Have you ever noticed you’re hungrier when you haven’t gotten enough sleep? Do you grab foods that may not be so nutritious when you’re tired? When our bodies don’t get proper sleep, hormones are disrupted. Ghrelin, is our hunger hormone, telling us when we’re hungry and leptin, lets our brains know we are full. Without enough sleep, these hormones are out of whack and we tend to overeat. Also, we’ll start to crave less healthy foods and could overdo sugar/caffeine.
Sleep is just as important as nutrition and exercise when it comes to improving many areas of your health. Good sleep helps our bodies and minds recover, keeping us lean, happy, mentally focused, and healthy.
But chronically bad sleep:
makes it harder to get and stay lean;
makes it harder to gain and keep muscle and other lean mass;
disrupts hormones;
ages us faster;
decreases our immunity and increases our risk of chronic illness
decreases mental focus
affects mood
Practice Good Sleep Habits with these Steps:
1)Create a sleep routine
Your body needs transition time from day to night to help with sleep. Create a nighttime routine to prepare for sleep. Doing this regularly, your body will start the process of gearing down automatically.
2)Keep a regular schedule
Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and night. If you’re consistent, your body will know when to release calming hormones before bed, and stimulating hormones to help you wake up.
3)Keep alcohol and caffeine moderate.
Genuinely restful and restorative sleep comes from deep sleep. Even though alcohol relaxes you in the moment, more than 1-2 drinks in the evening can interfere with deep sleep, as can too much caffeine. Limit alcohol to the suggested amounts, and reduce caffeine after 2 pm. Otherwise, although you may “sleep” for 7 hours, your sleep won’t be high quality, and you won’t get the recovery benefits.
4)Eat and drink appropriately.
Having a large meal immediately before bed can disrupt your ability to fall and stay asleep. Instead, eat a small meal/snack a few hours before bedtime. A blend of protein, carbs and fats will help to keep you satiated, and might even improve your ability to fall asleep as your brain converts carbs to serotonin.
5)Write out your thoughts
Whatever is in your brain, get it out and on to paper to clear your mind for relaxation. Write a list of whatever is on your mind, good or bad: to-do lists, project ideas, creative thoughts, anxious or angry thoughts.
6)Turn off electronics.
Digital devices stimulate our brain with their light, noise, and mental demands. Unplug from all screens — TVs, computers, phones— at least 30 minutes before bed.
If you must read on a screen, switch the screen to a dimmer background. Our brain produces melatonin as light levels decrease, which ensures deep sleep, and may also help regulate our metabolism. If we have too much light at night, we don’t get proper melatonin production.
7)Practice de-stressing activities
Gentle movement — such as stretching or yoga
Reading before bed — but make sure it’s not too engaging — otherwise you’ll be revved up.
Meditation, deep breathing, or other simple relaxation exercises
8)Go to bed before midnight
Interesting fact: According to some sleep experts, because of the way our natural circadian rhythms work, every hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours after.
9)Sleep at least seven hours
Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep per night. 7 should be your baseline. Prepare ahead of time so you’ll fall asleep and get those hours.
10)Exercise regularly
Exercising regularly helps normalize circadian rhythms, tone down the sympathetic nervous system, and regulate endocrine function. Your sympathetic nervous system puts you in "fight or flight" mode with stress. It activates a higher heart rate, sweat glands, etc. signaling you are in danger. The endocrine function releases hormones into our blood. These hormones travel to our cells throughout the body and affect our mood, metabolism, and growth & development. Keep your exercise routine during the daytime to benefit from the energy it releases. Nighttime workouts make it hard for your body to relax before bedtime.
11)Take a bath or shower
A warm bath or shower before bed can help us relax and de-stress. If taking a bath, throw in some magnesium-based epsom salts as magnesium is known to help with sleep.
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