Why You're Tired All the Time (And It Might Not Be Lack of Sleep)
Why can one person wake up after seven hours feeling focused and energized, while someone else spends eight hours in bed and still struggles to think clearly, hits a wall, and needs a siesta by 3:00?
There is rarely one answer. Sometimes the issue is sleep. Sometimes it is food, stress, movement, schedule, or the way all of those things are interacting.
I have dealt with sleep issues at different points in my life, from walking and talking through full conversations in my sleep during high school to full-on insomnia in college. But what happened while I was building ACKitchen through COVID was different.
I was working 12- to 16-hour days in the kitchen, then spending another three or four hours at the computer building a recipe database and manually creating custom meal plans for dozens of clients. The strain on my brain was far worse than anything physical in the kitchen.
I was still getting up and going to the gym in the morning. I ate the same food I was preparing for my clients and continued showing up for media interviews, in-person appearances, and virtual presentations. From the outside, I was functioning and doing all the things we associate with taking care of ourselves.
But by the time I went to bed, my brain was still running at full speed. Meals happened late, sleep happened when it could, and the line between working and recovering disappeared. I started waking up in the middle of the night hallucinating. It was scary.
A doctor friend warned me that if I kept pushing my brain that hard without proper sleep and recovery, I could eventually reach a dangerous breaking point. I had convinced myself that I was disciplined because I could keep showing up, but continuing at that pace was no longer discipline. It was working against my own health.
Functioning and feeling well are not the same thing. What I learned is that poor sleep rarely stays contained to the night. It follows you into how you eat, think, train, work, and respond to stress.
How Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Affect Energy
Sleep does not exist in isolation. Stress, food, movement, environment, schedule, and our sense of purpose all affect how well we recover. They also influence the body’s internal clock, which helps regulate when we feel awake, when we feel tired, and how the body manages hormones, digestion, metabolism, temperature, and recovery.
Light is one of the strongest signals that helps set that clock. Morning light tells the body it is time to wake up and begin the day. Less light later in the day helps the body prepare for sleep. Meal timing, exercise, stress, travel, and irregular schedules can also influence this rhythm.
Think about how many mornings begin with a phone alarm, no daylight, coffee on an empty stomach, and an immediate rush into emails, kids, traffic, or training. Then we wonder why we feel scattered, depleted, or ready for another coffee by midafternoon.
The body works better when it knows what to expect. Regular sleep, meals, movement, and morning light create rhythm. Constantly changing those signals creates more work for a system that is already trying to regulate us.
Eight hours in bed does not automatically mean eight hours of quality recovery. You can still feel exhausted when your sleep timing changes constantly, your stress remains high, your meals are inconsistent, you are under-fueled, dehydrated, sedentary, overtrained, or relying on caffeine to cover what the body is asking for.
All of that brings us back to food, my favorite topic.
If you’re reading this far into a blog of mine, you’re already aware that we should focus on whole foods, first and foremost: seasonal vegetables and fruits, properly prepared whole grains, responsibly raised and harvested animal proteins, nuts, seeds, spices, herbs, and sea vegetables.
Let this be the baseline before we talk about foods for energy.
How Food and Caffeine Affect Your Energy
A lot of people who think they have an energy problem may actually have a breakfast problem. Dessert drinks disguised as coffee, pastries, sugary yogurts with a probiotic claim on the label, and processed “energy” bars aren’t setting you up for a productive morning. They may get you through the first part of the morning, but they are not much of a foundation for the rest of the day.
That does not mean everyone needs to eat the moment they wake up. But if your morning is built around coffee, you skip food until you are depleted, and then crash or overeat later, the pattern is worth looking at.
I also see people trying to create energy while simply not eating enough. They cut carbohydrates, delay meals, train hard, and expect caffeine and/or nicotine to carry the difference.
The body cannot consistently produce strong output without enough quality input.
For people dealing with poor sleep, high stress, blood sugar swings, or an afternoon crash, I generally recommend eating something substantial before relying on caffeine—something hearty, built around whole foods, and balanced with enough protein, carbohydrates, and fat to actually fuel you.
Protein, fiber, and healthy fats generally digest more slowly than refined carbohydrates and can help a meal feel more satisfying while supporting a steadier rise and fall in blood sugar.
For most, the goal is not to eliminate carbohydrates. It’s to choose quality carbohydrates and pair them with protein, fiber, and fat so the energy lasts instead of hitting quickly and disappearing just as fast.
What to Eat for Steady Energy
Full disclaimer: no single food creates energy. The goal is to build meals that digest well, provide lasting fuel, and leave you feeling better after eating instead of ready for a nap.
To support energy, build your day with:
- A quality protein
- A fiber-rich complex carbohydrate
- Seasonal vegetables and fruit
- A source of healthy fat
- Enough water and mineral-rich foods
That might look like eggs with vegetables and oats, chicken with brown rice and greens, or quinoa with lentils, roasted vegetables, and avocado, nuts, or seeds for healthy fats.
One good breakfast will not undo a week of poor sleep, and one good night of sleep will not fix a day built around coffee and whatever you have been eating because it is convenient. Energy is the result of what we repeat. That same idea of consistency is something I wrote about recently in what athletes, executives, and families have taught me about food.
The body is already working around the clock to produce energy, repair, regulate, and keep us moving. Our decisions, priorities, and routines can support that work or make it harder.
The goal is not to force more energy out of the body. It is to stop working against the rhythm that creates it.