The Energy Audit: why your 3 pm tells the truth

Your afternoon doesn't lie. What it reveals about your lunch rhythm.

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Most people measure success by what they accomplish. I measure it by how their 3 pm feels.

It doesn’t matter who you are—introvert, extrovert, obscenely rich, or barely making ends meet. Your afternoon energy correlates with the amount of friction you dealt with up until 3 pm.

Which is why it’s a good time for a body check. Steady energy doesn’t lie. Neither does the crash.

What is friction?

When I’m staring at a blank page to start writing the next article, that could be friction.

But for me it’s not.

I habit-stack my way to my writing desk the way parents habit-stack bedtime for their kids: clean up the toys, brush teeth, bath, PJs, books, kisses, lights out.

When that habit stack turns into a struggle, that’s friction.

When I habit-stack my way into dedicated writing time, my body gets settled, and my mind understands what’s happening. It’s been there many times before. My fingers move before I know what I’m going to write. It stretches me, but it’s not friction. I got there through my stacks.

I decided, I designed, then I did. It’s not easy, per se, but there’s ease.

Friction is sitting down and feeling like having to write while faced with an exhaustive list of to-dos and thinking about family members or coworkers “expecting” your time and energy.

This isn’t deciding; it’s constant renegotiating.

It’s “I’ll try.”

It’s friction.

It’s the chasm between what you think you should be doing and what you want to be doing at the deepest level.

The former is external referral.

The latter is self-referral.

Of course you consider others—you care about them. But you don’t want to make decisions for approval. That’s the gap between the chapter of your life that felt so good and the exhausted person you feel you’ve become.

Afternoon crashes have less to do with how many things you’ve accomplished. They tell on you—on how much you’ve been fighting with yourself up until 3 pm.

The grind isn’t the busyness; it’s the inner conflict between two identities you act from:

• the person you were groomed to be that gets nods, and

• the person you actually are—the one you keep treating as inconvenient to everyone, including yourself.

Until you decide, it’s hard to do—or even know what to do—with consistency.

When you’re crystal clear on what you’re doing—the thing you’re obsessed with, that feels like play even when parts stretch your current skill level—it’s much easier to design a rhythm to support it.

When you’re not clear, your internal rhythm needs a scaffold. That’s where a Sovereign Rhythm comes in. It decides which parts of your day you turn into muscle memory—so mood and willpower stop running the show—and where you spend the extra creative energy you freed up by lightening the decision load.

Here’s the foundation that gets you clear: food as your self-referral practice.

It’s a good one because it happens three times a day. Beyond reactivating your body’s natural healing powers, it creates healthy boundaries, helps you claim your time, and teaches decision-making, design, and follow-through. The payoff is more clarity and energy—so creativity on command and real agency stop being theory and start becoming your default.

You will be asked to listen to your body, your inner wisdom.

You will get your afternoon back and your life.

So let’s look at our 3 pm through your food practice.

The three states of 3 pm

1. The Crash (most common)

What it feels like:
Brain fog, reaching for coffee/sugar, can’t focus, irritable

What it means:
Late lunch, cold lunch, or rushed lunch

The body’s message:

“You didn’t fuel me when my fire was strongest (10am-1:30pm). Now I’m borrowing from your reserves.”

2. The Grind (functional but depleting)

What it feels like:
You can push through, but it takes effort. Everything feels harder than it should.

What it means:
You ate on time but cold, or warm but too late

The body’s message:

“Close, but not quite. You’re running on partial fuel.”

3. The Steady (the goal)

What it feels like:
Clear mind, stable mood, work flows, no cravings

What it means:
Warm food, eaten between 10am-1:30pm, chewed well, not rushed

The body’s message:

“This is what I’m designed for. Let’s do more.”

Your 3 pm isn’t random. It’s not your age, your hormones, or your workload.

It’s a direct report from your digestive fire about the quality of fuel—and timing—you gave it at lunch.

Here’s your practice—

If you’re tired of living in the Crash and the Grind, this week’s paid post, Decide → Design → Do, shows you how to lock in a realistic lunch window, protect it with boundary scripts, and plug warm, simple meals into a rhythm you can actually keep.

If you’re already a Wellness Alchemist, start there. If you’re not yet, upgrade to join us and get the framework plus the Lunch Design Toolkit.

Self-referral practice

For the next three days, I want you to notice your 3 pm. Not judge it—notice it.

At 3 pm, pause and ask:

1. What’s my energy right now—Crash, Grind, or Steady?

2. What did I eat for lunch?

3. What time did I eat it?

4. Was it warm or cold?

5. Did I sit down or eat standing/driving/scrolling?

6. Did I actually chew, or just inhale it?

Write it down. Three days. That’s it.

Why this works:

• It’s simple (no meal plan, no tracking macros).

• It builds self-referral (you’re learning to read your body’s signals).

• It creates curiosity about a solution (which I’ll keep unpacking with you).

• It’s evidenced from your own life—not someone else’s protocol.

Most wellness advice asks you to track everything: calories, steps, water, sleep.
I’m asking you to track one thing: your 3 pm.

Because it’s simple.

And, when your 3 pm is steady, everything else gets easier—including your mornings.

Your decisions sharpen. Your mood stabilizes. And your work compounds.

The difference between Crash and Steady? It’s not willpower. It’s rhythm.

And rhythm starts with one meal, eaten warm, on time.

Three days. Six questions. One meal.

That’s how you start building sovereignty.

Want the framework? Inside the paid tier, I teach the rhythm of the plate–the meal-anchor system that builds sovereignty one lunch at a time.

Join the Wellness Alchemists to get Decide → Design → Do, the Lunch Design Toolkit, and the tools to turn your 3 pm from truth-teller into secret weapon.

Already in the Wellness Alchemists? This is your reminder to revisit Decide → Design → Do this week and run your own 3 pm audit.

— Savitree

Your guide to Food as Medicine—warm meals, calmer gut, clearer days.