Why Do I Wake Up More Tired Than When I Went to Bed?
(And What Your Fatigue Is Really Telling You)
You ever wake up in the morning and think…
“How is it possible I feel worse than I did when I went to sleep?”
You did “all the right things.”
You went to bed early.
You didn’t eat late.
You skipped the wine.
You diffused lavender.
You even avoided scrolling before bed.
And yet you open your eyes in the morning, and it’s like dragging a body bag out of bed. Your bones hurt. Your brain is foggy. You’re irritable before you’ve even had a chance to speak. You’re already behind, and the day hasn’t even started.
You’r tired, but you’re also exhausted on a cellular level.
And deep down, you know this isn’t just aging. It’s not just motherhood. It’s not just a busy season.
It’s something deeper. Something off. Something your body is screaming, but no one has taught you how to listen.
Today, I want to help you hear it.
This Isn’t a Sleep Problem. It’s a Metabolic One.
Sleep issues are a symptom — a red blinking light on the dashboard that something under the hood is breaking down.
But instead of pulling over and popping the hood, you’ve been trained to push through.
Just try a new supplement.
Try white noise.
Try a new mattress.
Try blackout curtains.
Try essential oils.
Try magnesium.
None of those things are bad. But they’re accessories. Not the engine.
You keep changing the pillows when it’s the foundation that’s cracked.
And what no one told you is this:
You’re not waking up exhausted because you’re weak or doing something wrong.
You’re waking up exhausted because you’ve normalized dysfunction in your body. And now it’s catching up to you.
Let’s Call It What It Is: Survival Mode
If you’ve ever said…
“I wake up more tired than when I went to sleep.”
“I feel like I have to drink caffeine all day just to function.”
“I’m not rested, even after 8+ hours.”
“I get a second wind at night and can’t fall asleep.”
“I wake up at 2 or 3am like clockwork.”
That’s not a quirky sleep cycle. That’s not perimenopause. That’s not your toddler’s fault.
That’s your blood sugar.
That’s your cortisol.
That’s your inflammation.
That’s your nervous system.
That’s your trauma.
That’s your overdoing.
Your body has adapted to your life.
But adaptation isn’t the same thing as wellness.
Just because you’ve been living like this for years doesn’t make it normal.
It means your body is surviving. Not thriving.
The Metabolic Mess No One Told You About
Let’s break this down in a way that makes sense. Not in science-y mumbo jumbo, but in real-life terms.
1. Your Blood Sugar is Wrecking Your Sleep
When you don’t eat enough during the day — especially enough protein and fat — your blood sugar crashes during the night.
And when it drops too low?
Your adrenal glands shoot out cortisol to rescue you.
That spike of cortisol = you waking up at 2am.
Tossing. Turning. Night sweats. Heart racing. Weird dreams.
Even if you don’t wake up fully, your body is working through the night to keep you from tanking.
You may have slept — but you didn’t rest.
In Checkpoint 3 of the Wilderness of Wellness Explorers Blood Sugar Path, I walk you step-by-step through how to stabilize this— Through what and when you eat, how you move, and what’s actually possible when your body feels safe again.
2. Your Cortisol Curve Is Flipped Upside Down
You were made for a cortisol rhythm that flows like this:
High in the morning to get you going, and low at night to help you wind down.
But most women I see?
Their curve looks more like a rollercoaster with no brakes.
Flat in the morning.
Spiking in the evening.
Then crashing and jerking and waking you at 3am.
It’s no wonder you feel like trash.
This isn’t something a supplement will fix.
This is a lifestyle reroute. In Checkpoint 4, we address this head-on with specific strategies for blood sugar timing, stress reduction that actually works, and coaching that keeps you accountable.
3. Your Nervous System is Trapped in Survival
Let me say something real loud for the women in the back:
You don’t have to have big T trauma for your nervous system to be dysregulated.
You’ve been trained to stay on.
To be everything for everyone.
To anticipate needs before they’re spoken.
To keep the house running.
To keep the kids safe.
To hustle in your business.
To serve at church.
To smile when you feel like crying.
To put everyone before yourself, then hate yourself for snapping when your tank is dry.
You get in bed at night, and your body is exhausted—
But your mind is running.
You scroll.
You stress.
You stew.
You spiral.
This is nervous system dysregulation. And it will not fix itself.
Inside Wilderness of Wellness: Explorers, we don’t just tell you to “rest more.”
We teach you how to recover.
We help you rewire.
Because you can’t live from overflow when your body is bleeding out behind the scenes.
Biblical Rest Is Not Lazy
I want to talk to the Christian women reading this for a minute.
You’ve been told that rest is a reward. That you must earn it. That it’s selfish. That it’s indulgent. That if you’re not producing, you’re failing.
But Scripture says that rest was built into the creation story.
Before there was sin.
Before there was burnout.
Before there was hustle.
God rested.
And He called it good.
When you refuse rest, you are not just burning out. You are stepping out of alignment with how you were created.
And that has consequences.
It shows up in your blood sugar.
It shows up in your weight.
It shows up in your marriage.
It shows up in your mental clarity.
It shows up in your mood swings.
It shows up in your inability to be present.
It shows up in your sleep.
Rest is foundational.
Real Things You Can Do Tonight
Let me give you three real, implementable things you can do tonight that will move the needle.
Because I’m not here to just validate your feelings.
I’m here to lead you out of the mess.