To think some people simply have more energy than others

This could almost be my family although my job isn’t very demanding it can be a bit stressful. I have 3 kids and my eldest is out almost seven days a week and wants to try out new sports (been told no more). Second child is out a bit less but it is beginning to ramp up while third is only four and will be starting swimming lessons. She does drama once a week at after school club.
Swimming takes most of our time, then rugby, soccer, taekwondo, and in the summer tennis and maybe cricket. I’m forever ferrying the older two everywhere.

I seem to have a lot more energy than other people (very healthy & well young people, like my own 20-something offspring!). I end up puzzling how they can be content to sit so still and seem to do so little.

But I dunno if it's somehow "natural" and innate and can't be changed. I used to much lazier & less active.

I agree with you, OP! My mother is one of those people who can't just sit down, hence why she struggled when she had a broken ankle that forced her to stop rushing around. She found it all very boring, because she couldn't focus on any sit-down and/or unsociable hobbies like reading a book or making things, and daytime TV does not hold much appeal for her.

We were supposed to be the same kind of people, e.g. going to one or two sports classes every day after school, and again on weekends. My sibling loved it and kept it up. I dropped everything at 16, mainly because I couldn't cope any longer with it all, and got called lazy as a result. School and socialisation all day was just too much for me, without anything extra.

It's carried on into adulthood. I go to work (it's a manual job that keeps me fit and surprisingly strong for a small woman). I have tried doing extra things on top, but it's so exhausting that by Wednesday, I'm worn out!

I'd love to have more energy, because I feel that I'd be much more productive and I'd have a much nicer house and garden, more pets, etc.

Tbh I think there is a lot of ND at the extremes of energy that you describe

I wonder if a lot of mums are 'on the go' and never sit down because they have to, especially if the dad is never on the go and is always sitting down. Someone has to do stuff, tidying, sorting, laundry etc. I used to consider myself to be quite lazy before having kids. Now I am a whirlwind of energy and get so much done in a day it's unreal compared to pre-kids. For me I think upbringing and context are what make the difference.

My energy is nonexistent these days.

I feel exhausted on less that seven hours. I often sleep in the afternoon and get massive exercise hangovers.

I have a connective tissue disorder though and I have to walk about 10k a day with DDog.

Sucks, I wish I had more energy!

You obviously didn't bother reading my answer to that.

Puritanical?? Lol that's the first time I've ever been called that

6 hours is a little! Why do you think resting or watching TV is a waste of time? Sounds very puritanical to me I must say

I'm glad someone understands

Ha! I can relate to this. I sleep for about 6.5 hours, and wake early ready to go for the day. My partner sleeps for a ridiculous amount of time given the chance, maybe 10-11 hours. It drives me mad and I don’t like him sleeping around my house as then I feel like a prisoner in my own home waiting for him to wake up, and half the day has gone

I think to a degree, but for most people I think you can do something about it and it is choice whether or be lazy or not. This is wrapped up with lifestyle choices so it can be changed. I find the more you exercise, the fitter you become and the more energy you have. I go to the gym 4-5 times a week, swim, regularly do long hikes and climb mountains in the summer etc, walk every day, and I feel terrible if I don’t get any exercise for a week, and my energy levels dip. What you eat also massively impacts on energy levels, so if you make poor choices, it will effect your energy level e.g. UPFs, sugar, fast food, ‘white’ food (rice, bead etc).

Of course, certain medical conditions cause incredible levels of fatigue. Debilitating fatigue that stops you doing basic activities. For those people, although diet and exercise will help, it certainly won’t cure it.

Stress and mental health are hugely relevant as well. Depression will reduce motivation, which is very unhelpful, as doing more and being more active/eating more healthily has a positive impact on mental state.

So in summary, I think natural disposition accounts for some of the variance, but lifestyle choices and health (both physical and mental) probably account for far more.

i think this can be seen by people who suddenly lose weight/take up exercise etc declaring they have a new lease of life, and have so much more energy.

@Thechaseison71 Absolutely if it isn't low iron or your thyroid you are usually fobbed off. I've encountered GP's in the UK who don't even know that women produce testosterone, in fact we have more testosterone than estrogen when we are young. Women's health is very poorly serviced here at times.

