Jake Biggs Featured in Citadel Health Store’s Expert Series

The Citadel Health Store feature gave me the opportunity to discuss a question I hear constantly in clinic: Why do so many capable, health-conscious people still feel exhausted?

We spoke about stress, nutrition, performance and what it actually takes to build energy that lasts. Not the temporary lift you get from another coffee, a new supplement or pushing yourself harder, but the kind of steady energy that comes from supporting the body properly.

Work Has Changed, But Has Your Energy Strategy?

The way we work has changed dramatically. We are connected almost constantly, information is always coming at us, boundaries between work and personal life are increasingly blurred, and there is often an expectation to remain productive regardless of how much recovery we have had.

This matters because energy is not simply about motivation. It is not a personality trait and it is not something you can endlessly manufacture through willpower. Your ability to perform is influenced by sleep, nutrition, hydration, stress, movement, recovery and the demands being placed on your body.

You Can’t Always Change the Stressors. You Can Change the Cost.

Stress is not always something you can simply remove. Work deadlines, family responsibilities, financial pressures, technology and everyday commitments are part of modern life. The goal is therefore not to create a life without stress. It is to improve your ability to respond to stress and recover from it.

This is where the concept of allostatic load becomes important. When the body is repeatedly exposed to demands without sufficient recovery, the cumulative burden can become much harder to manage.

Recovery is not a luxury. Stress management is not something to schedule for the weekend. Small recovery practices performed consistently can help reduce the cumulative cost of everyday stress.

These actions are not about achieving a perfect lifestyle. They are about creating enough biological support for your body to repeatedly meet the demands being placed on it.

Eating Well Is Not the Same as Eating Strategically

Someone can eat what appears to be a very healthy diet and still struggle with energy. This is because healthy eating and strategic nutrition are not always the same thing.

The finer details matter. Timing, meal distribution, micronutrient sufficiency, protein adequacy, gut function and the interaction between stress and nutrition can all influence how the body performs throughout the day.

This does not mean nutrition needs to become complicated. In fact, the opposite is often true. A strategic approach focuses on identifying the fundamentals that are most relevant to you and making them consistent enough to become part of everyday life.

For someone who already eats plenty of nutritious foods, the next step may be looking at meal timing, protein distribution, hydration, recovery, sleep or the relationship between stress and appetite.

Five Ways to Build More Reliable Energy

Building reliable energy does not require an entirely new lifestyle. It starts with consistently supporting the systems that allow your body to function and recover.

1. Stabilise your blood sugar because it is the foundation of energy, mood, focus, and hormonal balance.
2. Prioritise protein at every meal because it supports metabolism, muscle, neurotransmitters, and satiety.
3. Move your body every day because movement regulates stress hormones and improves metabolic flexibility.
4. Protect your sleep window because consistency matters more than perfection.
5. Lower your allostatic load through small daily practices that prevent long-term burnout.

1. Stabilise your blood sugar

Building meals around protein, fibre-rich carbohydrates, vegetables, fruit and healthy fats can create a more balanced nutritional pattern. Regular, satisfying meals can also make it easier to manage appetite and maintain consistent energy across the day.

2. Prioritise protein at every meal

Protein provides amino acids needed for muscle maintenance and a range of important functions throughout the body. Distributing protein across meals can be a practical strategy for supporting satiety, recovery and performance.

3. Move your body every day

Movement does not always need to mean an intense workout. Walking, resistance training, sport, mobility work and other forms of regular movement can all contribute to physical and metabolic health while providing an opportunity to release some of the tension that accumulates throughout the day.

4. Protect your sleep window

Sleep is one of the foundations of reliable energy. Rather than chasing perfect sleep every night, focus on protecting a consistent opportunity for adequate sleep and creating routines that allow your body to transition from daily demands into recovery.

5. Lower your allostatic load

Think beyond the occasional weekend recovery session. Breathing practices, short walks, time away from screens, predictable meals, adequate hydration, movement and protected sleep can all become small daily opportunities to reduce the accumulated cost of stress.

Ultimately, reliable energy is not about finding one food, supplement or productivity hack that suddenly changes everything. It is about understanding the relationship between the demands placed on you and the biological support available to your body.

If the demands are high, the answer is not necessarily to push harder. Sometimes the most effective strategy is to strengthen the foundations underneath your performance, nutrition, hydration, sleep, movement, stress management and recovery.

That is the conversation I was grateful to have with Citadel Health Store. When we stop treating exhaustion as a personal weakness and start looking at the biological systems behind energy, there is much more we can do strategically.

Read the full Citadel Health Store feature, Building Reliable Energy: Jake Biggs on Stress, Nutrition, and Performance.

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This article is general information, not personal medical or nutritional advice. Individual needs vary, particularly if you have a health condition, are pregnant, or take medication. For guidance tailored to you, book a consultation .