If you’re running on empty, your form is going to suffer. It’s as simple as that.

We all have physical, mental and emotional energy. When our energy levels are low, we’re left feeling tired and sluggish, and totally lacking in motivation. This has a huge impact on our wellbeing and mental health, because it stops us from being productive, achieving our goals, and carrying out healthy and meaningful activities.

Low energy is different from just feeling tired, and can be caused by lots of different variants, including:

Eating the wrong foods
Not getting consistent quality sleep
Not exercising enough
A vitamin b12 deficiency
Low iron levels
Too much screen time
An unrealistic workload
Overstimulation
The weather
Mental or physical illness
A toxic relationship

It’s a pretty varied list, but our energy levels really are dependent on a huge range of factors. That’s why it’s important to consider every area of your life when your levels are running low, and try to pinpoint the source (or sources) of your energy drain.

Finding your pep

A lot of us are struggling with our energy levels following a year of lockdowns, isolation, money worries, health concerns, and everything else that comes with a global pandemic. It’s difficult to know whether low energy has contributed to a general worsening of mental health, or whether our struggle with mental health has drained our energy.

Either way, you need to get your energy levels back to normal if you want to positively impact your form.

It might be the very last thing in the world that you feel like doing when you’re worn out, but exercise really is the best way to boost energy levels (it’s all those feel good endorphins). And while it’s incredibly tempting to rely on takeout when cooking feels too much, getting plenty of nutrients in your diet is absolutely essential for giving you back your get up and go.

Breaking down tasks into more manageable chunks can also help if you’re feeling overwhelmed by how much you need to get done on low energy reserves. But try not to put too much pressure on yourself: feeling a sense of achievement will give you a boost, but you need to be realistic until you’re fighting fit again.

But before you do anything, take a good look at your life, habits and health, and hone in on where most of your energy is currently ending up.