we can start to see whether certain foods/ drinks or are contributing to your low energy. This is really helpful when you work with a naturopath like me because we can often tell what the underlying cause might be from this information.
You may notice a pattern straight away - time and again people say to me - I didn’t eat wheat for lunch today and my energy didn’t drop!
3. Thirdly, you must commit to a daily routine.
This is so important - this is how we gain momentum to make those jumps towards better health. Many women start off with a new routine full of enthusiasm but then something comes along and the routine gets dropped and they give up.
This might show as: starting each day with a few things you know will be beneficial for your energy such as : wake up, drink a glass of lemon water, write down some things you feel grateful for, then do some stretches, but then one morning you wake up grumpy as you didn’t sleep well and you certainly don’t feel like doing any gratitude today so you pull the blankets over your head and try to go back to sleep. You feel like giving up, self sabotage sets in and you can’t be bothered to do it the following day? We’ve all been there.
What you need to do? Find someone who has been through this to work with, and they can help you stay on track when those days happen. This is why working with a practitioner who has been through burnout before (like me!) is so helpful as we are there to keep you accountable. We know how it feels, but also, we know that we have to make it a priority to get back into that routine.
Need help? Reach out.
Hopefully this blog post has helped you see why you might be struggling with regaining your energy after burnout and also what you can try instead.
If you need expert help and advice then here are some ways I can provide that for you:
1. Check out my free guide 'Optimised Digestion for better energy' that will help you rule out your digestion being the issue. (You'll need to scroll down on the linked page.
2. Read my blog post How to get motivation back after a life crisis that will give you an example of my four-step process to staying on track with getting your motivation back.
3. Book in for a free discovery call and we can talk about what might be holding you back from regaining your energy and motivation and whether you’re a candidate for my Work with Me program.
