Reclaim Your Energy with Integrative Wellness
Jan 27, 2025
Are you not feeling yourself lately? Like no matter what you do, you just feel perpetually exhausted and drained? You’re not alone in facing an energy crisis. There are so many factors that contribute to fatigue, and the only way to combat it is to get to the root cause, which can be a challenge. With tools like functional testing, however, discovering what is making you feel less than your best is a great first line of defense.
As someone who’s worked with my fair share of clients who were experiencing rock-bottom energy levels, I’ve seen first-hand how damaging low energy can be to one’s quality of life on so many levels. That’s why I put together this wellness warrior’s guide you can use to reclaim your lost energy and live your best life. I hope it provides some insight and provides useful tools to implement in your own life.
Root Causes of Low Energy
It’s exhausting to be, well... exhausted. But before we get into how to reclaim your energy, we first need to look at what’s depleting your energy levels in the first place. While there are plenty of lifestyle choices that can exacerbate low energy, at its core, low energy is a symptom of one or more deeper issues.
Some of those top hidden energy vampires are:
- Hormonal imbalances (such as low testosterone, cortisol dysregulation, and thyroid dysfunction)
- Nutritional deficiencies, particularly lack of iron, magnesium, B12, and vitamin D.
- Gut health issues that cause poor nutrient absorption, leaky gut, and microbiome imbalances
- Chronic stress, which affect the body’s energy systems
- Sleep dysregulation from poor sleep hygiene or conditions like sleep apnea
The Role of Functional Testing
Given how many different possibilities there are for what may be causing your low energy, playing the guessing game is not an efficient nor effective way to address the issue. That’s where functional medicine testing comes into play.
Some of the top functional medicine tests I recommend if you're suffering from low energy levels are:
Actionable Tips to Rebuild Energy Sustainably
Once you’ve identified WHAT is causing your energy deficiency, then you can come up with an actionable plan you can use to rebuild your energy naturally and finally feel like yourself again. However, and I can’t stress this enough, before you embark on any lifestyle changes (especially when it comes to adding supplements to your diet), consult an expert first.
With that in mind, the following are key areas to focus on when it comes to becoming a wellness warrior:
Stress Management
Stress wreaks havoc on our bodies in myriad ways, so one of the first steps in improving energy levels is working to learn ways to better manage stress. While certain stress is unavoidable, you can implement stress management practices into your daily routine to minimize how that stress impacts you (and alleviate the stress where you can).
Two great techniques to reduce stress that seem simple but do wonders for our well-being:
- Implementing mindfulness practice such as meditation, yoga, or journaling (especially a gratitude journal) into your daily routine
- Integrate adaptogens like ashwagandha or rhodiola into your diet to improve stress resilience
Gut Health and Diet
An unhealthy gut causes many problems throughout our body, with plummeting energy levels being only one of the many health problems a compromised gut can cause. Improving gut health is incredibly important when it comes to improving your energy levels. The following are a few actions you can take to help heal your gut:
- Incorporate more pre- and probiotics into your diet
- Avoid inflammatory foods (especially processed sugars, gluten, and trans fats)
- Increase your intake of foods rich in iron, magnesium, Vitamin C, and B12
- Supplement as needed based on test results (and ONLY under the supervision of an expert)
Hormones
Hormones out of flux never fail to cause poor energy levels. Two ways you can help balance your hormones are by:
- Keeping a consistent sleep schedule and engaging in low-intensity exercise, both of which help regulate cortisol levels
- Avoiding environmental toxins and removing toxins from your system, which may help improve thyroid health
Sleep Hygiene
Poor sleep is an obvious enemy for high energy, so it should come as no surprise that creating good sleep habits makes a huge impact on how much juice you have left to keep you going. And our addiction to screen time and scrolling on our phones or watching TV in bed is just making it worse. To improve your sleep, I recommend doing the following to set a regular bedtime routine:
- Nix the screen exposure at least an hour before bed
- Consider sleep aids like magnesium glycinate or melatonin if needed (again, based on the recommendation of and under supervision from a professional).
Mindful Movement
Exercise is good for us both physically and mentally. But too much exercise can actually do more harm than good. When it comes to improving energy levels, often a gentle, moderate approach is best, as it doesn’t cause a spike in cortisol, yet it does promote perks like improved circulation and digestion and better sleep.
Restorative exercises like walking, Pilates, or stretching are ideal for getting in movement while avoiding overexertion.
Real-Life Transformation: Tom’s Story
Tom is a client of mine who came to me after years spent relying on medications like Prilosec and Nexium to try to fix his health issues. He was trapped in a vicious cycle exacerbated by stress, irregular work shifts, and poor dietary habits, with his health continuing to deteriorate, leaving him irritable, in pain, and struggling to sleep.
We ran several tests, which provided a thorough picture of what was happening in Tom’s body - where there were deficiencies and what the underlying causes of his symptoms were coming from. In Tom's case, it was an abundance of harmful bacteria in his gut and a sensitivity to gluten.
I put together a plan of action for him, and within a month of following it, Tom began to notice significant improvements in his energy levels and overall vitality. This happened even without regular exercise (due to a previous injury). His sleep also underwent a transformation, and he stopped snoring.
Empowerment Through Education: Getting the Answers You Need
If you’re suffering from low energy, you don’t need to lose faith. There are solutions out there, I promise. I would love to work with you to help you get to the source of your problem and craft an action plan to help you kick low energy to the curb and reclaim a life of vitality.
Schedule a discovery call, and let’s work together to put you back on your path to the best version of you!
