Why You’re So Tired All the Time

I didn't realize I was heading toward complete burnout until my body started to revolt.

It didn't happen all at once. It was two years of slow-building stress that I kept telling myself was just "normal." You know the story: pandemic chaos with three young kids, helping a kindergartener and first-grader navigate online learning while bouncing a one-year-old on my hip. Then my husband's 18-year career got turned upside down. Then my dad died suddenly from a massive heart attack.

And through it all? I was just trying to hold everyone together—my mom, my brother, my husband, my kids, my clients, my business. I was the glue and the tape for everyone's life... except my own.

Here's what I did notice: I was snapping at my kids constantly. Swearing more than I ever had. Lying awake at 2 a.m. with my mind racing. Every single month in the week before my period, I fantasized about burning my entire life down and starting over. I resented everyone. I had no idea what brought me joy anymore. And I felt absolutely horrible in my body.

But I didn't call it burnout. I called it "being 40." I called it "mom life." I called it "just getting through."

Sound familiar?

Here's the Truth: Your Exhaustion Isn't Normal

If you're a woman in midlife reading this and nodding along, let me be clear: chronic exhaustion is not just part of being a mom or getting older. It's your hormones screaming for help.

And the biggest culprit? Cortisol.

The Cortisol Chaos Connection

Cortisol is your stress hormone, and when you're operating in a stressed-out state all the time—juggling work deadlines, mental load, family needs, aging parents, financial pressure, relationship tension—every single hormone in your body gets impacted.

Think of your endocrine system like an orchestra. When cortisol is blaring like a fire alarm 24/7, the other instruments can't play their parts properly. Estrogen? Off-key. Progesterone? Can't keep the beat. Thyroid? Barely audible. Insulin? All over the place.

The result? Pure hormonal chaos.

You're exhausted but wired. You can't fall asleep, but you can't wake up either. You crave sugar and carbs all day, then hate yourself for it. Your brain feels foggy. Your breasts are in incredible pain the days leading up to your period. Your period is a disaster. Your mood swings make you feel like a stranger to yourself.

And no amount of green smoothies, meditation apps, or "self-care Sundays" is going to fix it—because your hormones need actual rehabilitation, not a bubble bath.

Why Midlife Makes It Worse

Here's what no one tells you about your late 30s and 40s: you're likely dealing with early perimenopause symptoms layered on top of chronic stress and cortisol overload.

Your progesterone—the calming, sleep-supporting, mood-stabilizing hormone—starts to decline first. Meanwhile, your cortisol is still sky-high from managing everyone and everything.

The week before your period (your luteal phase) becomes an absolute minefield. You feel irritable, anxious, exhausted, and disconnected. You want to scream, cry, or run away. You don't recognize yourself.

My clients tell me all the time: "I feel like I want to burn it all down every month. I just want one month where I feel consistent. Where I feel like myself."

I get it. I've been there. And here's what I've learned—both personally and professionally after working with hundreds of women: this isn't just stress. This is your hormones asking your body to slow down, rest, and recalibrate.

The Real Reason You Can't Just "Rest More"

If one more person tells you to "just take a nap" or "practice more self-care," you might actually lose it, right?

Because here's the thing: when your nervous system has been in fight-or-flight mode for months (or years), your body doesn't remember how to feel safe enough to rest or to turn down the alarm system that is keep your cortisol on high alert. Your hormones are stuck in survival mode.

It's not as simple as de-stressing. Your body needs to go through a bit of rehabilitation—relearning safety, regulating your nervous system, and supporting your hormones as they recalibrate.

And this is where the magic happens: cycle syncing.

The Aha Moment: You're Four Different Women

The breakthrough for my clients—and for me—always comes when they understand this one truth:

You are four different versions of yourself every single month.

Your menstrual cycle has four distinct phases (inner winter, spring, summer, and fall), and each phase has different hormonal needs, energy levels, and emotional landscapes. When you try to be the same high-achieving, always-on, people-pleasing version of yourself all month long, you completely deplete yourself.

But when you learn to honor each phase? When you give yourself permission to slow down in your luteal phase instead of pushing through? When you stop judging yourself for needing more rest the week before your period?

Everything shifts.

You stop feeling like you're failing. You start feeling like you're finally working with your body instead of against it.

What Actually Helps (and It's Simpler Than You Think)

One of the first shifts I guide my clients through is this: saying no and protecting your time the week before your period.

That might look like:

• Closing your office door so no one disturbs you

• Eating your meals alone in quiet instead of managing everyone else's needs

• Delegating family tasks and household responsibilities so you have less on your plate

• Blocking off your calendar for deep work instead of back-to-back meetings

• Saying no to hosting playdates for your children

It sounds small. But when your body is crying out for rest and you actually give it rest—instead of powering through with coffee and willpower—you start to rebuild your energy reserves from the inside out.

This is how you move from chronic exhaustion to sustainable energy. Not through hustle. Not through more supplements. But through learning the language of your body and finally giving it what it needs.

You Don't Have to Live Like This

If you're reading this and thinking, "This is me. This is exactly how I feel," I want you to know: your body isn't broken. Your hormones aren't trying to take you down. Your system is simply out of balance and asking for the right kind of support to get back on track.

The exhaustion, the mood swings, the anxiety, the insomnia, the rage—it's all information. Your body is brilliant, and it's trying to guide you back to wellness.

You just need someone to help you decode the message.

Ready to finally understand what your body is trying to tell you? 

Book a free Hormone Clarity Call with me. We'll talk about what's really going on with your hormones, where your energy is leaking, and what it would look like to feel like yourself again.