You are not tired for one reason
The thing to notice this week: not that you are tired, but what kind of tired it is.
- I get through the day, but there is nothing left for me at the end of it.
- I slept eight hours and woke up like I had slept four.
- I am doing everything I always did. It just costs more now.
Energy is not one system. It is at least four, and estrogen sits upstream of all of them.
It changes how your body handles glucose, so the lunch that used to carry you to five o'clock now runs out at three. It changes the architecture of your sleep, so you can spend eight hours in bed and get considerably less out of them. It changes how you regulate cortisol, so a stressful hour costs more than it used to and you stay keyed up long after it is over. And it accelerates the loss of muscle, so the stairs, the groceries and the long day all take more out of you than they once did.
Four systems, one hormonal shift, four different kinds of tired. They do not feel the same, and they do not respond to the same thing. Which is why the advice that worked so well for your friend did nothing at all for you.
So the useful question is not how do I get more energy. It is which of these four is draining mine.
Four sentences. Read them and notice which one is most true for you this week. That is the whole exercise.
- I am fine until mid-afternoon, and then I am gone.
- I wake up tired no matter how long I was in bed.
- I am exhausted and still cannot switch off.
- I can still do it all, it just costs more than it used to.
Energy: From Running on Empty to Steady All Day
Wednesday November 11 · 7:30pm ETI will start with why energy drops in menopause and what nutrition actually does about it. Then I am handing over to Kim Goodrich, Certified Fitness and Behavior Change Coach, on how movement restores energy rather than spending it.
Free, and open to everyone this month. Bring a friend who needs to hear it.
Everyone on the call gets the Energy Pattern Map, which takes the hunch above and shows you across a normal week whether nutrition, sleep, stress or movement is the one costing you most. There is also something on the call for anyone considering the December Jumpstart. It is worth coming to the call for, and it is not available anywhere else!
Save your seat- If you filled in the five-line card from last month and it told you something, bring that on Wednesday. Sleep is one of the four, and you may already know more than you think you do.
- The next SheSTANDS Jumpstart is Saturday December 12, 11:00am to 2:00pm ET. $297. Dr. Truc Nguyen joins me for an hour of it. If you have ever left an appointment feeling you were not quite believed, or not quite answered, this is the opposite of that. She will explain what is actually happening to your sleep, your blood sugar, your brain and your body composition, what is normal in this season and what is worth pushing on with your doctor, and you can ask her your own questions. Most of us never get that hour. mustardseedhealth.com/shestands-jumpstart
What was in this month's member edition?
SheSTANDS Circle members got The Steady Morning, a protein-forward breakfast made for this month's focus, which is energy, along with November's meal plan and prep guide.
The Circle Portal also holds the Steady Energy Bites recipe, the Stabilize Quick Start Checklist, the Menopause Management Guide, and Clear Mind, Restful Nights. New resources go in all the time. Members have a standing 20% off supplements and care products through my dispensary.
The Circle is a small room of women in different seasons of this, meeting once a month and talking in between. Founding member pricing holds for as long as you stay, if you join by December 31.
Join the SheSTANDS Circle