Simple habits to help you manage midlife energy
How do we look after ourselves without running out of energy?
Can we nourish and support ourselves, and not let the hormonal rollercoaster derail us?
Managing our energy in the deluge of responsibility and the overwhelm of health information in midlife can feel impossible, but we can simplify in order to take empowered action.
Here are 3 crucial areas to explore.
You might be surprised by their simplicity, but they aren’t always easy to implement in our busy lives.
Overwhelm, space and boundaries
If you’re feeling overwhelmed how do you create boundaries when you don’t even know where or how to find them?
Stop, take a breath and write a list of everything that’s on your plate.
Not as a to-do list, but a list of EVERYTHING. All the thoughts in your head and the things you need to do, or don’t need to do. Your worries, your concerns, that thing your colleague said at work.
Scribble it out. No one has to read it. You can even burn it afterwards. Just get it all out. Don’t read it back.
Unless you want to.
Unless it feels helpful.
Then throw it away (or burn it!)
Then, the next step is to create a new list.
A list of everything currently on your plate. The tasks, the chores, the emotional space-holding.
This time, read it back.
Ask yourself if there is anything on that list that doesn’t really NEED to be there? That you don’t WANT to be there? That has been there SO long it either needs to go, or be made into a real action?
Can you take it off the list? Can you give it to someone else? Can it just be crossed out forever?
This can become a regular practice of simply writing down everything that is in your head can take 5 to 10 minutes with a cup of tea, fresh piece of paper, and your favourite pen and just write down everything that’s hanging around in your head.
I promise that this simple activity will help you bring back some headspace and energy, and be a starting point for creating better boundaries, and finding where to say NO.
I’ve gone through this with countless clients and it’s always remarkable how effective it is for helping find perspective and creating the space for change.
2. Where does our energy come from? How do we nourish ourselves well in this midlife whirlwind?
We need to create our energy from somewhere, and nourishment and food are obviously a really important part of that.
It can be SO easy to get sidetracked by the magic dietary advice online. Some of us have had years of dieting and trying to be smaller, so much so that knowing what and how to eat feels like a minefield without a plan.
I like to suggest that we start by keeping any changes small. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
You could start with one meal. Perhaps the breakfast you eat in a hurry or don’t eat at all.
Perhaps you could start by simply stopping and allowing yourself to enjoy that first cup of tea or coffee and ask your body would like to be nourished with that day.
It could be toast. It could be porridge. It could be a smoothie. It could be that waiting until 11 or 12 for a more substantial brunch-style meal feels like the best option.
You know you.
And when you slow down, you can ask yourself. Is this enough to nourish me?
Does it contain fibre, healthy fats, enough energy, some protein? Will it see you through to lunch, or will you need a top up?
My favourite way to support my clients who have been on and off the diet rollercoaster is to explore how they can increase variety and add in helpful nutrients (or I send them on to work with some brilliant dieticians and nutritional therapists in my network!).
Variety of fruit, vegetables, proteins, and carbs can help us get a good profile of nutrients and promote good health and better energy.
Simple things like swapping white for whole grain bread, or swap cereal for porridge and nuts? Swap the pastry with your coffee for some fruit and nuts.
But don’t if you don’t like it. Find what works.
If you tend to grab a meal deal in a quick half hour for lunch could you add something in? Choose a fruit option. Or bring something from home.
When I worked in an office I often brought leftovers or created something very very quick and simple from what I had in the fridge - making a slaw or roasted vegetables that I could add it into a salad and add diversity to a sandwich or a wrap to make it a little bit more interesting, flavourful, and pleasurable to enjoy that meal.
Flavour and pleasure are SO important. And can make a big difference to getting the nutrition from the food you eat and maintain your energy.
3. Can you exercise in a way that actually increases your energy?
You might feel too darn tired to go to the gym or join a class.
I know that feeling well.
Could you move differently?
If you’re struggling with energy and exercise could you do less or do it differently? Experiment with a different time of day or a different frequency or duration?
I had a client that had an internal story that for exercise to be ‘worth doing’ it had to last for at least an hour and a half and she had to be exhausted, hot and sweaty and trembling afterwards.
As she was struggling with low energy, burnout, and overwhelm, and energy for work was the priority, she found it hard to motivate herself to exercise at all.
When you reframe it as movement, and think about how that might feel nourishing and supportive it can change your whole perspective on exercise.
We started tracking ALL movement. Whether it was cleaning the house, walking to the local shop, helping her parents move furniture. Clearing a property to move.
It became easy to give herself a sense of achievement, and to re-write the story about what exercise ‘should’ be. She still tracks all movement, but will also go to the gym, or a pilates class, or even find herself picking up the weights for a home workout too. A real shift.
For example, moving your body in a quick 20 minute lunchtime walk can help bring blood flow to your brain and improve your focus in the afternoon. Or a 10 minute post work dance around the kitchen with some added squats to help work off the stress of the day. 10 squats every time you boil a kettle can soon add up too! I even like to park as far away as possible in a car park, to add extra steps in!
My mantra when it comes to exercise is ‘resting isn’t cheating’. Rest is an essential part of any exercise plan. Better rest = a better workout.
What next?
Pick one small action and play. Make it fun, pleasurable, and stay curious.
If you’d like some help making an action plan for any of these things, why not book in wellbeing re-set call. These can be a great way to get started and get your energy back with a truly bespoke plan that fits your life and your motivations.
Or download my guide to the 4 pillars for better energy in midlife here.