sleep – A Measured Life

Sleep: How It Can Help Us Lose Weight

We all have times where we don’t get enough sleep: be it because we stay up late having fun, or working, or toss and turn throughout the night, or wake up way too early for what seems like no good reason. I’ve been guilty of staying up too late chatting with a friend, or watching a show, or just lazing about on the couch. Sometimes I just procrastinate crawling into bed.

But sleep is very important, particularly for maintaining a healthy body weight. How many times have you stayed up too late and found yourself in the kitchen pondering a snack. I know I’ve had plenty of nights where I’ve decided to reach for food instead of curling up in my flannel sheets and turning out the lights. Sleep is key for regulating your metabolism because lack of sleep throws insulin production and hunger hormones out of whack, leading you to choose junk food over healthy food. Be honest, how much of your late night eating is having an apple? It’s probably more like eating peanut butter from the jar or digging into a pint of ice cream, right? We rarely make good decisions when we’re tired.

And it’s not just how MUCH we sleep, but the quality of that sleep that’s important. I usually wake up before my alarm, but I’m AWAKE and ready to start the day instead of groggy and wanting to stay in bed, so I’m probably doing okay most of the time. But if all you want to do when your alarm goes off is hit snooze, you probably need to examine your sleep and see how you can get more.

Practicing good sleep hygiene (the best practices to help you achieve a good night’s sleep so you can be alert during the day) is really important. So how can you improve your sleep hygiene?

Limit Napping

Napping for more than 30 minutes a day can make it hard to fall asleep at night, but a short nap can boost your mood, mental alertness and performance. I find I just can’t nap during the day. There’s something about the mood or energy of daytime that makes it very difficult for me to sleep when the sun is up, unless I’m truly exhausted or fighting illness. If I absolutely feel I cannot stay awake then I will nap, but most times I just push through my day.

Avoid Stimulants Close to Bedtime

This includes caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. Alcohol can help you fall asleep faster, but often it will cause you to wake up in the middle of the night as your body metabolizes it. I’m not much of a drinker, and I don’t use nicotine at all, but I do love me some coffee and caffeinated beverages! I do make it a rule to not consume these after around 3 pm, because it does keep me awake. Some people, like The Hubs, are less affected by caffeine, but I prefer to avoid it in the afternoons.

Exercise

Exercising, even just brisk walking a mere 10 minutes a day, can really improve sleep quality. Avoid vigorous workouts close to bedtime, though, as this can wake up the body as opposed to relaxing it. I find on Wednesday nights when I do kettlebells with my girlfriends that I have trouble winding down for a bit afterwards.

Avoid Disruptive Foods

Heavy meals, greasy or acidic foods and carbonated drinks can perpetuate heartburn when sleeping, so try to avoid those too close to bedtime. (Okay, I don’t have a personal anecdote here. I don’t eat any of those things before bed and haven’t in a long time.)

Get Out in the Daylight

First of all, sunlight is a very good thing for us in moderation: we need it to produce our own vitamin D. Experiencing both natural daylight and darkness helps us maintain our circadian rhythms and a healthy sleep-wake cycle. I find I’m miserable without daylight, I need it and I crave it. Even rainy days can make me mopey because I am a sun worshiper (wear sunscreen, people)!

Have a Relaxing Bedtime Routine

Do some light yoga, meditate, read a book, take a warm shower or a bath. I read before bed. In fact, I fall asleep reading so often that instead of saying “I’m going to bed” I now say “I’m going to go read myself to sleep!” It’s become a running gag in our house.

Maintain a Pleasant Sleep Environment

You want to be comfortable when you sleep, don’t you? I prefer a cooler room and lots of darkness. I also prefer a fan running for both white noise and to keep some air moving. A stuffy room is torture to me, but my husband would prefer to sleep in a sauna, so he wraps himself in a cocoon of blankets to compensate. It’s a tenuous agreement that leans more towards my benefit. 😉

What are your sleep habits like? Do you feel you get enough quality sleep?

5 Ways to Survive the End of Daylight Saving Time

This time of year seriously depresses me. I’m a child of the sun, and I get hit pretty hard with SAD, also known as The Winter Blues. I’m a morning person, and I’ve been waking up around 5:30 and having to wait TWO WHOLE HOURS for the sun to come up! Ain’t nobody got time for dat! Luckily I use light therapy, but it would be so much better if the sun would just be up soon after I get up. Once Daylight Saving Time ends I’ll have sun early… for a while at least… but it will be pitch black when I get home from work. Ugh. Boo. Hiss. Lame. Why can’t I just hibernate like a bear?
Here are some tips on surviving the Fall Back time change:

Image Credit: Chuck Coker via Flickr

Slowly adjust to the time change by going to bed 15 minutes later. You’re going to be getting an extra hour of sleep Sunday night, and you don’t want to take up an hour earlier, do you?
Keep your routine. Don’t go crazy and stay up half the night. Definitely don’t take advantage of the extra hour to hang out in a bar and drink longer. That’s just silly. 😉 You still need your sleep.
Take advantage of the morning sun. Sit in the sunlight while you drink your morning coffee. If it’s warm enough, sit outside so you can take advantage of unfiltered sunshine. Get extra stuff done outside before work if you need to.
Take an outdoor walk during your lunch break. If you work a regular old 9 to 5 job, there won’t be any sunlight to enjoy when you clock out, so you may as well take advantage of the warmest part of the day to get outside. A brisk walk in the sunshine will help you stave off that 2 pm slump, too. Vitamin D is good for you!
Use candles to brighten up your evenings. Yes, we need electric lights to see in those dark, cold evenings, but candles can add a visual warmth to the room, and are comforting. Even more comforting is a wood burning fireplace, if you’re lucky enough to have one. (And if you do, I’m like, so totally jelly.)

Hibernation mode commencing! How do you deal with the time change and inevitable arrival of sun only when you’re at work? (Seriously, this sucks.) Let me know in the comments!

Spring and Sleep (A Quickie Blog)

Seriously, Daylight Savings Time? I hate you. You have screwed up my sleep and made it so it’s dark when I get out of bed again. The only thing good about you is your arrival means I get to see these: