Are you still drinking your water and eating your salads? Are you feeling a difference in your energy levels yet?
If not you will SOON but only if you KEEP GOING. Don’t give up!
In today’s lesson I want to talk about another very important piece of the energy equation: SLEEP
The best way to evaluate the quality of your sleep is to look at the quality of your wakefulness during the day. Do you function with alertness at your job and while driving? Or do you lack energy and tend to fall asleep without a constant caffeine boost?
Sleep may be more important than you think!!
People who don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis are typically more likely to make poor food choices, and skip workouts. And speaking from experience, I never realized how important sleep is until I didn’t get any. Mamas…I know you can totally relate!!
Ensuring you get enough sleep, water, exercise and greens are 4 HUGE pillars that really help make up the foundation of healthy living. Luckily I’ve already given you a bunch of tools during this workshop to help you get started on the right path. Now it’s up to YOU to do the work!!
Did you know that your body does a lot of it’s important functions between 10pm-2am? That’s when your adrenal glands do the majority of their recovering. What do the adrenal glands do? They are responsible for producing hormones including cortisol which can help facilitate fat burning. Sounds pretty important right??
Healthy levels of cortisol hormone are secreted in a carefully orchestrated 24-hour (circadian) rhythm, starting out highest in the morning and falling to mid-range throughout the afternoon, and quite low during the night. The adrenal glands start the next day’s cycle just before dawn, so levels can be high enough to meet the demands of waking up and starting a new day. If your sleeping patterns are too disruptive it can wreak havoc on your hormones which in turn can cause a number of health issues.
All that aside, the hours before 1am often provide the most restful sleep, so even if you have to wake up early you can feel more rested than someone who went to bed after 1am and had the same number of hours of sleep. I’m sure this has happened to you at one time or another. You’re exhausted and go to bed super early. You wake up and feel like you’ve been asleep for 6 or 8 hours. Then you look at the clock and discover it’s only midnight and you’ve only been asleep for about 3-4 hours!
Early sleep = more restful sleep.
That’s all there is to it. This can be a difficult pill to swallow especially for night owls like me who tend to get a creative boost and spurt of energy around 10pm. However, with a bit of consistent effort you CAN train yourself to learn new habits.
Because your body relies on its sleep cycle to help rejuvenate, it’s important that you try to get a decent amount of shut-eye on a daily basis. And sorry…”catching up” on sleep during the weekends doesn’t work! In fact, changing your sleep schedule dramatically on the weekends can make it even harder on your body.
Here are some helpful tips for getting enough rest and improving the overall quality of your sleep.
- Make sure you stop eating 2 hours before going to bed. You don’t want to go to bed and try to sleep while your body is still hard at work digesting food. If you feel like you’re starving, have a light snack such as low-fat cottage cheese, or a small apple. Also, avoid caffeine for at least 6 hours before bedtime. Although, some studies show that caffiene can stay in the system for as long as 12 hours. So avoiding caffeiene after lunch might be a good idea.
- You may not want to exercise vigorously just before bed. It may be best to exercise late in the afternoon or in the morning. Still, some studies have shown that exercise right before bed is not as bad as was once thought, unless you are the type of person who becomes more alert with exercise. For me, I can exercise late at night and I don’t have any trouble sleeping, although sometimes it depends on the type of exercise. For example, when I did P90X I would often do the yoga workout right before bed and I always slept like a baby. However, if I do something like Insanity which is a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout, it gives me a lot of energy so I like to do that one early in the morning. I like to tell everyone that Shaun T is my caffeine! :o)
- Pay attention to how you end your day and allow yourself about an hour to unwind before bed. This will probably take some practice because we all have busy lives but it’s worth it! Brush your teeth and wash your face slowly with warm water. Set the mood for relaxation. To help leave behind racing thoughts, you may want to do a brain dump using a written journal and write down anything that’s still occupying your mind. Getting the thoughts out of your head and down on paper can help ease your mind so it can relax for the night. Your subconscious may simmer out solutions while you sleep, and your notes will help you pick up where you left off in the morning.
- Turn off the electronics and don’t keep your cell phone next to your bed. This is hard I know!! But all electronic devices give off varying degrees of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and their bright screens affect the bioelectrical system of the human body. In other words, they make us go wonky. More and more studies are showing a link between sleep disorders and EMFs. So instead of scrolling through your phone or tablet before bed or watching TV, try flipping through the pages of a magazine or book.
- Get some fresh air. Humans weren’t meant to spend so much time indoors. We also weren’t designed to sit in cubicles for 8 hours and then spend another 2 hours commuting to and from work and then sit some more in front of the TV (we’re exhausted after all that sitting right?!?) when we get home. Go outside and move around a little. Get some real sunlight and vitamin D! Spending time outside at dawn and late afternoon can help regulate the pineal gland, and for some folks helps with sleep disruptions.
- Restrict the amount of time you spend in bed to the actual amount of time you sleep and use the bedroom for sleeping only. Go to bed only when you are sleepy. This avoids the time you often spend trying to sleep but failing to do so. You are not sleeping anyway, so go do something worthwhile. Get out of bed if you can’t fall asleep and go read, listen to a relaxing podcast or soft music. Return to bed only when you feel sleepy and don’t fall asleep on the couch!
- If you’re a light sleeper and disruptive sounds keep you awake or prevent you from entering a deep, restful sleep, consider buying a white noise machine or a fan. When my husband and I first got married he insisted on keeping a fan on all night because it was the only way he could sleep. At first it drove me crazy but now I kinda like it. Although he prefers the HIGH speed and I find the LOW speed much more relaxing! You may need to experiment until you find your favorite.
- When you wake up in the morning be sure to take several deep, full breaths before rolling out of bed. Our breath becomes shallower and less frequent when we sleep. Start your day off right by sitting up straight and taking ten purposeful breaths. If you have pets they’ll probably think this is a pretty fun game too. :o) Take a moment to be thankful for another day on this crazy planet called Earth, and commend yourself for doing your best to improve your health.
YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT
Tonight I want you to use one of the tips listed above to get a more restful night sleep. Choose your favorite and let me know if it helps!
And of course, I would love to hear how things go with your salad today too!
Here’s the link to our daily post in the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/657486854452159/permalink/666057140261797/
