Wellness Feels Overwhelming? Start With These 3 Things

In my 30s, working shifts in healthcare and looking after a busy toddler, I know how hard it can be to fit everything in — especially when you're also trying to prioritise your health.

After feeling the weight of a busy lifestyle alongside inflammation, injuries and sleep deprivation, I became much more intentional about looking after myself and finding realistic ways to improve my energy. I didn't change everything overnight. Instead, I focused on habit stacking — building evidence-based health habits one at a time, in a way I could actually maintain.

Sleep has become one of the most important parts of that process, so that's where I want to start.

1. Start with sleep

If I could suggest one place to begin, it would be sleep.

Of all the changes I've made to my lifestyle, prioritising sleep has probably had the biggest impact on how I feel day to day. And it isn't about having a complicated or perfect evening routine.

One of the biggest shifts for me has been planning my evening around sleep, rather than waiting until I'm exhausted to even think about going to bed. I try to make sure dinner is finished, everything I need to do before bed is done, and I've had my last meal a few hours before I plan to sleep. Then I start giving my body plenty of cues that the day is winding down — lowering the lights, putting away some of the stimulation of the day, and often reading before bed. These little cues become part of telling my body: we're done for today.

You don't need to overhaul your evenings completely. Start with one small change that makes going to bed feel a little more intentional, and build from there.

2. Move in a way you'll actually repeat

As someone who has dealt with inflammation, injuries and shift work, exercise hasn't always made me feel good.

One of the biggest changes for me has been moving away from the idea that a workout has to leave me exhausted to be worthwhile. Instead, I've started thinking about movement as something that should support and nourish my body, not drain it.

Something as simple as building a short walk into my daily routine has made a real difference. It doesn't feel like another task on my to-do list, and it's something I can realistically repeat day after day.

The important thing is finding movement that works for you. That could be a heavy gym session, a strengthening Pilates class, a walk outside, or something else entirely. Pay attention to how you feel afterwards, too. If a workout leaves you completely wiped out for the rest of the day, that doesn't mean you've failed or that the exercise itself is wrong — it might simply mean adjusting the intensity, duration or type of movement next time.

For me, consistency has become far more important than pushing through a workout just because I think I "should."

Start here: Choose one form of movement that feels manageable enough to repeat regularly. Even a short daily walk counts.

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3. Learn your own monthly rhythm

Another thing I've found helpful is recognising that my energy isn't the same every week of the month — so I don't expect my movement to look the same either.

Rather than forcing myself through an identical workout routine all cycle long, I pay attention to my own energy and adjust when I need to. There are times when I feel strong and want a more challenging strength session, Pilates class or longer walk. At other points in the month, I naturally want to scale back — lighter strength work, gentle movement, walking, or extra recovery.

The goal isn't to stop moving. It's to let what movement looks like shift depending on how I'm feeling.

You'll see plenty of very specific "cycle-syncing" workout plans online, but I don't think this needs to become another rigid wellness rule. Research hasn't established one universal exercise programme that every woman should follow according to menstrual-cycle phase — so rather than following someone else's rules, I prefer to treat my cycle as one more piece of information I can use to understand my own body.

Start here: Try tracking your cycle alongside your energy, sleep and movement for a couple of months. Look for your own patterns rather than adopting someone else's template.