I’M A 44-YEAR-OLD MUM AND DOCTOR – THESE 5 SIMPLE HABITS TRANSFORMED MY ENERGY

If you’ve opened this article, you’re probably no stranger to getting through your days running on empty. 44-year-old Rewa Keegan can relate. ‘I’m a specialist surgeon and board-certified lifestyle medicine physician with 18 years in clinical practice,’ she says. ‘Between the clinic, the school run, competing in Hyrox and life in a busy blended family household, I also know exactly what it feels like to try and prioritise your health when everything else is competing for the same limited hours.

‘I spent a period of my own life running on completely empty while knowing exactly what the research said I should be doing.’

She’s since launched The Capacity Code – a free guide for midlife women who are exhausted, depleted and not quite sure what’s gone wrong. But that didn’t come before she tested the method and lived it for herself. Below, she shares the five habits that transformed her energy – and why they’re so effective, as posted on Instagram. ‘None of this is glamorous, and I still fall off every single one of these regularly, but together they’re the reason I’m not white-knuckling my way through every 3pm anymore,’ she adds.

1.I set myself training goals

‘I started training for something rather than just exercising to tick a box, and having an actual goal, a race, a number on a calendar, gave me a reason to show up for myself that “just staying fit” never quite managed. And now I’m obsessed with Hyrox (please don’t judge me).’

2. I started fuelling my workouts

‘I finally started fuelling myself properly, a pre-workout snack instead of running on fumes, a big breakfast instead of a coffee inhaled standing at the bench, enough protein and enough fibre through the day. None of it revolutionary. All of it more effective than anything trendy I tried first.’

3. I started delegating the household chores

‘I finally started outsourcing the mental load I’d been quietly carrying for years, the chores, the cooking, the groceries, the endless invisible admin that runs a household. Turns out I was never going to feel less exhausted while doing it all myself and calling it “just how it is.” Wild concept, I know, sharing the load with the other functioning adult in the house.’

4. I started sleeping by 9pm – always for eight hours

‘Then there’s sleep, properly, bed by 9 and up before 5, which usually gets me a raised eyebrow when I say it out loud at a dinner party. But good quality sleep before midnight has done more for my energy than every supplement I’ve ever tried combined (and I’ve tried a lot of them).’

5. I cut out alcohol

‘I said goodbye to alcohol a bit over a year ago, mostly by accident, and haven’t looked back once. I’ve traded my old FOMO for what I proudly call FOHO, fear of the hangover, and at 44, with kids depending on me functioning by 6am, it’s honestly served me far better.’

2026-08-03T18:06:39Z