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30RF30Y: What Energy & Health Look Like As We Age

Writer's picture: Liam XavierLiam Xavier

If there’s one thing you notice above all else in the journey between 20 and 30, it’s the declining levels of energy. I know it’s not just me either, it’s a universal battle. At some point, it becomes harder to find the motivation, to wake up refreshed and to be as intentional about chasing good health as you were in your early 20s. There, annoyingly, is the cyclical conflict. Low energy creates low motivation to be healthy and to improve our lives and low motivation and life satisfaction creates more low energy.


What do you do?


The easy answer is to practice self-discipline which, in some sense, is entirely correct and as 2025 starts I’m rediscovering what discipline looks like in my 30th year. The complicated, harder answer is that you have to first reckon with the differences that an aged body presents.


You’re not old.

You’re not wrinkly and horrible.

You’re not broken nor unfit.


But you’re also not 20 anymore, much in the same way that at 20, we were not 12.

At each point in our lives, our body has a different natural strength. Yes, we have control over some of the strength are body holds but we have much less control over its metabolism, its natural stamina. We can increase these things, we can enablee their positive improvement but it is true that bodies naturally become more tired the older we get and it becomes harder and harder to remain fit, healthy and full of energy.


Before we even consider knowing how to reclaim our best version of energy and health, we have to first appreciate that the peak of our fitness and energy may look different now. Like I said, this year is very much about regaining a better grip on my own personal health but in order to do that, I’m being realistic about the fact that losing weight, for example, is a much slower journey than it once was and that I’m also much busier than I used to be. I’m not getting pissed up inside of a sticky-floored nightclub in Colchester or climbing the shelves of a JD Stockroom or finding time to do a 1000 things in one day. I have work, I have longer-distanced friendships, I have less time in the day and less energy to do the things I want to squeeze into that day.


I’m not trying to be depressing here, I’m far more satisfied now than I ever was 10 years ago but these are all facts that have to be confronted before looking to the future of how much energy I have, how much I can regain and what I can do.


A lot of this is about recognising the causes and signs of burnout because burnout can throw me off course for weeks - sometimes months - and getting a really good grip on the reasons it happens and noticing, essentially, the symptons as they arise has been crucial to making the most of my energy.


It's also understanding that energy is the things we have energy to devote to. It's not just how long can I sprint for, how long can I stay awake for or how many sets of this chest press can I do. It's also how long can I spend with people whose energy levels are higher than mine, how many blogs can I realistically write every month, what type of job is the best use of my talent, energy levels and culture. It's things that feel small or that feel less about our standard definition of energy and more about what the things are that will contribute to a better life and to a better self.


Health - mental and physical - is inherently dependent on where our energies are placed but it is, if you're me, a constant source of concern. Personal, concern that is. Many people have been concerned about my mental health over the years, but when it comes to physical health, that's my forte of worry. Every stereotype of fearing death at every corner is true of me and a little knot in my chest can keep me awake for hours. Health is definitely something that I think takes longer than 30 years to fully grasp, because once you've got a good idea of health, you also kind of have to grapple with mortality and that's a bit much for me sometimes, thanks very much xxx


I think overall, I'm a pretty healthy person. As a vegetarian, I eat a lot of vegetables and have to work harder to get nutrients and my knowledge on this has definitely improved. Over the last few years, I've bought less vegetarian sustitutes and tried, instead, to find healthier recipes that give the same satisfaction (albeit still allowing for treats) and I am FAIRLY active. Like every other person in the world, the new year did bring a new gym subscription for me. I've been going to the gym on and off for 12 years. I do enjoy it but I struggle not just with motivation, but with energy. If I've sapped my energy on the wrong things, all of a sudden my alarm to go to the gym is a source of great evil. Yet the gym also provides energy, once I've overcome my initial stress.


Hence, again, we encounter conflict.


That is what energy is to me.


It's the battle against a consistent cycle of losing energy which then in turn loses the ability to do the thing that restores our energy. This is one of those blogs that is literally a blog and not an advice column or article, if you hadn't already guessed. It is a journal entry for you to feel seen, for me to come back to later from now and remember that I had made strides in some areas but that my thirties definitely need to be spent getting out of that energy loop.

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