Good Afternoon and Happy Sunday Everyone!
I hope you all had a FABULOUS Thanksgiving and are easing into the holiday season. I don’t know about you but my Thanksgiving was crazy busy and my sleep had been a bit off due to staying up later than normal and celebrating with friends and family. Which is ALL wonderful, but today I actually slept in and I woke up feeling like I new woman!
SLEEP is super important for your health and especially weight loss. Believe it or not, one of the best things you can do for weight loss is get 8 hours of sleep!
If you’re having trouble getting enough sleep, you’re certainly not alone. It’s estimated that as many as 70 million Americans suffer from sleep deprivation!
Inadequate sleep can hinder your health and weight loss goals, so it’s definitely something to work on.
If you make ‘getting more sleep’ a priority, you may see some changes. It can take 2-3 weeks until something may start to work for you, so if after a day or 2 of trying one of these tips, don’t give up. It may just take some time for your body to adjust.
First, start with setting an intention of when you want to be in bed. For example, if you want 8 hours of sleep and you need to wake up at 6:00, plan to be ready for sleep by 10:00. This means you’ll want to start getting ready for bed by 9:30.
Try a couple of strategies at a time and note which ones seem helpful.
Here is a list of 10 things you can try to help improve your sleep:
- Eliminate/reduce caffeine and alcohol (these increase urination and can cause restless sleep)
- Don’t consume chocolate (or caffeine) within 7-8 hours of bedtime
- Turn off electronic devices 1-2 hours before bed
- Finish dinner 3-4 hours before bedtime
- Drink a calming tea like Chamomile in the evening
- Sleep in a totally dark room (all sources of light off) or wear eye covers
- Set your bedroom at a comfortable temperature
- Relax and read before bed
- Use relaxing breathing techniques or meditation
- Write down a list of things you want to get done tomorrow or put it on your calendar (dump your brain of details so you can relax).
Give a few of these a try this week and remember it takes 2-3 weeks to figure out what works for you, so don’t give up!
Note: If these simple solutions don’t work for you, be sure to check with your doctor to see if they can find the root cause.
In Health and Happiness,
