To think some people simply have more energy than others

[Unsureaboutitall]

And that there isn’t much one can do to be the same.
I have always been naturally quite lazy, even thought I get on with things like full time work, parenting, try to carve time to be active (failing currently but have been a regular gym goer for years pre DC) etc. But my default is to try and do as little as I can, I love my sofa and love sleeping, would always choose a lie in over anything else. I know some people who have 3 DC (absolute nightmare for me as I feel full on with just 1!), demanding jobs and yet have time to run marathons, be super fit, bike everywhere etc. they just seem to naturally have morw energy and enjoy leading busier lives.

AIBU to think thay you either are like that or you are not? There is no amount of healthy eating and supplements that will get me that level of energy

Haven't read the thread, but my instinctive reaction is yes. I think I'm a naturally high energy person, always have to be doing stuff. Multiple degrees, busy job, gym, sea swimming, etc. It's taken me many years to realise that other people aren't lazy, they are just different. I don't know what causes the energy difference though.

If she has two autistic DC she may well be neurodivergent herself which could explain the inability to relax! (Im autistic and find it very, very difficult to relax!)

There are differences in innate energy levels, but in the absence of factors like fatigue related conditions, being fit and eating good nutrition generally help maximise that potential.

Lockdown was hideous to me as there's only so many long runs and exercise videos you can do to fill a gaping chasm of functionless time with nowhere purposeful to go. I'd end up having afternoon naps to fill the void for a bit. It took me back to the days of late pregnancy when I was immobilised by SPD.
A sit and relax has its place, but too much vegetating stupifies me and makes me seize up and hurt.

I'm on a nice gentle 12,500 steps today. I've taken it easy because I ran a race yesterday so have just walked to work and back and been on my feet most of the day. Nothing vigorous added.

DS finds me annoying when we go to town as I park a mile out and walk, not just for saving a parking fee, but because it takes a similar time as driving around the congested ring road and trawling through the multi-storey and I'd rather have a nice 15min walk along the canal than crawl through traffic for similar time.

I feel better for moving, and moving makes the most of that energy potential.

I can be extremely energetic for a few days in a row if I have to be but then I will just crash on the first day that there's not a lot on. I run quite the debit and credit system when it comes to energy!

Not at all. My parents were easy going. They did tend to be busy themselves, so i guess they modelled it to an extent, but never pressured me to be. They were certainly better at watching TV than I am though, they works sit and watch an episode of something in the evening.

Even as a child I couldn't just watch TV, I'd be drawing or playing with my toys at the same time.

I really don't think it's an anxiety thing as some have suggested. I'm just easily bored.

I actually think it’s more about personality - and maybe these people just have passion and a level of “discipline” (e.g. I know runners and they stick to their routine come rain or shine, but they love it) as opposed to energy levels.

I say this because I had a very busy life. Maybe I still do. I am tiiireddd and I would choose my bed over anything (I loveeee my bed!) but actually I have as much love and desire for my hobbies, and for the clubs I run, that alongside raising 2 kids and working. My kids have come along to things with me.

I don’t think I have more energy, but a genuine interest in those things. And abit of curiosity. And I also think I just can’t sit still. So even if I am sitting on the sofa and the kids are in bed, I will find something to do.

I wish I could just spend a whole day doing absolutely nothing. I have had days like that and I’ll either sleep or get on with a hobby.

I'm def not one of the busy people!
People sometimes seem to think I am as I exercise alot and am always walking everywhere but honestly in between I'll be sat quietly reading, I could happily spend all day doing that.
Those people who always have to doing something? Sounds exhausting!😆

Looking at my own kids, my son is high energy and can’t sit still. He’s up early for a run before work, doesn’t sit down on the job and does football and kickboxing three nights a week. My daughter on the other hand is quite happy sleeping late and then mooching around the house. She’s forced to be active now at uni walking at least 15,000 steps a day, but in her ‘off’ days she doesn’t change out of her jammies. Raised the same, both involved in sports as youngsters. Just different.

Not sure about naturally energetic, but I force myself to be energetic because it makes me feel better to be doing stuff. I’m never more down/depressed than when I’m bored and don’t have enough to do.

I know my limits. If I push myself through the tiredness, I’m wiped out for days. I just don’t have the same energy levels as some people. I have to rest regularly and take naps to keep up with daily life!

I think you're correct, but I'm also interested on what is the line between this and "free will doesn't exist."

For every action, you can point to attributes that influence the decision, such as having more energy, where no room is left for free will. It's a situation where I think that it might be true that free will does not exist, but if you act on this - and refuse to hold anyone accountable for their actions, as they were not freely chosen, your life will get a lot worse.

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

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

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

"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?

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

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.

That's actually really interesting

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

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.

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.

@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!

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

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

@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.