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I know my body. I know when it is genuinely asking for rest and I know when it is asking me to push through. The difference matters — and after 35, learning to read that difference is one of the most useful things you can do for yourself. This post is about both: what causes the tiredness and what I actually do when I need to step up and energise.
I have high energy. People who know me well would probably describe me that way before almost anything else. I run a demanding career, manage a full social life, host dinner parties, organise group trips and now build this site on top of all of it. But I am not immune to the tiredness that comes for women after 35. Some days it just arrives — that flat, low-grade heaviness that is not quite fatigue but is not energy either. And on those days I have two choices: give in to it or address it.
I have learned to do both, depending on what my body is actually telling me. There is a difference between tiredness that is asking for rest and tiredness that is asking for support. The first requires you to slow down. The second requires you to step up — and to have the right tools available when you do.
have low B12 without
knowing it
maintain energy and
cognitive function
— the most overlooked
energy drain of all
The tiredness that arrives after 35
is a different animal entirely.
As oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate in the years leading up to menopause, energy regulation becomes less predictable. Sleep quality changes. Nutrient absorption shifts — B12 and iron in particular become harder to maintain at optimal levels even with a good diet. The tiredness after 35 is not weakness. It is biology. And biology responds to the right support.
Affects 1 in 3 women. Often goes undiagnosed for years. The most common cause of unexplained tiredness in women.
Progesterone decline disrupts energy and sleep, often before perimenopause is even on your radar.
I know my body. After decades of living in it, pushing it and occasionally ignoring what it was telling me, I have developed a reliable ability to read what it actually needs. Some days the message is clear: rest. Not tomorrow. Today. On those days I do not override it with caffeine or willpower — I honour it.
But other days the tiredness is different. It is there but it is not asking for sleep — it is asking for fuel. On those days I tell myself to step up. I take my B12. I take my iron. I drink water before coffee. And within an hour the day has shifted.
Heavy. Flat. Motivation gone for everything.
Slept poorly. Mind is quiet. The body is asking for recovery — not fuel.
Low energy but mind is active. Slept reasonably well.
Nutritional or hormonal. The body wants fuel, not sleep.
Three picks that work
alongside B12 and iron
Magnesium for sleep quality and nervous system regulation, collagen for the gut-energy connection, and your Apple Watch to make sure the sleep you are investing in is actually restoring you.
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The energy routine —
no seventeen-step protocol
Ask honestly — is this rest-tiredness or support-tiredness? The answer decides everything that follows.
B12 immediately. Iron with vitamin C — a small glass of orange juice is enough for absorption. Water before coffee.
Ten minutes. The body generates energy through movement rather than conserving it by staying still. Even a walk counts.
Most low-energy mornings that are not asking for rest will shift within the hour. That shift is the signal you read correctly.