I'm always comparing myself to others I hate it I get fatigue with my Crohn's disease I should rest more but if I do I feel guilty because mothers are juggling everyday night caring working running round like headless chickens still looking glamorous lol

Yeah and with many doctors they do tend to fob off women especially if they say they are always tired or have no energy rather than actually doing tests

@Thechaseison71 I agree its interesting and also a bit disconcerting that people are sitting about beating themselves up for being lazy or thinking they just aren't that sort of person and will never know if they might have some hormonal issue or something else that would open the door for them!

Yes and there are different kinds of energy.

I need to exercise for a couple of hours a day at least (ideally three) and I can work for 12 hours doing something interesting but put me in a room of unfamiliar people for an hour and the next day I'll genuinely feel like I've got the flu.

I'm exactly the same as you. I once told a therapist that "I'm inherently lazy' and he picked me up on it, and said I was talking negatively about myself. But it's just a fact of life for me and I've never been any different, regardless of how much exercise I might be forcing myself to do.

This is also me! I also some some health and joint issues, and I am very low on physical energy but my mind never switches off and it is exhausting. I also have to be doing more than one thing at a time, can't watch a film as it's too long.
My brain is in overdrive in bed and I was surprised when my DH said he just goes to sleep without thinking. I also do the 'scenario' thing. I could sleep for 8+ plus hours happily

That's actually really interesting

So for a very long time I would have agreed with you I was always very low key, introverted, loved just staying in and doing as little as possible. There were things I was good at and might have liked to do or careers I was interested in but passed on because I wasn't a high vitality person. I was healthy, I exercised, didn't drink, smoke, do drugs, ate a healthy diet, got good sleep but I was just always a bit lower on energy than a lot of people even when I was really young.

Then in my 30's when I was living overseas I was seeing a functional doctor for my headaches and given a test at the which showed I had basically no testosterone and was given injections and then a gel to bring my levels up to the normal levels I should have had. Within a few months I was a very different person and suddenly I had bags of energy, was highly motivated to take on projects and see things though, things I had thought previously I just could never do due to not having the energy to do them I could. I could think straight and plan better, I was just more vital. My basic temperament didn't change I still loved all the things I had loved, I was still an introvert but I was more confident and excited by life and creative projects and just had more vitality.

I have to get it privately in the UK but I still use it now, I'd get nothing done without it and I am very careful to keep my levels in the female range.

It would be a problem if we lived together and he insisted on buggering off to bed at bloody 10.30 leaving me sat like a lemon for hours alone. Not much fun. At least in my own space I can do stuff without having to worry about waking him. If I stay there he stays up until maybe 11, then I'm left tossing and turning unable to sleep for another couple of hours. So that makes me feel irritated

Lounging in bed or watching tv is wasted time to me. Both passive things rather than actually doing something. I don't enjoy not doing anything. . I've never got this thing on planes where they say " relax and enjoy your flight" Sat there doing sweet FA is not relaxing to me

Other people can sleep 13 hours a day and spend the rest staring at at tv for all I care just as long as I don't have to be around it

"6 hours a day isn't a little!"

Well the average person needs 8 hours so for some of us it would not be enough.

"Mt partner does it so If we lived togthee it would drive me nad"

Why would it bother you how much he sleeps?

"To me it feels like lounging in bed or sat watching tv is wasted time"

Why is it more of a waste of time than anything else? Or at least anything else that isn't a necessary task like your job or housework? And why would enjoying yourself be a waste of time?

6 hours a day isn't a little! Ii don't know how people can lie in bed for 9 hours plus. Mt partner does it so If we lived together it would drive me mad' Im pretty similar to the poster you quoted. I cant sit and watch tv for example without doing something else at the same time . To me it feels like lounging in bed or sat watching tv is wasted time

I've always been the same and am mid 50s with no long term effects so not sure when they will start

I think energy is something you cultivate, and oddly enough it increases the more active you are. I suppose the body adapts.

OMG are you never tired? And do you ever worry about the long-term effects of so little sleep and rest?