Midlife Reset: How to Recover When Summer Wiped You Out

Let’s be real: summer break came in hot and now you’re crispy.

Not glowing. Not golden. Just…crispy. The kind of crispy where your kid’s camp lunchbox is still fermenting in the bottom of the pool bag, your living room floor is holding a yard sale of last school year’s chaos, and your inbox? Let’s not even talk about the inbox.

If this sounds like you, welcome to the Crispy Mom Recovery Episode, but spoiler: it’s not just for moms. Whether you're mentoring, managing, caregiving, or juggling all three while low-key Googling “can stress cause memory loss,” this is your post-summer reset guide.

In this article, we’re going to ditch the Pinterest-perfect glow-up and talk about real midlife recovery. Think: micro-resets, mental space, and feeling like a human again, even if you’re still unearthing granola bars from the glove compartment.

TL;DR — Quick Summary for the Crispy Ones:

You don’t need a bootcamp or a wellness overhaul.
You need three simple energy resets—mental, physical, and emotional—to help you bounce back from the burnout of summer. This blog walks you through how to do just that using the SMASH framework and the Energy Zones model.

Ready for your reset?
👉 Download the free Energy Tune-Up Tracker to get started with zero pressure and all the clarity.

Let’s Name It: The Summer Was Not “Relaxing”

Here’s the thing no one wants to say out loud:
Summer is secretly exhausting.

Yes, there are magical pockets—sunshine, vacations, s’mores—but in between? It's:

• Last-minute Target runs
• Juggling kid schedules and client calls
• Emotional labor Olympics ("Is everyone having a good summer?!")
• Weird meal times, snack chaos, and snack wrappers
• No routine, no structure, and zero transition time between roles

By the end of July, you’re not refreshed. You’re overcooked. You’ve RSVP’d “yes” to fictional Zoom calls just to sit alone in a locked room. (No judgment—we’ve all been there.)

And here’s why that matters: this version of you needs care, not a challenge.

Why You’re Crispy: It’s Not Just “Mom Life”—It’s Energy Debt

Let’s talk energy zones for a second.
If you’re new here, I teach a framework called the Energy Zones—green, yellow, and red—that helps women identify how they’re actually doing before they crash.

Here’s the breakdown:
🟢 Green Zone: Clear-headed, steady, functioning with flow
🟡 Yellow Zone: Foggy, frazzled, overwhelmed but pushing through
🔴 Red Zone: Crashed. Numb. Snapping. Hiding. Done.

Guess what summer often shoves us into?
👉 Yellow, fast. And then red.

You didn’t do anything wrong, you just absorbed everyone else’s energy while ignoring your own.

Let’s Reset: 3 Zones to Focus On

Here’s the good news: You don’t need a complete life overhaul. What you need is a reset in three areas: mental, physical, and emotional.

Using the SMASH framework (Set intention, Make it measurable, Automate it, Self-manage, Habit stack), here’s how to reset your system before back-to-school chaos (or Q4 madness) begins.

1. Mental Reset: Give Your Brain a Break

Your brain doesn’t need another to-do list. It needs a breather.
Try this:
🧠 Start your morning (or your lunch break) with 5 minutes of nothing.
Sit. Breathe. No podcast, no phone, no planning. Just exist for a sec.
If you’re too overloaded to even pause? Start with a brain dump.
Write down everything swirling around in your head—appointments, reminders, worries, grocery items, thoughts like “what even is dinner anymore?”
Then: pause. For five minutes. That’s it.
💡 Why this works:
It clears cognitive clutter and tells your nervous system, “We’re not in an emergency. We’re just living.”

2. Physical Reset: Feed the Machine, Then Move It

When you're fried, the temptation is to reach for coffee or coast until bedtime. But crispy energy often lives in the yellow zone, caused by dehydration, low blood sugar, or cortisol overload.
Let’s fix that.

Your physical reset strategy:
✔ Before coffee hits your lips, drink a full glass of water and grab a bite of protein.
Hard-boiled egg? Great.
Scoop of cottage cheese with grapes (hi, cotton candy variety)? Delicious.
Leftover grilled chicken? Absolutely.
✔ Then move your body—but gently.
Walk, stretch, roll around on the floor. Doesn’t matter. Motion is lotion, babe. It loosens up stiff joints, stuck emotions, and that whole “why am I growling at the dog?” vibe.
💡 Why this works:
Movement releases stress from your body. Protein + hydration gives you energy before your adrenals kick into panic mode. Small shifts = sustainable reset.

3. Emotional Reset: Stop the Guilt Spiral

This one’s sneaky. You’re not just physically tired. you’re emotionally toasted from carrying all the invisible labor of summer.
So let’s disrupt that guilt-fueled autopilot.

Your emotional reset checklist:
🔻 Drop one obligation.
Cancel it. Say no. Walk away. You don’t have to reschedule it. Just opt out.
🔺 Add one joy cue.
A favorite song. A 5-minute laugh with a friend. A funny reel. (Seriously, DM me on Instagram—I’ve got a whole private folder of laugh-until-you-snort content.)

✨ Tattoo this phrase on your planner:
“Rhythm is the antidote to chaos.”
You don’t need more structure. You need a cadence—a beat you can return to when the world goes sideways. That’s what rhythm gives you.
💡 Why this works:
We don’t recover from burnout with better productivity—we recover with joy, permission, and less noise.

Real Talk: You’re Not Behind—You’re Becoming

If your brain keeps whispering:
“You should have already bounced back by now.”
Please know: that’s a lie. You’re not late. You’re not failing.
You’re simply rebuilding after a full-body, full-schedule, full-sensory summer.
This isn’t about becoming a new person.
It’s about coming home to the version of you who knows what feels good—who just got buried under pool towels, Target receipts, and over-functioning.
Start here:
Ask yourself 👉 “What do I want my day to feel like?”
Then pick one anchor habit that brings you closer to that feeling—whether it’s breakfast, breathwork, or bedtime.

The Reset Is Yours—On Your Terms

There is no bootcamp required. No pressure to 5am yourself into a new identity. No color-coded spreadsheet of “how to bounce back.”
Just this:
✨ A breath.
✨ A brain dump.
✨ A glass of water.
✨ A song you forgot you loved.
And if you’re wondering how to keep track of what’s working (and what’s draining you), I’ve got you.

💥 Your Reset Starts With the Energy Tune-Up Tracker

If you’re ready to reset without the guilt, guesswork, or guru advice, the Energy Tune-Up Tracker was made for you.
This free tool helps you:

• Pinpoint what’s actually draining you
• Notice your personal energy patterns
• Make small, realistic tweaks that actually stick

No pressure, no perfection. Just clarity, one page at a time.
🎯 Download it here.

Final Thought: You Don’t Have to Earn a Reset

You’re not lazy. You’re not dramatic. You’re not “just overwhelmed.”
You’re human. And tired. And carrying more than anyone can see.
But you get to stop. To breathe.
To move at your own rhythm.
To reset without earning it.
And every time you choose one small shift over a big burnout?
That’s you. Fueling the version of yourself you’re becoming.
You got this.