HOW TO DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE YOUR SLEEP
Your weight loss focus may always have been on diet and exercise (and sure, these are important and effective if they’re personalized to you) but how much attention have you paid to your sleep? It often gets forgotten when we are busy with work, family or general life demands.
Your body and brain are working miracles while you sleep, restoring your brain functions, hormones, metabolism and pretty much everything you need to function. Consistent bad sleep can hinder your weight loss efforts so I want to talk about how we can dramatically improve it.
“Sleep is a period during which the brain is engaged in a number of activities necessary to life—which are closely linked to quality of life,”
Mark Wu (M.D & phD John Hopkins sleep expert and Neurologist)
What’s Actually Happening While We Sleep?
Sleep is like housekeeping for our brain, during this rest state, our brain filters out toxins and waste products that build up while we are awake. It means we can maintain and create pathways in our brains that allow us to learn new things and create memories that we can effectively recall later. So pretty important for our development mentally, but what about our bodies?
Like food and water, sleep impacts basically everything: our heart, lungs, metabolism, immune system etc. So if we do not get good quality sleep, not only will our alertness and cognitive abilities waiver throughout the day but it can lead to physical effects. According to NINDs, these could look like high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, diabetes and more. So, if an extra cup of coffee isn’t going to cover for your bad sleep patterns there, what can you do to give you the best chance of restorative sleep? Keep reading!
Note: If you want to read more about this, I suggest reading Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker, it’s super informative and will change your perspective on sleep!
How Much Sleep Do We Need?
A lot of clients I work with have busy and demanding schedules. Between work, the gym, a social life, childcare, eating and (if they’re lucky) hobbies, there’s not a lot of time left to sleep. Admittedly, I am guilty of only getting 6 hours of sleep a lot of nights, I’m only human too. But when I can follow the steps I will share below, I plan out my day to give me the best chance of a full, rejuvenating sleep. (my blog: How to make 24 hours feel like enough, might also help you here!)
How much sleep we actually need differs between ages. Babies and children need a lot (12 - as much as 18 hours per day!) in order to grow and develop. Teens are more like 9.5 and in adulthood, the recommended length of sleep per night is 7-9 hours. As we get older, our melatonin production reduces meaning we don’t get or need as much sleep.
This being said, we do need to focus more on the quality of sleep rather than just the length. You might wake after 5 hours feeling refreshed and alert, compared to 8 hours of tossing and turning. So I suggest noting how you feel when you wake up and then at intervals throughout the day.
How are you focusing at work?
How much coffee do you drink?
Do you get a lunch time slump?
Do you fall asleep on the couch at 8pm?
If you’re answering yes (which so many of us do), then you need to improve your quality of sleep and you will feel such a difference if you can implement some of the advice below.
7 Steps To Improving Your Sleep
Our bodies run on our circadian rhythm which was totally natural for our ancestors, but with electricity and technology, we do need to give our brains a helping hand at setting these biological clocks. It’s not just us; plants, animals and most living things have their own circadian rhythm keeping time with the sun. The most noticeable effect it has on us is our sleep and wake cycle but it does also impact our metabolism, immune system, hormones and stress.
So, what do these helping hands look like?
Morning routine
Light in your eyes: I love a light alarm clock, I have a Lumie one but there are a load of options out there. It wakes you up slowly with light which is way less alarming than your phone buzzing you awake.
Hydrate: Have a bottle of water with you wherever you go or a glass at work and home. Aim for 2.7L for women and 3.7L for men. I LOVE a bottle like this to help keep track of my intake.
Move gently: I love starting the day with a stretch. This can be anything from stretching my body when I’m still in bed to doing half an hour of stretching on my mat. Whatever you have time and space for, a little goes a long way to wake your body up gently.
Eat your first meal within an hour of waking: Start your day with a healthy breakfast like oatmeal or egg scramble. Some of us aren’t ready for a ton of food first thing, so you could have a smoothie, fruit or a protein shake.
2. Night time routine
Brain body breath quite down: Ease yourself into nighttime with a stretching or yoga session, breathwork or just move mindfully so your brain and body are not in high alert mode.
