Gauging your energy levels

Stardew Valley is a game that allows you to manage your farm, quest, and build friendships. However, even in your farm simulator, the game limits your activity based on your daily allotment of energy!

Ever felt ridiculous tired without understanding why? 

Nutrition
Food can be a sensitive topic when considering it's financial value, its impact on our body, and our sensitivity to our outward image.  For the purpose of gauging energy, I'll address food simply as a necessity.  Additionally, it may be beneficial for you to add your own concerns to this list.  Here a a few ways in which nutrition might be lacking:

• Consuming too many refined carbs such as soda pop, candy, chips, and pastries. Yummy yummy goodness that leads to sugar crashes.
• Food sensitivities and allergies.
• Living with a caloric deficit.
• Inefficient protein intake. NASM suggests an intake of 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram, e.g. 80 grams of protein for every 50 kilograms.  Google.com for conversions.
• Not consuming enough nutrient-dense food such as vegetables, fruits, herbs, seeds, etc. 
• Inadequate hydration. 
• Relying on energy drinks.  Note: Consider reducing caffeine and limiting consumption of stimulants to the first few hours of your day.
• Consuming too many substances such as alcohol or tobacco products.  
• Not consuming enough fiber rich foods.

Activity
Sedentary lifestyles reduce our ability to produce energy for times in which we are require to move around.  Not developing your cardiovascular and skeletal muscular systems can cause your body to lose muscle (strength, power, and endurance), lose cardiac muscle (cardiac strength, power, and endurance), reduction of capillaries (oxygenation aka literal energy to your body).

• Add movement to each day and only push yourself gradually; this is the principle of progressive overload. 
• Build strength and power which increase muscular and skeletal density.
• Build cardiovascular output which increases heart strength, blood perfusion, and oxygenation.
• 1-2 HIIT activities per week. No more.
• Add a mobility sequence to improve the quality of connective tissues thereby reducing injuries

Sleep/Rest
If you wait to sleep until you die, you will unfortunately die quicker. Get real with yourself.

• Schedule active recovery days for walking, hiking, or mobility.
• Figure out a consistent sleep time and incorporate principles of sleep hygiene.
• Recognize that everyone sleeps differently.  I may need a giant 10 hour sleep where my friend functions fine on 6 hours of sleep split up across two sleep periods a day.
• Rest by reducing sensory stimuli throughout the day, e.g. 10 minute break for every hour.
• Switch from challenging activities to simpler activities, periodically.
• Take a deload week from weight-training every 6-8 weeks.

Mental Health
I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  Your brain is connected to your body just the same as your heart, lungs, and bones. You may not be able to totally change the structure and function of your body parts, but you can make small adjustments overtime.

• High stress levels can certainly lead to adrenal fatigue which can lead to chronic fatigue. Ah, the principle of progressive overload applies again.  Finding some ways to ground yourself may reduce the burnout you experience.
• Build cognitive "strength" by reading, doing puzzles like Sudoku, memorize Shakespearean plays, do an underwater basketweaving championship tournament, or something.
• Don't follow someone else's spiritual path.  Follow your own.  Feel free to get a "No Soliciting" placard for ALL THE THINGS.
• Hold space for seriousness, and find whimsy in your life when appropriate. 
• Stimulate your sensory system, e.g. smell peppermint or orange peels, eat a bit of dark chocolate, listen to humpback whales sing, stimulate yourself, etc. Time and place.  More on context-building.
• Pursue a practice that trains your to empty your mind, e.g. journaling, yelling it at a wall, writing polka songs about it, tell your garden plants, etc. I don't know what's exactly right for you?
• Slap on some sunscreen and move around a bit in the sunshine. 

Misc.

• You know when someone is flirting with you and your response is to recite anything else unrelated to flirting? No.  Great well, that's exactly how your body feels when you're not able to reciprocate the signals it's trying to send you.  Building interoception awareness or implementing daily habits that allow you to address your functional needs in response to food, hydration, toileting, cold/heat, anxiety, stress, drowsiness, sensory sensitivity, etc. can help reduce the crashes caused by excessive discomfort.  

When still in doubt, finding resources including a provider could unlock a wealth of information, too!