The Energy You’ve Lost—And How to Get It Back

You wake up, but it doesn’t feel like waking up. Your body is heavy, your limbs feel like they’re made of stone, and the mere thought of getting out of bed feels impossible. It’s not just being tired—it’s an exhaustion so deep that even sleep doesn’t fix it.

I know that feeling all too well.

After the relentless pain of fibromyalgia took hold, the fatigue followed. Not just any fatigue—the kind that made walking from my couch to the bathroom an overwhelming task. I remember collapsing on the floor halfway there, too drained to move, just lying on the carpet, eyes closed, waiting for energy that never came.

Doctors had no answers. Rest didn’t help. And the frustration of feeling trapped in my own body only made it worse.

But then, something changed.

The First Step to Energy Again

In my last post, I talked about how food is either medicine or poison—how what you put in your body can either heal you or make your symptoms worse. But there’s something else. Something that felt impossible at first.

Movement.

I can almost hear you now—"Move? You want me to move? Do you have any idea how exhausted I am?"

Trust me, I do.

When my holistic doctor told me movement would help, I thought he was insane. I couldn’t even stand without feeling like I might collapse. How could I possibly exercise?

But I started small.

At first, I simply stretched while sitting on my living room floor. A few gentle movements, just enough to wake up my muscles. Then, I tried standing while stretching.

My mom kept encouraging me to walk outside with her. That first attempt? Five minutes. Five minutes before my legs gave out, and I had to sit on the curb, gasping for energy. But I tried again. And again. And after weeks of persistence, I found myself walking for twenty minutes—without stopping.

Your First Step Starts Now

Wherever you are, start there. If getting out of bed feels impossible, then move while you’re in bed. Stretch your arms. Wiggle your toes. Roll your shoulders. Wake your body up.

Then, when you can, try standing. Take a step. Then another. It doesn’t have to be fast. It just has to be forward.

Yoga. Gentle aerobics. Swimming. Biking. Hiking. Whatever movement looks like for you, it starts with one step.

Ready to Get Your Life Back?

I’ve been where you are. And I want to help you get to where I am. That’s why I created Reset & Renew: Tools to Transform Your Chronic Illness, an online program designed to help you:

✔️ Understand the real causes behind your symptoms
✔️ Learn six powerful ways to heal naturally
✔️ Prevent relapse and maintain progress
✔️ Follow a 12-week step-by-step plan for getting your life back

It took me twelve weeks to go from debilitating exhaustion to feeling like myself again. You can do this, too.  Here are some other stories of people just like you regaining their energy and putting their fatigue, pain, and other symptoms behind.

Adam, 34, California

I checked into rehab.  I was addicted to Adderal, weighed more than 300 pounds, typically ate six cheeseburgers a day, and suffered from severe depression.  On my first day of rehab, I found out I had type 2 diabetes.  I was prescribed no fewer than seven medications-including diabetes medications, blood pressure medications, sleeping pills, ADHD drugs, bipolar medications, and more.

When I got out of rehab, I went into sober living and immediately adopted a plant-based lifestyle.  In three months I reversed my diabetes.  Within one year I was off all seven medications. I lost 160 pounds.

I knew for awhile I would have to wake up each day and do things I didn’t want to do.  But the alternative was that I was probably going to die.

I have a twin brother, who was right where I had been, minus the drug addiction.  He had type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, and was depressed.  I asked him to give me six months and live my lifestyle.

He started the same diet I ate, and taking walks in the mornings.  In just one week, his blood sugar dropped lower that he’d ever been able to get it with medications.  In three weeks, his blood pressure dropped to normal.  And in two and a half months he had lost more than forty pounds.  Now he’s gotten off his diabetes meds and blood pressure meds, and is slowly weaning himself off his antidepressants.  I can see the light starting to come on in his eyes.

Diana

Over a period of five years, I gained forty pounds, despite trying to lose weight and acquired doctors’ prescriptions, one after another, for a total of six medications per day.  I felt lousy.  I had no energy at all and a diminishing enthusiasm for life.

The straw that broke the camel’s back and sent me to a functional medicine practitioner was that my hair started falling out.  Fast.  I kept thinking, “What is happening to me?!  And why can’t anyone fix it?”

Finally I found someone to do a full evaluation on me.  The conclusion was that I had an imbalance and needed to change my lifestyle and my diet.  I needed to add mindfulness and stress management techniques along with exercise.

I didn’t see much progress in the first month.  But by the sixth week, I began noticing I was feeling better.  My hair loss had stopped and new hair was growing.  By twelve weeks I felt like a new woman! 

Within six months I lost 35 pounds, and was only taking two medications.  My cloud of depression had lifted.  Now I remain a woman with high energy and great stamina.

Paul

I am a founder and president of a small business.  But I had beginning to feel like I wasn’t as sharp as I once was.  I was also bothered by the fact that my tolerance for exercise had gone out the window.  I could barely play nine holes of golf.  I ached all over and swallowed ibuprofens like they were peanuts, but I still had sore muscles.  I also had sleep apnea.  I was forced to be put on a machine and wear a mask at night.  This helped me get some sleep, but I still didn’t feel good.

I changed my lifestyle.  I changed my diet.  I began taking vitamins and supplements.  Improvement came quickly and kept growing.  Within eight weeks, my sleep apnea was gone and I was off the machine.  I began waking up feeling refreshed and like my brain was working again.  I had begun a modest daily walking program at the beginning, but soon I was able to embrace a serious fitness plan.  I joined a health club and began taking a class three times a week.  By the summer, I was hiking the Rockies in Wyoming!

Just like Adam, Diana, and Paul, you too can get your energy back!

💡 Enrollment opens soon! But in the meantime, stay tuned for my next post: Regain Control of Your Body While Dealing with Chronic Illness.

Because you are not powerless. You can heal. And I’ll be here to help you every step of the way.