Dim lights: It’s important to dim the light around you as you draw closer to bedtime, say 1-2 hours before you want to be asleep. Think of the light like the sun, if it’s on full brightness, your brain thinks it’s daytime. By reducing the light around you, you’ll aid your circadian rhythm and get your body and brain ready to sleep.
Technology: Try to avoid blue light (so any technology) at least half an hour before bed. Switch to reading with a dim lamp or one with a red glow. The light from the screen will disrupt your circadian rhythm and therefore your sleep.
Slow breath: There’s apps you can use to guide you on this, such as Calm. Or just do it on your own. I love box breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4 and repeat) because you can increase the increments as you go and feel calmness washing over you.
Slow your brain: Something we all need to make time for is a brain dump. Do you lie awake at bedtime with thoughts whirring? Me too!
It’s because we distract ourselves from our thoughts all day with our work and to-do’s so our brain’s first chance to process our thoughts is when we lie down without distraction. I have a journal by my bed which I dump all of the day's thoughts into. They don’t have to be Shakespeare, they don’t even need to make sense, just get it out.
3. During the day
Steps: We need to be aiming for 7-10,000 steps per day minimum. If you watch the steps mount up on your phone or watch, you’ll be surprised how easily you can meet the target. Use it as a competition with yourself and motivation to walk part of your commute or have an after-dinner walk to help digestion.
Movement: I can’t recommend exercise enough. It helps sleep, stress, mental health and general brain function. We coach people like you to find time in your day and consistency in your lifestyle to make movement a routine. Don’t be scared of intense fitness classes or hours in the gym, movement can start simple like a walk in the park or at-home body weight workouts.
Stress management practices: These practices keep cortisol rhythms in check, reducing spikes that can lead to stress. For a full list, check out this blog, as an example I like to meditate, even just for 5 minutes a day. I give my brain time to switch off and slow down. It puts everything into perspective.
4. Eating - 2-3 hours before bed
Rest and digest state vs rest and recovery: Get into the routine of eating earlier to give your body time to properly digest your food. If you’re turning food into sugars too close to bedtime, your brain and body are going to be whirring away, unable to sleep. Add in a post dinner walk and you will feel even more rested come bedtime.
5. Nutrients and their role in sleep
I love educating clients on nutrition and there are a couple of foods that I deem almost magical. Oily fish, nuts and eggs are packed with nutrients and minerals that keep us healthy. Magnesium is so important in improving our sleep quality and can be found in all three of these. Getting peckish before bed? (We may need to discuss this! Get in touch!) I can recommend chamomile tea, kiwis, almonds and walnuts.
6. Stress and its role in sleep
When we are stressed we enter our fight or flight zone. An innate response we have to keep us alert and alive to escape predators. This is not a state we want to be in when we are trying to sleep. Stress can make it harder for us to fall asleep with an overactive brain and also cause us to wake up a lot during the night.
Stress affects a lot of other areas including weight loss and metabolism. Check out this blog on ways to recognize stress symptoms, if you understand how stress presents and its negative effects, you can target them. This blog will help to restore your sleep in turn. If you feel you’ve tried everything, get in touch for an obligation-free chat to see how we could help. Girl, you are not the only one!
7. Nose breathing (not mouth breathing)
When you breathe through your nose, tiny hairs filter out pollution which does not happen if you are breathing through your mouth. Air coming through your mouth is also drier which your lungs don’t like. In the extreme, breathing through your mouth can lead to sleep apnea. This is irregular breathing, in fact stopping breathing completely - which alerts the brain to wake you up to survive. Thus, interrupting your sleep and not allowing you to rejuvenate.
By practicing breath work (above) before bed you can help to train your breath. Also you can try steam baths or eucalyptus oil to unblock passageways. However, if it is an ongoing issue, I do suggest you consult your doctor.
I Challenge You…
This week, try to implement one recommendation from steps 1-3. Take note (in your new journal?!) of how they make you feel during the process and also how your sleep and energy levels are affected.
Next week, add 1 more from each step and keep building until you naturally do the full (or most of the) list. It’s a lot to bring into your busy life, I know. If it feels like too much, do get in touch and we can chat about coaching options and find a plan that works for your personally situation and budget. I’m excited for you, getting quality sleep is going to change your life, promise!