The Energy Edit: Why You’re Tired (Even When You’re Doing Everything Right)

Eating well, exercising, taking your vitamins — and still exhausted? Five things worth looking at before you reach for another coffee.

You eat pretty well. You make an effort to exercise. You try to get enough sleep. You may even have a cupboard full of supplements.

So why do you still feel exhausted?

Perhaps it’s that familiar 3pm slump, when the thought of tackling another email feels like climbing a mountain. Or the feeling that you need two coffees before you can face the day.

Maybe you’re getting eight hours in bed but waking up as though you’ve barely slept.

Sound familiar?

Here’s something I often tell my clients: Feeling tired isn’t necessarily a sign that you need to try harder. Sometimes you need to look at what’s really going on.

Our energy is influenced by far more than how many hours we spend in bed. What we eat, how we sleep, our hormones, stress levels and nutritional status all play a part.

And often, it’s not just one thing.

Here are five places I’d start looking.

1. Is your breakfast setting you up for an afternoon slump?

Ever felt perfectly energetic after breakfast, only to be ready for a nap a couple of hours later?

What and when we eat can influence how we feel throughout the day.

A breakfast of toast and jam, a croissant or just coffee might keep you going for a while, but it may not provide the sustained energy or satisfaction you need to get through a busy morning.

Meals containing refined carbohydrates without much protein or fibre can cause a relatively rapid rise and fall in blood glucose. For some people, this may contribute to hunger or that familiar dip in energy.

Of course, not every afternoon slump is caused by blood sugar. But your breakfast is an easy place to experiment.

Try this: Give your breakfast a little more staying power.

Greek yoghurt with berries, nuts and seeds is a good option. Or try a protein-rich smoothie if mornings are a rush.

And if you love your toast, keep it! Just consider adding something with protein and fibre rather than relying on jam alone.

The aim isn’t to cut out carbohydrates. It’s to put together meals that keep you feeling satisfied and energised.

2. You’re sleeping, but are you actually recovering?

Eight hours in bed doesn’t always mean eight hours of good-quality sleep.

Perhaps you fall asleep easily but wake at 3am, mentally reorganising tomorrow’s schedule.

Or you sleep through the night but wake feeling as though you haven’t rested at all.

Stress, alcohol, hormonal changes and an irregular routine can all affect the quality of our sleep.

And if you’re in perimenopause or menopause, you’ll know that a good night’s sleep can suddenly become rather more elusive.

Changing hormone levels, night sweats and disrupted sleep can leave you feeling exhausted the following day, even when you’re doing everything else right.

Try this: Rather than focusing only on how many hours you’ve slept, pay attention to how you feel in the morning.

Try keeping a consistent bedtime and waking time, getting outside for some natural light early in the day and making your bedroom a little cooler.

And here’s an interesting experiment: if you enjoy a glass of wine in the evening, notice whether you sleep differently on the nights you don’t drink.

If you’re regularly waking exhausted, it’s worth discussing this with your doctor rather than simply accepting it.

3. Could you be missing something important?

You can eat a healthy diet and still fall short of certain nutrients.

Iron, vitamin B12 and folate are all important for normal energy metabolism and healthy red blood cells. If your levels are low, fatigue can be one of the symptoms.

And sometimes the issue isn’t simply what you’re eating, but whether you’re absorbing nutrients properly.

Digestive problems, restrictive diets, certain medications and other health conditions can all play a role.

This is why I’m not a fan of simply adding another supplement every time your energy dips.

That expensive B12 supplement might be useful if you’re deficient. If your levels are already adequate, there’s little evidence that taking extra will make you more energetic.

Try this: Before spending money on another supplement, consider whether it’s time to investigate.

If you’re persistently tired, speak to your doctor about whether blood tests for anaemia, iron status, B12 or thyroid function might be appropriate.

Sometimes a little detective work is more useful than another trip to the supplement aisle.

4. Is stress quietly draining your energy?

We tend to think of stress as something happening in our heads.

But our bodies respond to it too.

And stress doesn’t always look like a dramatic crisis.

Sometimes it’s the constant juggling of work, family, ageing parents, appointments, deadlines and everything else that needs doing.

You’re managing perfectly well on the outside, but there’s never really a moment when you switch off.

Over time, ongoing stress can interfere with sleep, appetite and how energetic you feel.

Does that mean your cortisol is out of control?

