Common “Healthy” Habits That Quietly Drain Your Energy
The All-or-Nothing Exercise Trap That’s Making You Exhausted
You’d think hitting the gym seven days a week would make you feel invincible, right? Just like you can experience burnout from pushing yourself too hard professionally, you can also experience burnout from overexercising. Overtraining syndrome (OTS) can lower your fitness level, negatively affect your performance, and cause injuries. Weightlifting, cardio, and HIIT workouts can all lead to burnout. If you’re pushing yourself too much with your training, you might find you wake up feeling drained, find that usual daily tasks are much more tiring, or that you’re really worn-out after a workout that you could do easily a month ago. Unfortunately, a lot of us are in a state of high stress and high cortisol more often than is healthy, and overexercising can be part of that. Short spikes of cortisol can be good for the body, but chronic production of cortisol can impact many of your bodily functions, including your hormones and memory. As much as you might LOVE the feeling of smashing your workouts each week, more isn’t always better when it comes to exercise – especially with HIIT or if you already feel run down. Overtraining, pushing yourself when you’re tired or not allowing your body to recover properly is not going to do you any favours in the long run! Overtraining can have an impact on your hormones, which can result in a loss of libido. If your sex drive has taken a dive without an obvious explanation, it might be a good idea to think about if your exercise routine has changed and if you need to dial it back.
The Hidden Danger of Restricting Calories Too Much
Here’s something that might shock you – eating too little can actually make you more tired than eating too much. Including too many of these foods in your diet may lead you to eat an insufficient number of calories throughout the day, which can severely reduce your energy levels. Calories are a unit of measurement used to estimate how much energy a food will provide your body once it is digested. Your body uses calories to sustain basic functions such as breathing, thinking and heartbeat. The calories you consume also cover the energy you spend moving throughout the day, including the calories you burn through exercise. Regularly providing your body substantially fewer calories than it requires can create hormonal imbalances and slow down your metabolism, leaving you feeling drained. Improving energy and managing weight are the most sought-after benefits. Increasing energy and reducing fatigue are desired by 40%, while weight loss and weight management are priorities by 39%. The irony is that many people cut calories to boost their health, but end up creating the exact opposite effect. Low-calorie foods are not effective at boosting your energy levels. They can also cause you to consume fewer calories per day than your body needs, disturbing your hormone balance and metabolism, and leaving you feeling drained. For instance, big meals are apt to make you feel like napping. And skipping meals can drain your battery.
When Perfect Sleep Tracking Becomes Your Worst Enemy
Your smartwatch might be sabotaging your sleep more than helping it. The use of fitness trackers in apps or wearable ones like Fitbit and Apple Watch to monitor health metrics and track progress has continued to surge in popularity. Health tracking rings, such as the Oura Ring, captivated consumers in 2024. But here’s what happens when you become obsessed with hitting perfect sleep scores every night: you start stressing about sleep itself. Beyond these lifestyle tweaks, consumers are motivated to improve sleep for the immediate health benefits. Increased energy, improved physical and mental health, and better mood are the strongest motivators for US consumers to seek better sleep. The problem starts when tracking becomes an obsession rather than a tool. Many individuals with chronic insomnia have a tendency to stay in bed for long periods of time following a night of poor sleep. This, in turn, makes it difficult to fall asleep at an appropriate bedtime or sleep through the night. The consequences of sleep disruption manifest in a myriad of ways, including insulin resistance and disrupted nutrient metabolism, dysregulation of hunger and satiety, and potentially increased body weight and adiposity. Consequently, inadequate sleep is related to an increased risk of various cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. When you’re constantly checking your sleep data and stressing about subpar numbers, you create a vicious cycle where anxiety about sleep quality actually prevents good sleep.
