I am exhausted all the time, to the point where breathing can be difficult. My body hurts a lot, especially my knees and my feet (I have major plantar fasciitis). I am obese and have Hashimoto’s and prediabetes. I’ve been eating fewer processed foods and more whole foods and produce. I don’t have a sweet tooth generally. I’ve been using the Mediterranean diet for most of my meals. The problem is, even eating healthy foods makes me tired.

I work in a pharmacy, so I’m on my feet nonstop and am constantly stressed out. I NEED to start exercising again. I’m trying to find an exercise plan that I can do before work that won’t absolutely wipe me out. I spent half the day deep cleaning my balcony a few weekends ago, and the rest of the day I was flat on my back. Swimming is basically the only exercise I like that won’t kill my joints, but I still worry I’ll be too exhausted to do anything after. It’s very worrying and frustrating, because I’ve tried a lot of different things (personal training, barre fitness, Zumba and other dance workouts, even just walking) and they’ve left me prostrated after. I am an eating disorders veteran, but frankly, I feel it’s less of a problem for me at this point in my life. I have developed enough self-knowledge, confidence, and healthy coping skills to be able to say I’m over the worst of it. However, I worry about my health at this point.

I really feel that, for health reasons, I should lose weight. But it’s discouraging to hit roadblocks with everything I try. I am fully aware there are no magic pills and I’m not looking for instant gratification (in case anyone wants to say either). But I’m running out of ideas on what to do. And I’m so tired that all I want to do is sleep. It’s really concerning to me. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice, or has anyone been in a similar situation?