Feeling Low on Energy?
I had a friend reach out to me recently - sharing that she felt like her energy was feeling lower and lower.
The things she’s loved doing - like running - hasn’t felt the same. And now - she’s wondering what’s going on.
We talked mostly about Iron and how she’s been seeing ads and information shared online about different Iron specific supplements, how they work, how some may be “better” than others and she asked me if I knew much about them.
I told her I know way more about assessing the full iron pattern, looking for panels and then assessing the intervention that aligns based on the data vs. iron supplements themselves.
So let’s talk a little more about what may be going on…especially if you relate and feel “low on energy.”
You wake up tired.
You hit that 2 p.m. wall.
Your workouts feel harder than they used to.
Your motivation is lower.
Your brain feels foggy.
And even after a full night of sleep, you still don't feel restored.
So naturally, you may start wondering: “ I wonder if I’m low in iron?”
Maybe that’s the case. But for many women in their 30s, 40s and 50s - low energy can be much more complicated than a single nutrient deficiency. And that’s exactly why I always encourage others to stop chasing individual symptoms and start asking better questions like:
”What is making my body work so hard just to keep up?”
Low energy is typically your body's way of communicating that something isn't working optimally.
Iron deficiency can absolutely cause fatigue, particularly for women who menstruate heavily or aren't consuming or absorbing enough iron. But simply assuming fatigue equals low iron can cause us to miss the bigger picture. Why? Because overall energy production depends on multiple systems working together…
Thyroid, hormones, blood sugar, nutrient status, gut health, sleep, stress response and recovery capacity. When one, or even several, of these systems gets disrupted - fatigue may be one of the first places you feel it!
So what should we do instead of assuming one thing…
1. Look Beyond Iron
Iron matters because your body needs it to make hemoglobin and transport oxygen. But evaluating iron status isn't as simple as looking at one number. A more complete includes:
CBC, including hemoglobin and hematocrit
Ferritin
Serum Iron
TIBC
Transferrin or transferrin saturation
And here's the important part: More iron isn't automatically better.
That’s why blindly taking iron without testing or establishing that you actually need it isn't something I recommend. Iron can accumulate in the body and abnormal iron markers can have causes other than inadequate dietary iron. Sometimes you need support with iron transport (not actual iron) - that’s when we look into using things like lactoferrin, vitamin C and even copper (all only when specifically identified as appropriate through testing). Above all - before supplementing, always dive deeper and work to identify the pattern.
2. Check Your FULL Thyroid
Your thyroid has a major influence on metabolic rate and how your body produces and uses energy. When thyroid function is impaired, women may start to experience things like fatigue, feeling cold, constipation, brain fog, hair changes, weight changes and decreased exercise tolerance. This is another place where looking at the larger picture can be helpful.
Evaluating markers such as:
TSH
Free T4
Free T3
Reverse T3
Total T4/T3
Thyroid Antibodies (TgAb and TPO)
Help you evaluate the larger picture of what’s going on actively and inactively with thyroid function and can drive big clues into what may be causing symptoms.
3. Pay Attention to Blood Sugar
One of the most overlooked contributors to energy swings is how you're fueling yourself.
Skipping breakfast.
Living on coffee until noon.
Eating very little protein.
Going long periods without food and then reaching for something sugary because you're starving.
Constantly dieting or under-eating while simultaneously pushing hard in the gym.
That can create a roller coaster where you feel energized temporarily and then crash. Instead, start with the basics: Aim for protein-rich meals, include fiber-rich whole-food carbohydrates, add healthy fats and build meals that actually keep you satisfied.
Sometimes improving energy starts with something remarkably unsexy: Eating enough food consistently.
4. Midlife Hormonal Changes Matter
For many women, energy starts changing during perimenopause. Estrogen and progesterone can fluctuate significantly during this transition and symptoms can show up long before your period disappears. Hormonal changes may indirectly affect energy through sleep disruption, hot flashes, mood changes and changes in body composition. But this is where I want women to be careful…
Don't blame everything on your hormones either. Because hormones are ONE piece of the puzzle.
If you're exhausted, sleeping five hours, under-eating protein, chronically stressed, barely recovering from workouts and experiencing blood sugar swings - simply “balancing your hormones” isn't going to address the entire picture.
5. Don't Forget the Nutrients That Help Create Energy
Iron gets a lot of attention, but it's not the only nutrient that matters. Depending on your diet, health history and symptoms - we always want to think about other nutrients like:
Vitamin B12
Folate
Vitamin D
Magnesium
Other nutrient deficiencies when clinically indicated
And sometimes the question isn't simply: “Am I eating enough nutrients?”
It's: “Am I actually absorbing and utilizing them appropriately?”
That's where digestion and gut health can enter the conversation because the reality is - most of us have some level of gut dysfunction happen in our modern society. This drives bacterial overgrowths, low stomach acid, dysbiosis and other imbalances that can cause the gut to function below it’s potential - making it MUCH harder to actually absorb and utilize what you’re consuming.
6. Look at Sleep and Recovery Before Adding More Supplements
This one isn't glamorous, but it's huge. You cannot out-supplement chronic sleep deprivation. If you're waking throughout the night, going to bed too late, experiencing night sweats, scrolling before bed or simply not giving yourself enough hours to sleep - your daytime fatigue makes sense.
The same goes for exercise.
Exercise should ultimately build capacity - not leave you chronically depleted. And for many women in midlife, that may mean prioritizing: strength training + walking + appropriate cardiovascular work + actual recovery. Remember - more isn't better. Intentional (and listening to your body) is better.
7. Chronic Stress Has an Energy Cost
Your body doesn't separate work stress from family stress from financial stress from overtraining from inadequate sleep. It all contributes to your overall physiological load. When you're constantly rushing, worrying, working, caregiving, training and checking things off the list - you may never give your body much opportunity to recover.
That doesn't mean stress is causing every symptom. It means stress belongs in the assessment. Because your body doesn't operate as a collection of completely independent systems.
Overall - I wanted to share a more encompassing perspective beyond Iron because most often - there’s more to the story. Instead of immediately making moves - or just adding a supplement - zoom out and start asking yourself:
How am I sleeping?
Am I eating enough?
Am I getting adequate protein and micronutrients?
Are my energy levels stable between meals?
How am I recovering from exercise?
Has my menstrual cycle changed?
Am I experiencing other symptoms of perimenopause?
Could thyroid function be contributing? Do I have a history here?
Do I have digestive symptoms that could affect nutrient intake or absorption?
What do my labs actually show? (because testing and tangible data is the most efficient way to know more!)
And most importantly: What pattern emerges when I put all of this information together?
Because that's where the useful information often lives.
At the end of the day - I want women to know that your body isn’t a collection of random symptoms. It’s one of the biggest shifts to make in midlife.
We have to stop looking at every symptom in isolation.
Low energy doesn't automatically mean low iron.
Weight gain doesn't automatically mean low estrogen.
Brain fog doesn't automatically mean you need a supplement.
Your symptoms are clues. And your job is to start to understand what they're telling you collectively.
That's why when a woman tells me: “I just don't feel like myself anymore.”
I don't immediately think, What supplement does she need?
I think: Let's look at the whole picture. Nutrition. Sleep. Stress. Training. Recovery. Digestion. Hormones. Thyroid. Blood sugar. Nutrient status. Lifestyle. Symptoms. Labs.
Because sometimes the thing making you feel “off” isn't one big problem.
It's five smaller things quietly stacking on top of each other…