Case 1. Fatigue, Brain Fog and Low Energy in Women 40+

Client: 42 years old, married, two children aged 10 and 14, computer-based work 4 days per week.

 Complaints:

- constant fatigue,

- daytime sleepiness,

- reduced concentration at work and a feeling of “brain fog”,

- a general feeling of losing control over her bodyю

Lifestyle patterns:

- sleeping around 7 hours per night, but did not feel restored in the morning,

- exercise felt impossible at that stage: she felt she did not have enough energy even for basic daily tasks,

- family and household responsibilities added another layer of load. A significant part of the household work was on her,

- at weekends she often tried to lie down and rest in order to recover some energy,

- she did not enjoy cooking and especially avoided cooking just for herself. As a result, her eating pattern was often based on what was quick, easy and pleasurable: sweet foods, bread, snacks and ready-made meals. She understood that this was not supporting her energy, but food had become one of the few available ways to feel relief and reward.

PHASE I. Assessment and Analysis

At Phase I of our work we clarified that her deeper values were connected with family, health, independence, ease, stability and staying active in the future.

- In the present, she wanted to have enough energy to think clearly at work, be emotionally present with her children and stop ending every day in a state of complete exhaustion.

- In the long term, after menopause, she wanted to remain mobile, strong, independent, able to travel, enjoy her life and not build her choices around fatigue.

Phase I helped us see that the problem was not caused by one isolated factor.

- Her sleep looked sufficient in terms of duration, but it was not fully restorative.

- Her daily load was higher than she had realised.

- Her eating pattern gave short-term comfort, but did not support stable energy through the day.

- Movement had almost disappeared from her life because she associated it only with formal workouts, which felt unrealistic at that point.

For this reason, we did not start with strict discipline, dieting or intensive fitness. The main focus was to rebuild basic stability:

- more consistent energy during the day,

- better recovery,

- more predictable eating,

- less evening exhaustion,

- a gentle return to movement and less accumulated tension.   

The aim was not to add another obligation, but to create a realistic system that could support her actual life.

 PHASE II. Core Lifestyle Work

Over the first two months of Phase II, the client became better at recognising her energy dips and noticing overload earlier. As her stress level and recovery improved, she no longer felt the same strong need to use sweet foods, snacks or ready-made meals as a reward at the end of the day. Food stopped being the main way to compensate for exhaustion or create a sense of relief after a demanding day. This made it easier for her to choose food that supported her energy, rather than food that only gave short-term comfort.

During the same period mornings became easier to manage, afternoon sleepiness reduced, and movement gradually returned, not as “exercise at any cost”, but as a way to support her body, mental clarity and energy.

During the third month of Phase II the focus shifted towards autonomy. The client learned to recognise her own patterns, choose suitable actions depending on her state and rely less on external support. By the end of the main phase, she had a clearer understanding of what influenced her sleep, energy, concentration and eating behaviour.

PHASE III. Ongoing Support and Progression

After completing the main work the client chose to continue working together on sleep quality, tension reduction and overall recovery. We also started an individual fitness programme focused on mobility, gentle strengthening and a light strength component. The goal of the next phase is not only to reduce current fatigue, but also to gradually build a body that supports her activity, independence and quality of life after menopause.

You can read about low energy and fatigue in midlife women here Low Energy and Fatigue in Women After 40