If you’re in your 40s and suddenly feel like you’re running on empty, you’re not imagining it. Here are some reasons why your energy can change during midlife, and why there isn’t always one simple answer.
You don’t just feel tired. You feel different…
Perhaps you wake up tired despite getting what should be enough sleep. You get through the morning reasonably well, but by mid-afternoon you’re reaching for another coffee. Things that used to feel easy suddenly require much more effort. Maybe you’re also experiencing brain fog, changes in your mood, disrupted sleep or simply the feeling that you don’t have the energy you once had.
You may be wondering:
“Is this just what getting older feels like?”
The good news is you don’t have to simply accept feeling exhausted as an inevitable part of getting older.
So, what’s behind the tiredness? Often, it isn’t just one thing. There can be several things going on at once.
Hormonal changes
Peri-menopause can begin several years before menopause, and hormonal fluctuations can affect sleep, mood, concentration and energy. For some women, the changes are subtle. For others, they can feel like they’ve suddenly been hit by a brick wall.
Sleep
Even when you’re technically spending enough hours in bed, your sleep may not be as restorative as it once was. Waking during the night, difficulty getting back to sleep, night sweats or changes in your sleep pattern can all leave you feeling depleted the next day.
Stress and the mental load
Midlife can be a particularly demanding stage of life. Work, family, relationships, caring responsibilities and the endless mental list of things that need doing can leave very little space for you. Sometimes you’re not simply physically tired, you are mentally exhausted.
Lifestyle changes
What worked for you when you were younger, may not work in quite the same way now. Your routines, activity levels, eating habits, stress levels and priorities can all change as life changes around you. Sometimes we’re so busy trying to keep everything else going that our own needs drop to the bottom of the list.
It’s important to remember tiredness is a symptom, not a diagnosis.
It’s easy to assume that everything you’re experiencing must be peri-menopause, particularly when you’re in your 40s.
But persistent or unexplained fatigue can have many causes, which is why it’s important not to automatically put everything down to hormones. If you’re concerned about your energy levels or experiencing significant or persistent fatigue, speak to your GP.
Your body is giving you information. It’s worth listening to it.
So, what can you actually do about it?
If you are are experiencing ongoing fatigue, the first step isn’t necessarily to overhaul your entire lifestyle. It’s to understand what’s going on for you.
How are you sleeping?
How are you eating?
How much are you moving?
How stressed are you?
What does your daily routine actually look like?
How are hormonal changes potentially affecting all of the above?
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all answer to feeling better in midlife. What works for one woman might not work for another, and that’s why I believe looking at the bigger picture is so important. If you are tired of feeling tired, you don’t have to spend the next decade trying to work it all out on your own.
My Health + Style Method™ is a personalised 12-week 1:1 coaching programme for women who want to feel more energised, confident and in control during midlife.
Together, we’ll look at the bigger picture - your health, lifestyle, habits, confidence and personal style, and create a realistic approach that works for your life.
If you’d like to find out whether it could be right for you, you can book a complimentary discovery call here.