Not necessarily.

Cortisol is an essential hormone that naturally rises and falls throughout the day. Feeling stressed doesn’t automatically mean you have ‘high cortisol’, and you certainly don’t need to rush out and buy a cortisol-balancing supplement.

Try this: Instead of adding another wellness task to your already busy day, ask yourself what you could take away.

Could you take ten minutes for a walk outside between meetings? Eat lunch without simultaneously answering emails? Spend five minutes breathing slowly before bed?

Simple practices such as yoga, gentle movement and relaxation can help with stress and sleep.

You don’t need an elaborate morning routine to start feeling the benefits of a little breathing space.

5. Are hormones getting all the blame?

Once we reach our forties and fifties, it’s tempting to attribute every new symptom to menopause.

And yes, changing hormone levels can affect sleep, mood and energy.

But that doesn’t mean hormones are responsible for everything.

Thyroid problems, anaemia and other health conditions can cause similar symptoms.

And sometimes several factors are involved.

This is why I think it’s so important to look at the wider picture rather than focusing on one symptom or one hormone.

Try this: Think about when your fatigue started.

Did it follow a particularly stressful period? Has your sleep changed? Have you noticed differences in your digestion, weight, mood or concentration?

Did it begin around the time your periods became irregular?

These details can provide useful clues when discussing your symptoms with a healthcare professional.

Two women can feel equally exhausted for completely different reasons.

Which means they may need completely different solutions.

The real secret to better energy? Stop guessing.

You’ve probably noticed that none of these suggestions involves buying the latest supplement, following a complicated diet or committing to a 5am morning routine.

That’s intentional.

We’re constantly being told what we should be doing to improve our health.

Eat more protein. Lift weights. Cut out sugar. Manage your cortisol. Take magnesium. Sleep better.

Some of that advice is excellent.

But the challenge isn’t finding more health advice. It’s knowing which advice is right for you.

And that’s where personalised nutritional therapy and functional medicine can be so helpful.

When I work with clients, I look beyond individual symptoms to understand the wider picture: their health history, nutrition, sleep, stress, lifestyle and any relevant medical results.

Together, we explore what may be contributing to how they’re feeling and identify the changes that make sense for them.

Because feeling better shouldn’t mean spending your life following someone else’s rules.

It should mean understanding your own body and finding a way of looking after yourself that fits your life.

Ready to feel more like yourself again?

If you’re tired of feeling tired, I’d love to help you work out where to begin.

I offer a complimentary 30-minute Health Transformation Call, where we can talk about what’s troubling you, what you’d like to change and how I might be able to help.

No pressure. No complicated protocols. Just a proper conversation about you and your health.

You don’t need another set of rules. You need a plan that works for you.

Tracey Darrousez

Registered Nutritional Therapist | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Health Coach

Nutrition Naturally – Paris & Online

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Please note: Persistent, unexplained or worsening fatigue should be assessed by a doctor, particularly if accompanied by other symptoms. Nutritional therapy can complement, but does not replace, medical diagnosis and treatment.

References & Further Reading

1. Reynolds AN, Akerman AP, Mann J. (2020). Dietary fibre and whole grains in diabetes management: Systematic review and meta-analyses. PLOS Medicine, 17(3), e1003053. Read study.

2. Kingsberg SA, et al. (2023). Global view of vasomotor symptoms and sleep disturbance in menopause: A systematic review. Climacteric, 26(6), 537–549. Read study.

3. Tardy AL, et al. (2020). Vitamins and minerals for energy, fatigue and cognition: A narrative review of the biochemical and clinical evidence. Nutrients, 12(1), 228. Read study.

4. Houston BL, et al. (2018). Efficacy of iron supplementation on fatigue and physical capacity in non-anaemic iron-deficient adults: A systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open, 8, e019240. Read study.

5. Markun S, et al. (2021). Effects of vitamin B12 supplementation on cognitive function, depressive symptoms, and fatigue: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and meta-regression. Nutrients, 13(3), 923. Read study.

6. Schleinzer A, et al. (2024). Effects of yoga on stress in stressed adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1437902. Read study.

7. Xu H, et al. (2024). Effects of mind-body exercise on perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Menopause, 31(5), 457–467. Read study.

8. Jansen HI, et al. (2023). Hypothyroidism: The difficulty in attributing symptoms to their underlying cause. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 14, 1130661. Read study.