The Perfectionism Trap That’s Eating Your Energy Alive
That voice in your head demanding everything be flawless isn’t helping you – it’s draining you dry. The pursuit of perfection might seem like a good thing—it can drive us to work harder, pay attention to detail, and aim high. But here’s the harsh truth: perfectionism isn’t about doing your best. It’s about chasing an impossible standard, and it’s exhausting. Perfectionism keeps you stuck in a never-ending cycle of stress and self-doubt. You rewrite that email a dozen times, delay starting a project because it’s not “just right,” or spend hours agonizing over tiny details that don’t really matter. Over time, this habit can sap your energy and productivity, leaving you burnt out and frustrated. Even worse, it can hold you back from taking risks or trying new things because the fear of failure feels too overwhelming. Perfectionists will often have a harsh internal dialogue, in which their “inner critic” constantly tells them that they’re not good enough — no matter what they do or how hard they try. Not only is having such a constant inner voice draining and exhausting, but, on top of that, perfectionists often criticize themselves for the fact that they are being self-critical, or feel that their constant efforts are, in themselves, further proof of their irredeemable imperfection. Curran and Hill studied more than 40,000 American, Canadian, and British college students and found that in 1989–2016, the proportion of people who exhibited traits of perfectionism rose by up to 33 percent. Curran also noted that wellness challenges can be particularly damaging for women who struggle with perfectionism, as they tend to be bombarded with impossible beauty standards and societal expectations.
Information Overload: When Healthy Research Becomes Unhealthy Obsession
You started reading about nutrition to get healthier, but now you can’t eat a meal without second-guessing every ingredient. Navigating the ever-changing world of health can be overwhelming. This guide explores key 2024 health trends, from the rise of Ozempic to the focus on gut health, and provides actionable advice on how to integrate healthy habits into your 2025 wellness journey. Energy is one of our most valuable resources, and yet, so many of us waste it on behaviors that drain our motivation, focus, and well-being. Toxic habits quietly chip away at our potential. The modern wellness landscape bombards us with contradictory information daily – one day eggs are bad, the next they’re superfoods. Experts warn extreme wellness challenges can create a cycle of dissatisfaction and perfectionism. Dr. Thomas Curran says some people pursue drastic regimens hoping for transformation after life changes. Dietitian Renee McGregor advises cscrutinizing influencers who may profit from wellness products they promote. According to study findings, an adult brain weighs about three pounds or about 2% of overall body weight. Brain cells consume 20 to 25 percent of the body’s total energy. Now, let’s imagine how much mental energy additionally it takes to overthink and worry. During worrying and overthinking, our brain generates many thoughts and scenarios that aren’t going toward anything productive. When you spend hours researching the “perfect” diet or supplement stack, you’re using precious mental energy that could be spent actually living a healthy life.
The Comparison Game That’s Slowly Killing Your Motivation
Social media promised to inspire your fitness journey, but instead it’s making you feel like you’re never doing enough. He challenges the everyday energy leaks we often overlook—like engaging in gossip, absorbing unsolicited opinions, and surrounding ourselves with people who only talk about themselves. By cutting these out, you’ll unlock 52 minutes of your day to reinvest in your dreams, passions, and meaningful connections. With social media amplifying these movements, it’s easy to see why people are increasingly drawn to the idea of achieving the “perfect” version of themselves. Every scroll through Instagram shows you someone else’s highlight reel – their perfect morning routine, flawless meal prep, or impossibly sculpted abs. Sometimes we hold on to relationships that are no longer serving us. Whether it’s a friend who always seems to be in crisis, a partner who doesn’t appreciate us, or a co-worker who constantly brings negativity into our space. These types of relationships can be incredibly draining. They suck our energy and leave us feeling emotionally exhausted. The constant comparison creates a mental burden that weighs on you throughout the day. Today, Jay will break down the hidden habits that are silently draining your energy and preventing you from living your best life in 2025. If you feel like you’re constantly exhausted, unmotivated, or stuck in negative cycles, this episode is a wake-up call. Jay reveals three powerful habits that will help you reclaim your time, mental clarity, and emotional well-being. Instead of celebrating your own progress, you’re measuring it against someone else’s carefully curated version of reality, and that’s a recipe for feeling perpetually inadequate and drained.
What would you have guessed was secretly draining your energy the most?
