Throughout winter, and actually, all year round, we hear the same predictable phrases that make it seem as though getting ill is unavoidable:
“There’s something going around.”
“Everyone’s ill right now.”
“It’s just that time of year.”
But in my experience, both personally and through years of coaching, getting run down is not as inevitable as most people think.
This article builds on the last two episodes/articles, where we’ve explored what real self-care is and the blocks that stop us listening to our body, and looks at a crucial question:
Why do some people get run down repeatedly, and how can we prevent it before it starts?
Why We Get Run Down More Easily Than We Think
People don’t usually get ill “out of nowhere.” Illness tends to happen when the early signals from the body are missed or overridden. These aren’t dramatic symptoms, they’re subtle:
- A little fatigue
- Slight irritability
- Feeling colder than usual
- Brain fog
- Lower mood
- A faint scratchiness in the throat
- A hint of congestion or pressure in the chest
- A faint earache
- A hint of tension behind the eyes
- Poor sleep
- A drop in appetite or increased cravings
Most people don’t connect these to immunity, but they’re early signs that the system is under strain. And when the body is depleted, immune function drops… meaning even everyday exposures become harder to defend against.
Modern life makes it incredibly easy to miss these signs:
- We push through tiredness
- We live in reactive, rushed states
- We rely on caffeine to function
- We skip meals or under-eat
- Stress hormones carry us through the day
- We treat our body like a machine
And when we do notice the signals, many people override them because of:
- Work pressure
- Caring responsibilities
- Guilt
- Conditioning that rest = weakness
- Feeling they “don’t have time”
The problem is that the body keeps score, even when we don’t.
How Lifestyle Stress Weakens Immunity
Here are the four most common patterns I see that reduce immune resilience:
Chronic stress: Stress hormones suppress immunity. When people are constantly “on,” the body prioritises survival, not repair. I often see clients living on stress hormones without realising it. They have low-grade colds that linger, or feel perpetually run down, simply because their system never gets the rest and recovery it needs.
Undereating (especially early in the day): The immune system is energy-intensive. When people go long gaps without food or don’t eat enough, especially at breakfast and lunch, the body doesn’t have as much fuel to fight off illness. And blood sugar issues, driven by undereating, are a major stress on the body and further weaken immunity.
Caffeine masking exhaustion:
Caffeine can:
- Suppress appetite
- Mask tiredness
- Create false energy
- Override the body’s signals
So instead of resting, people keep going and end up putting even more stress on the body by using caffeine to push through rather than giving it what it actually needs: rest, food, sleep, and recovery, etc. In that state, the body has to divert valuable (and finite) energy away from immunity, leaving the immune system with far less to work with.
Exercising when run down: This is very common in driven individuals – if someone is on the verge of getting ill and they push their body through a workout, especially intense exercise, the body has to prioritise physical exertion over immune response. Secondly, it doesn’t actually make sense to keep exerting the body when we’re run down, yet so many people do. If this is you, it’s worth exploring why. In last week’s episode and article, explain the common deeper patterns behind this – listen or read here.
What NOT to Do When You Notice Early Symptoms
These may sound obvious, but it’s worth sharing them:
- Don’t keep going at the same pace
- Don’t drink caffeine to mask tiredness
- Don’t stay up later than necessary when tired – ideally, get an early night
- Don’t rely on over-the-counter medication so you can “push through”
- Don’t stick to intense exercise if feeling rundown
- Don’t overload your diary with stimulation and demands
These choices may get you through the day, but at the cost of your health in the days that follow.
What TO Do Instead
If you notice those early signs, even the faintest ones, the most powerful thing you can do is respond quickly:
- Slow down as soon as possible
- Cancel or postpone plans
- Rest
- Go to bed early
- Eat a grounding meal
- Support immunity with supplements (Vit C, zinc, etc.)
- Stay warm
- Reduce stimulation
- Keep activity gentle (like a short walk)
When you respond early and give your body the conditions it needs to recover, you can often stop an illness completely. And that’s because your body is always trying to keep you well, but it can only do that if you work with it rather than against it.
Preventing Depletion Before It Starts (Level 2 of Self-Care)
Level 1 is listening to your body when symptoms appear – catching the subtle signs early and responding before they escalate. Level 2 goes a step further: it’s about preventing depletion in the first place.
Once you understand your body’s patterns, you can move beyond reacting to symptoms and start avoiding the situations, habits, and cycles that drain you. Where you shift from constantly firefighting your wellbeing… to living in a way that supports your immune system (and your overall performance) rather than continually draining it.
This is some of the deeper work I do with clients around their time and energy management. where I help them create the kind of life their body can actually thrive in.
A Quick Word on Winter Illness Narratives
Yes, viruses circulate more in winter. But it’s your baseline state that determines your susceptibility. It is not inevitable that you will get whatever is going around. But it is predictable if you’re depleted.
This conversation isn’t about blame, it’s about empowerment. Because as you start to understand and respect your body, and when you stop normalising depletion, you radically reduce how often you get run down.
Kate x
If you’d like support with this work, whether 1:1 or as a wellbeing programme for your organisation, you can contact me here. And if you found this helpful, feel free to share it with someone who’s been “running on fumes” lately. They might need this.
