This week we're talking about why you are exhausted - Three reasons why you are tired, fatigued, knackered, whatever word that you want to use. I'll share more about how energy is actually made in the body and why it is that you feel exhausted and therefore what you can do about it.
This isn't just some fluffy ‘Ooh, drink a coffee’ We are looking at what the system of energy production is and what can go wrong with it. When you know this, there's so much that you can do about your energy levels.
If you had more energy, maybe you would start growing some vegetables, maybe you'd get that second dog that you want, maybe you would go back and retrain for a totally different career, maybe you would start advocating for certain things, maybe you'd volunteer, maybe you would do up your house.
Energy is such a foundational thing in our lives, yet for some reason, most of us are willing to accept crap energy.
We think of energy as like this outward thing like ‘I hope I get energy’ but energy is a system in your body, in your biology that you create. When you know the system, you can create energy. - It's not a limitless amount of energy, but you can really optimise the creation.
There is a reason why you are tired, and there's something you can do about it.
What is energy? How do we make it?
To get more energy we need to understand the system of energy. Energy is cultivated, it's created and it is the result of a very finely honed system within the body.
To put it simply, we create energy in most of the cells in our bodies, apart from our red blood cells. You are made up of billions of cells and within each of these cells is something called mitochondria. Mitochondria is like your power plant - where you create energy.
When we're talking about energy within the body, we're talking about something called ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) There is a whole set of reactions that take place all the time to produce this thing that is energy.
In order to make ATP, it actually costs us ATP - The process of making energy means that you need to spend some energy.
So, if you are exhausted, it means one or both of the following:
You are struggling to make optimal ATP - I say optimal ATP because if you are alive you are obviously making ATP.
You are wasting or overspending the energy you produce so you struggling to create more ATP.
I find with clients, it's probably a mix of both but for some people it is more one than the other, depending on their health, history and symptoms.
Maybe you have brilliant ATP - Production is optimal, but you are spending left, right and centre. It's a bit like money. You're really struggling to make the currency, so you're not even necessarily wasting it, but you've just not got it.
So, energy is a bit like money - I think about it like a currency. - It's something that we make.
It's not a limitless resource and that your body just has tons of it. It costs you to run it.
It costs energy to make money just like it often costs you money to get to work.
If you're exhausted all the time, it's kind of like the equivalent of you being in debt. (I call it energetic debt) You don't have enough to pay for what you're doing. You don't have enough energy to pay for what you're doing.
Now, this is metaphorical. It's not necessarily the exact biochemistry, but it's a really helpful way of thinking about it.
What we need to do is manage our energy, just like we have to manage our money. You need to manage your energy because it isn't limitless.
We need to prioritise where our energy goes. This is a part of the conversation but for some of us, there's also some real, biology wonkiness happening that we need to address as well.
Reason 1: Struggling to produce energy
So, if we think about that part, your cell is making ATP that can be affected by mycotoxins or mould, things like heavy metals inflammation, certain medications etc, fertility issues, fibromyalgia, cognitive decline, etc.
Mitochondrial dysfunction can look like
