How to Protect Your Energy Without Burning Out
Burnout isn’t a failure of resilience. For many founders, it’s a predictable outcome of running a business while running on empty.
In a recent Lift & Learn session, high-performance nutritionist Karen Aroney, ExecFuel founder shared practical, science-backed insights on how founders — especially women — can protect their energy, improve focus, and build sustainable wellbeing without overhauling their lives.
Here’s what every founder needs to know.
Burnout Is Often Under-Fuelling in Disguise
Many founders assume burnout is about stress, motivation, or mindset.
Karen reframed this quickly:
Most high-achieving women aren’t “doing too little” — they’re asking too much of bodies that aren’t being adequately fuelled or supported.
Inconsistent eating, low protein intake, dehydration, poor sleep, and constant cognitive load quietly compound over time, leading to fatigue, brain fog, mood swings and energy crashes.
This is not weakness.
It’s biology.
Energy Is a Leadership Asset
One of Karen’s key messages was simple but powerful:
Your energy determines how you lead, decide, and show up.
When energy is low:
Focus drops
Reactivity increases
Creativity narrows
Decision-making becomes harder
Protecting energy isn’t indulgent — it’s strategic.
The Shift That Changes Everything: Rituals Over Resets
Founders don’t need extreme wellness plans or January “resets”.
Karen emphasised that tiny, repeatable rituals are far more effective than all-or-nothing changes.
Think:
Eating consistently rather than perfectly
Moving gently and regularly
Supporting your nervous system daily
Consistency beats intensity every time.
Practical Strategies Founders Can Use Immediately
Karen shared simple tools designed to fit real founder lives:
Fuel consistently
Balanced meals with adequate protein help stabilise blood sugar, mood and energy throughout the day.
Fuel before fun
Eating a protein-rich snack before events or social occasions helps avoid crashes, overeating and over-drinking.
Protect your cognitive peak
Do your highest-value thinking when your brain is freshest — not buried under admin.
Move to regulate stress
Short walks (“snap walks”) support digestion, nervous system regulation and mental clarity.
Slow down eating
Pausing, chewing, and breathing before meals improves fullness signals and reduces mindless eating.
January Is a Launchpad — Not a Recovery Ward
One of the strongest takeaways from the session was this reframe:
If January is spent recovering, it’s because the body wasn’t supported earlier.
Founders who feel their best in the new year don’t rely on willpower — they build support into December and beyond.
Small actions now create momentum later.
The Bottom Line
Founder wellbeing isn’t about doing more.
It’s about supporting yourself better.
When energy is protected:
Focus sharpens
Leadership improves
Burnout becomes preventable, not inevitable
As Karen reminded us, high performance starts with how well you care for the body doing the work.