Foraging by animals is typically understood as a way to maximise food or energy intake. However, food is a complex mixture of multiple nutrients, each having specific functional implications for animals. The dietary choices of animals in the wild are influenced by both internal (such as, sex, physiological condition) and external factors (such as, predation risk, habitat heterogeneity, seasonal influence). Such environmental stressors can inflict stress responses in animals which in turn impose higher energy demands, leading to the rapid depletion of stored carbon-rich compounds. Their depletion requires replenishment by active foraging for carbon-rich food resources and thereby imposing new nutritional demands during physiological stress.  Seasonal breeding animals have different physiological demands across their seasonal regime based on their life history traits. While the stress hormone, that is corticosterone in birds and reptiles, is essential for survival during non-breeding stages, its over expression in the breeding stage could have potential negative impacts on their reproductive activities.   Using the sexually dimorphic tropical lizard species, Psammophilus dorsalis, as our model system, we studied the differences in physiological demands across seasons and their correlation with diet nutrient composition. We quantified stress levels and energy metabolite levels from blood samples and quantified the diet of adult lizards to prey Order level and determined the C:N ratios of their whole diet across seasons. I shall present our findings from this chapter during the talk and also give an overview of related studies that were conducted as part of my PhD.